Grants and Resources

MIXING IN MATH

Mixing in Math (MiM) is a set of FREE materials in English and Spanish, designed for integrating numeracy into story time, summer reading, and crafts for children and families. It's an appealing and engaging way to draw in new patrons, to offer them something different, and to reinforce skills children are learning in school.

MiM was designed with input from hundreds of librarians from MA, CT, NY, CA, MO, and other states. MiM resources include posters, games, calendars, crafts, and projects that are easy to use and fun for adults and children. The resources combine common library themes, such as animals, food, and holidays with the math of sizes, shapes, patters, measurement. MiM was funded by the National Science Foundation, and created at TERC, a non-profit educational organization.

Check the MiM website: http://mixinginmath.terc.edu to learn more and to download the materials.

(thanks to Sarah Sogigian at the Massachusetts State Library for sharing this!)

Grant Opportunity from Build-A-Bear

Build-A-Bear Workshop provides direct support for children in literacy and education programs, such as summer reading programs, early childhood education programs and literacy programs for children with special needs. The grants are made possible through the sale of Turner the Owl, a special furry friend available in all Build-A-Bear Workshop stores. With the sale of each Turner the Owl, 50 cents is donated to First Book and 50 cents is donated through the Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation to other literacy programs throughout the United States and Canada. Grant requests reviewed on a rolling basis through October 2011. For more information go to: http://www.buildabear.com/shopping/contents/content.jsp?catId=400002&id=700010.

DigitalLiteracy.gov

The U.S. Department of Commerce has launched DigitalLiteracy.gov, a gateway to materials, research, online learning tools and more to help librarians and educators access and share materials to use when training learners of all ages on topics such as information literacy, computer skills, digital literacies and more. The Dept. of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) created the portal in partnership with nine federal agencies to provide librarians, teachers, workforce trainers and others a central location to share digital literacy content and practices. Individuals are welcome to visit the site to find resources, upload their own and/or connect with others who are offering training on these topics. Visit http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/ to access the resource.

- CEO, Lakeshores Library System, 5/24/11