When "Sesame Street" launched in 1969, it was the first show to attempt to teach young children school-readiness skills with catchy songs and playful Muppets. Not only did it revolutionize the children's media landscape, the program sparked a love of learning among generations of children all over the world. For "Revisiting the…

Effective school libraries provide services that are based on meeting each individual's need for information. Information needs arise from both immediate and global communities--from the school building to the "flat world" of online connections. The strategy for successfully engaging individuals as lifelong learners begins with acknowledging the…

Three articles offer parents suggestions on how to make television a positive experience for their children. An editorial introduces the following themes basic to all the articles: type and amount of television viewing should be regulated by parents, parents should discuss television with their children, and parents must become aware of the…

Discussion of intellectual freedom, freedom to read, and access to information focuses on restrictions in selection of library materials. Reasons why freedom to read is deliberately restricted and implications for child development are covered. (MES)

Reports on the 1987 Drexel University/Free Library of Philadelphia Conference on Children's Literature. The edited text of the keynote address by Alvin Schwartz, "Children, Humor and Folklore," and the acceptance speech by Deborah Kogan Ray, recipient of the 1987 Drexel Citation, are included. Observations on humor from workshop sessions are…

Discusses public library rule that requires young children to print their names legibly to qualify for a library card. The case of a scribbling kindergartener, reading and writing readiness, comments on requirement from several children's-services coordinators in public libraries, printing size, skinny pencils, and the parents' ultimate…

Library-based parent resource centers are an innovative way of providing important parenting information to families, for promoting early identification of developmental needs in preschool children, and for identifying community resources available to address these needs. The centers facilitate information and resource sharing among community…

This study was undertaken to: (1) develop a schema from an analysis of research information on child development from birth to three years of age with literature sharing implications for library programs; (2) query librarians in the United States who offer early childhood literature sharing programs about their program practices and attitudes via…

This demographic study outlines changes in society over the last 25 years that have affected children and discusses children's intellectual and physical development; changes in family structure; and the effects of social, economic, and political factors on the environment for children. Implications for children's services in public libraries are…