Community Literacy Conference

Young children are drawn to music and movement and eagerly respond to rhythm and song. Music and singing play a powerful role in young children's brain and early literacy development. Given this, music provides a joyful bridge to books and reading in the early childhood years. In this workshop, methods to integrate music into "read aloud time" will be shared. We will look at "read aloud" books that can be read with a simple "beat." We will hear books that have their origins in children's songs and can be "sung or chanted aloud." You do not need to be a singer or musician to participate! Together we will discover new ways to engage young children (ages 0-5) and help them connect to the magic of books and reading.

Join naturalists Jaime Hutchinson and Susie Spikol as they share ideas, activities, and inspiration drawn from their popular elementary school nature journaling/book club at the Jaffrey Public Library. Discover how to build nature-connections through literacy, art, and hands-on science. Find out tips and best practices for taking children outside, using nature journals, and developing the ability to observe and pay close attention to the natural world.

Children’s librarians juggle planning, promotion, programming, and documentation—often with limited time and staffing. This presentation demonstrates how AI can support everyday children’s services work, from outlining story times and lesson plans to drafting marketing copy and organizing large-scale programs. Participants will also see creative applications, such as generating original rhymes, music, and coloring pages that can be customized for specific themes and age groups.

Learn from past and current CLiF Year of the Book grant coordinators as to how their elementary schools have been able to build and foster a culture of literacy through their CLiF grant, as well as successful family engagements strategies and events focused around literacy.

Children’s earliest experiences with literacy are rooted in the meaningful work of play. Early childhood educators, librarians, and caregivers have a unique opportunity to enrich children’s play with games and activities that support future reading success. In this workshop, participants will explore how foundational early literacy skills, such as phonological awareness and the alphabetic principle, can be intentionally taught through play-based learning. When children are encouraged from an early age to play with words, letters, and sounds, they enter school viewing reading as a joyful and engaging experience.

While nonfiction writing is often misunderstood as “just the hard facts,” this exciting and innovative genre captures young readers' interests and passions. Within K-6 classrooms and school libraries, nonfiction can be utilized for a range of instructional purposes, from teaching foundational reading skills to informational literacy to multimodal composition and more. This session will explore the use of nonfiction in classrooms using the 2023 National Council of Teachers of English Position Statement on the Role of Nonfiction in the K-12 classroom as a framework.