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During the COVID-19 pandemic, public libraries have demonstrated, in many ways, their value to their communities. They have enabled their patrons to not only resume their lives, but to help them learn and grow. Additionally, electronic resources offered to patrons through their library card have allowed people to be educated and entertained. The credit must go to the librarians, who initially fueled, and have maintained this level of service by re-writing the rules—creating a new service model.

In this paper, we provide an overview of the current efforts in maker education, supported by a review of empirical studies. Our synthesis will inform the community about learning outcomes, potential and common issues, challenges, resources, and future research direction regarding maker education.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of mobile makerspaces in libraries and educational settings. Insights, decisions, challenges, and mobile makerspace projects will also be shared. Design/methodology/approach – This paper delves into six case studies of librarians and educators who made the decision to go mobile with a makerspace. The case studies include public and school librarians, as well as educators in higher education settings. The author of this paper will describe the cases, projects, challenges, along with other aspects of implementing of a mobile makerspace. Findings – Makerspaces, while becoming very popular in the field of librarianship, can be incredibly exciting to employ but often come with their own challenges and successes. What happens when the brick and mortar location is not enough? Librarians and educators begin to think creatively and bring the makerspace to the patrons if the clients cannot come to the space. Originality/value – Currently the research on makerspaces is growing but there is still a limit to scholarly material in this field. When focussing on mobile makerspaces there are only blog posts and popular pieces. Nothing has been written on a wider range of case studies focussing on mobile makerspaces. This paper sets the foundation for further exploration in how librarians and educators can further serve patrons by making makerspaces mobile.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand young children’s knowledge of visual literacy elements as well as their ability to comprehend newly introduced visual literacy concepts. The study also examined existing support for visual literacy programs from parents and educators. Design/methodology/approach The study explored the knowledge of basic visual literacy elements of young children enrolled in two private schools in the New York City metropolitan area. The authors interviewed 17 children, aged four to six years old, about fine art paintings using a semi-structured interview format. Children’s responses were qualitatively analyzed to determine their initial level of visual literacy and their ability to learn and retain the concepts of visual literacy after receiving basic instruction. The children’s educators and parents completed online questionnaires that were quantitatively analyzed to determine their level of support for visual literacy programs. Findings The findings show that young children exhibited extensive knowledge of simple visual literacy elements (color, shape, line), and limited understanding of more abstract elements (perspective and salience). Children’s knowledge of visual elements improved after instruction. Parents and educators expressed support for incorporating visual literacy instruction in early childhood education. Research limitations/implications The study relied on a sample of children and adults drawn from two private schools. The sample’s demographics might have affected study findings. More studies are needed using a larger and more diverse sample. Practical implications The study suggests that young children are ready to receive instruction on visual literacy elements using art images. Children reacted positively to the images and were engaged in the discussions about them, supporting the use of fine art paintings as an instrument to introduce visual literacy concepts to young children. Survey of children’s parents and teachers indicated strong interest in, and support for such programs. Social implications With the increase of visual information production and consumption, it is important to introduce visual literacy early in life. The study advances research in methods for developing visual literacy instruction for young children. Originality/value There are no previously reported studies that have examined pre-kindergarten children’s knowledge of basic visual literacy elements and reactions to visual literacy instruction.

AlaskaSeward Community Library and MuseumOn September 15, 2022, a parent formally challenged Bodies Are Coolby Tyler Feder, from the children’s section of Seward Community Library and Museum. The parent claimed that the body-positive picture book—which affirms two–spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) identities—“promotes the trans agenda and homosexuality.”The title was retained.Reported in: Office for Intellectual Freedom challenge report.ArizonaPrescott Valley Public LibraryAt a town council meeting on August 11, 2022, one Prescott Valley community member expressed concern for the safety of young readers. Specifically, they were worried about readers’ exposure to library materials reflecting two–spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) identities. Selecting several popular titles from Prescott Valley Public Library’s Pride Month display, the complainant read out-of-context excerpts of “sexually graphic” material before the council.Challenged titles included:* Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison* Milk Fed by Melissa Broder* This Book Is Gay by Juno DawsonThe outcome of this complaint is unknown. . . .

More than two hundred children’s museums in the United States support interactive learning opportunities for young children. In contrast, there are more than 17,400 public libraries, including central, branch, and mobile libraries.However, some families do not benefit from these anchor institutions. Five main factors were found to impact individual use of public libraries alternatives, awareness, and understanding of universally free libraries or understanding them as only providing books, access hours operation, location and transportation, experience or not feeling comfortable, or previous bad experiences and interest.

Neighborhood characteristics are important when raising children. Traditional approaches to parental stress research have focused on the impacts of daily hassles and how individual factors, such as children’s temperament, family resources, and social support from friends and family reduce or exacerbate parental stress. There have been few studies on neighborhood characteristics and parental stress, and even fewer studies have examined the association longitudinally. The goal of the present study was to explore the association between mothers’ parental stress and neighborhood characteristics longitudinally across early childhood (ages 0–4). Using the 2008–2012 Panel Study on Korean Children, we followed 1536 mothers. The results showed that mothers’ parenting stress was highest when children were aged two to three, and neighborhood characteristics had significant associations with parenting stress. The study indicated that mothers who reported that their neighborhoods had sufficient childcare facilities, were convenient to access public recreational and cultural facilities, and those who reported that their neighborhoods were good places to raise children, exhibited significantly lower levels of parenting stress. Further, the effects of neighborhoods on mothers’ parenting stress were greatest when children were aged one and four. Hence, such findings should be incorporated when designing and developing communities.

Co-author of the popular titles Booktalking Bonanza and The Early Literacy Kit, Betsy Diamant-Cohen brings together 18 examples of successful outreach partnerships that children's librarians and administrators can adapt to their own situations. Contributors from the U.S and Canada explain how they partnered with schools, community organizations, museums, businesses and other agencies to create novel experiences for children across the children's services spectrum (preschool through middle-school).

Some libraries have had puzzles, toys, and blocks as part of their children’s room offerings for more than twenty years. For others, the emphasis on play as one of Every Child Ready to Read’s five practices has inspired them to add these to their collections.Building with construction toys helps children develop many different skills—creative problem solving, engineering, learning through mistakes, language to communicate with others who are building with them, and exercising their imagination when explaining what the structure they have built is meant to be. They also may be matching colors, looking for patterns, using planning skills, learning patience and persistence, cooperating with others for group builds, having fun, and experiencing a boost in self-confidence when they finally succeed in building what they intended to build. Written materials specifically for children’s librarians and early childhood educators explain the value of these activities and provide many developmental tips for parents and caregivers. Below are a few recommended resources.