LIBR 260A-10
Programming and Services for Children Ages 0-8 
Spring 2009 Greensheet

Dr. Blanche Woolls
E-mail
Office Hours: By Appointment

This course has an Angel site. The enrollment code for Angel will be distributed to all students before or on the first day of the semester via MySJSU messaging.

Course Description

This course examines the importance of programming for children, including parent education programs, storytimes, outreach techniques, services with schools, summer reading programs, and program series.

Course Objectives

Student learning outcomes
At the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the current reading, viewing and listening habits of children, and use this knowledge in program planning
2. Apply information on children’s development and psychological needs and tasks to plan appropriate programming and services for this age group
3. Plan storytelling, reading aloud, and finger plays, songs and rhymes, and explain why these activities are developmentally appropriate for the preschool child, and how they fit into library services for this age group.
4. Explain the importance of encouraging parents to read aloud to their children to prepare them for learning to read, and the importance of maintaining reading skills of school age children by encouraging them to read during the year and over the summer.
5. Develop or modify a website for a children's public library or an elementary school library. 
6. Design a children’s area in the public library or an area of an elementary school library for grades k-2  based on the developmental, recreational and informational needs of this age group.
7. Create an annual programming and display plan or a curriculum program, including but not limited to crafts, storytimes for various ages, homework help programs, school visits, outreach to community organizations and groups, reading programs or games.
8. Write a proposal for funding.

LIBR 260 supports the following SLIS Core Competencies:

• articulate the ethics, values and foundational principles of library and information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual freedom
• demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaboration and professional level presentations
• apply fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy
• evaluate the programs and services on specified criteria
• contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our communities.

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Course Requirements

Assignments
This course requires a number of assignments designed to introduce students to the concepts covered in the course lectures, in the literature and through discussion as well as to practical applications of methods. Students will work individually or in virtual groups and participate in group discussions.

Students accumulate 100 points to determine the course grade. See Grading below for details. Further explanation of the assignments will be given and requirements for each will be posted in a “Course Expansion” in Course Documents area on Blackboard.

• Children’s Area: 10 points, due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, February 23, 2009 
  Design or critique an existing children’s area in a public library or a designated area for kindergarten, grades 1 and 2 in a school library, including a floor plan, furniture, equipment, collection, displays, and an area for programs and story hours that helps meet the developmental needs and tasks of children of various ages. (Objectives A, B and F)
• Children’s Webpage: 10 points due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, March 20, 2009
  Design a webpage for your children’s department or for grades kgn, 1, and 2 of your elementary library webpage including the various things that you might include on it, such as your calendar, blogs, reviews written by children or parents, podcasts of various kinds, booklists and bibliography. Include games and activities that are appropriate for various ages and enhance developmental tasks and needs. (Objectives A, B, and E)
• Nine-Twelve Month Programming Plan and Proposal: 20 points each, Programming Plan due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, April 13. 2009.
  1. Write a 9-month (school) or 12-month (public library) programming plan including activities for all ages, and early literacy programming for parents. Design an overall theme for the year, and/or themes for each moth and displays that coordinate with them. Include information on how the various activities enhance activities at various ages. School librarians may wish to use curriculum areas covered in kindergarten, first and second grade classes. (Objectives A, B, D, G, and H)
  Proposal due by 10:00 p.m. Friday, April 24, critiques due by Monday, May 4, 2009 
  2. Write a proposal to secure additional funding for one of these activities. You will be expected to critique other proposals submitted for this assignment.
• Storytime Observation: 20 points, due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, March 30, 2009. 
  1. Visit a storytime at your local library and report the theme, songs and fingerplays, books shared, activities, and any crafts. Make note of the disruptions and how the presenter handles them.
• Storytime Plans: 20 points, first month due by 10:00 p.m., Monday, February 23, 2009; second month due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, March 16, 2009. 
  1. Plan a two-month storytime series with three story hours each week. Include different age groups, such as lap sit, 1-2 year olds, 3-5 year olds, beginning elementary school age children, and whole families. Include everything necessary for presenting the story hours and explain how each helps meet the developmental needs of the age group it is intended for. (Objectives A, B and C)
• Participation: 20 points
  Participate in online discussions.

Course Calendar

• Children’s Area: due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, February 23 – 10 points
• Children’s Webpage: due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, March 20  – 10 points
• Nine-Twelve Month Programming Plan and Proposal: - 20 points
  
  • Programming Plan due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, April 13
  • Proposal due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, April 27
  • Proposal critiques due by Monday, May 4 
• Storytime Series (in three parts): Observation due Monday, March 30 
• First month of programs, due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, February 23
• Second month of programs, due by 10:00 p.m. Monday, March 16 – 20 points
  Participation: 20 points

Grading
Weight for your assignments are as follows:

Textbooks and Readings

Recommended Textbooks:

• Peck, P. (2006). Crash Course in Children's Services. Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 1591583527.

• Snow, S. (2007). Building Blocks: Building a Parent Child Literacy Program at Your Library. Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 159158471X.

• Cerny, R., Markey, P., amp; Williams, A. (2006). Outstanding Library Service to Children. ALA. Available through Amazon: 0838909221.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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