By: Justine Ferrara, Union (NJ) Public Library Do you want to incorporate CLEL Bell books into your storytimes? Are you looking for some caregiver tips, rhymes, songs, and activities to freshen up an existing storytime? Read on for some ideas to plan and execute an engaging storytime all about singing! CLEL Bell Award Winners & …
We are pleased to announce the shortlist titles for the biannual Spanish CLEL Bell Awards. The Spanish CLEL Bell Awards are an biannual recognition of five high-quality children’s books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in children ages 0-5. This shortlist of 25 CLEL Bell titles, five for each early literacy practice – …
By: Justine Ferrara, Union (NJ) Public Library Do you want to incorporate CLEL Bell books into your storytimes? Are you looking for some caregiver tips, rhymes, songs, and activities to freshen up an existing storytime? Read on for some ideas to plan and execute an engaging storytime all about writing! CLEL Bell Award Winners & …
By Ali Kubeny (she/her), Children’s Services Librarian – Bellingham Public Library 2026 CLEL Bell Committee Member One of my favorite ways to integrate the SING practice into storytime is to find books that have opportunities to squeeze a song in or can be set to a tune in their entirety. I always get excited to …
By: Holly Van Hoy Are you lucky enough to have caregivers and/or community members offering to volunteer at your library during storytime, but feeling unsure how to include them? Here are a few ways that I have been able to welcome caregivers and community members as creative partners in my storytime sessions. Hand Them a …
by Kaylene Loo / Grand County Library District Being in a rural library, there is the opportunity to do it all. As of now GCLD has a limited number of staff, therefore library associates take on all programs and library tasks. I have the wonderful opportunity to do programs in early literacy, but also programs for children, teens, and adults. In my opinion it is the perfect way to explore different areas. Not only …
Do you sing counting songs in storytime? Do you talk about more and less? Or read stories that compare sizes and shapes? You may be doing more to increase early literacy in your storytime than you realize! New research shows that children with a strong foundation in early math gain greater proficiency in both math …
