We have story videos in BSL!

We’ve recently created a series of five short videos which each have me (Tanya) reading a picture book and then singing a nursery rhyme with a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter beside me signing along and subtitles at the bottom.  These videos are for people to be able to share the joy of picture books with their children – whether they or their children are D/deaf* or hearing.

The videos are all held on the Falkirk Libraries You Tube channel

Why?                    One of the things I (Tanya) love most is to read picture books to children.  They respond with so much excitement and happiness to the fun stories and gorgeous pictures that are found there.  I’ve been reading picture books at Bantaskin Primary in Falkirk for some time now and I’ve been lucky enough to have some wonderful BSL (British Sign Language)using teachers and support staff from Windsor Park School for the Deaf to interpret for me when I’m reading picture books in class to pupils who use BSL.  It works really well – everyone in class can enjoy it (hearing and D /deaf) and experience the fun and excitement of books.

As part of my work in Falkirk Libraries, I think up ideas for videos and podcasts that can help to share a flavour of what our library service does.  We want people to know that we have beautiful, exciting books; fun storytimes, author visits and other events; friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic staff; and a huge desire to share the joy of books and libraries to as many people as possible.  I want everyone to feel welcome into our libraries, and I want everyone to feel that we have something for them.

So, I started thinking about how story reading with a BSL interpreter worked for both hearing and D/deaf children.  Then I thought about the fact that many D / deaf  children can have either D/deaf or hearing parents and that many D/deaf parents can have either D/deaf or hearing children.   I want parents and children who are D/deaf to feel welcome in the library and I want to share the joy of picture books with everyone.  We’ve had events in the past where Deaf parents of hearing children have come along to Bookbug sessions and we’ve employed a BSL interpreter to come along too – but these times are few and far between and have been instigated by the parent asking us if it was possible – we want to tell as many people as possible that we’re here for everyone.

How?                    We contacted the publishers of some of our favourite picture books and asked if we could record their books with BSL interpreting and put them on YouTube.  Some publishers have not got back to us yet, but lovely Little Door Books and Piccadilly Press said yes.  We also spoke with our colleagues at Falkirk Council’s Social Work Department who were happy to pay for a BSL interpreter for the project.  So, we had a selection of books that we sent to our interpreter, Linda Mackenzie, along with some songs and rhymes.  Linda came along to Bonnybridge Library for the recording and talked with us about which rhymes and picture books would and wouldn’t work – we did have a picture book that Floris publishers had kindly said we could use, but Linda felt it would be a very difficult one to sign along with, so we left it and focused on easier to use books for our first try.  We recorded me reading and Linda signing, then Naomi (our library video guru) played back the video for Linda to check that the signing was at the right speed, we re-recorded a couple of books as the reading and signing had got out of synch.  Finally, Naomi edited the videos and added in subtitles and pictures from the books, as well as information about us and the books.

What next?                                        We’re going to tell as many people as possible, to share our love for books far and wide.  Hopefully, we can produce some more BSL picture book videos in the next few months.  Let us know what you think and, if you like them, then please, share the videos as widely as you can

*I’ll use the term D / deaf as it is preferred by many people.  This is a great explanation of Deaf / deaf from SignHealth:

“The word deaf is used to describe or identify anyone who has a severe hearing problem. Sometimes it’s used to refer to people who are severely hard of hearing too.

We use Deaf with a capital D to refer to people who have been deaf all their lives, or since before they started to learn to talk. They are pre-lingually deaf.

It’s an important distinction, because Deaf people tend to communicate in sign language as their first language. For most Deaf people English is a second language, and understanding complicated messages in English can be a problem.

There is a very strong and close Deaf community with its own culture and sense of identity, based on a shared language.”

Picture books we love – podcast 31

This episode was made with our colleague, Karyn, who died in November.  Karyn was a wonderful friend and colleague who did so much for us at Falkirk Libraries – we all miss her.

Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries podcast with Tanya and Karyn.
Today’s episode is all about picture books that we love.  All the books we talk about today can be found at our library catalogue.

What we have been reading and listening to

Tanya has been reading:
• Thirty-one Kings by Robert J Harris

Karyn has been reading:
• Fireproof by Alex Kava

New and forthcoming adult books:
• Heads you Win by Jeffrey Archer
• Master of his Fate by Barbara Taylor Bradford
• The Sewing Room Girl by Susanna Bavin
• Points of Danger by Edward Marston
• House of Glass by Susan Fletcher

New and forthcoming children’s titles:
• Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Monster by Chris Chatterton (illustrator), Rhiannon Fielding (author) (0 – 5 years)
• The First Christmas Jumper and the Sheep Who Changed Everything by Ryan Tubridy and Chris Judge (Illustrator) (5 – 7 yrs)
• The Ice Monster by David Walliams and Tony Ross (illustrator) (7 – 10 yrs)
• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow Book 2 – Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend (9 – 13 yrs)
• The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaesia Volume 1: Eragon – The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (Teen)

DVD recommendations:
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (12)

Our Reading Agony this week: ‘I’m so bored by reading the same books over and over to my 3 yr old – any ideas?’
Get into your local library and choose some different ones with them, so you can mix the well loved and the new. Know that at this age, hearing the same book is a normal part of development and it gives them a feeling of comfort. They’ll feel a sense of control and knowledge and it helps them develop as a future reader. And, finally, know that it will pass, there will be different books, but your child will always have lovely memories of sitting with you sharing a beloved book.

Staff quote of the day: ‘I’m off to butcher this’

Our discussion was all about picture books that we love to read.
• My Humongous Hamster by Lorna Freytag
• Burger Boy by Alan Durant
• Winnie’s Haunted House by Valerie Thomas Illustrated by Valerie Thomas
• Spells-a-popping Granny’s shopping by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Joe Berger
• Daddy, I can’t sleep by Alan Durant
• Dave’s breakfast blast off! by Sue Hendra and illustrated by Lee Wildish
• Max and Zap at the museum by Natasha Rimmington
• Worries go away by Kes Gray and illustrated by Lee Wildish
• Odd socks by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Rebecca Ashdown
• Pete the cat and his four groovy buttons by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean

Did you know? E Offer – Adults and children
Some of you who may use our e-books, eaudiobooks and emags service will have noticed that we now have all our books, magazines and audiobooks in the same place. On Thursday 01/11/18, we moved our E-Books onto the RB Digital site so if you haven’t had a look go onto our website and download the RBDigital app onto your smartphone or tablet and you will have something to read or listen to on the go. They’re all free so you can save money when downloading our magazines. We have a wide range of titles to suit all tastes and if you’re looking for some Xmas inspiration then download BBC Good Food for recipes, Molly Makes for Xmas crafts and Homes and Gardens for Xmas decorations. You’ll never be stuck for ideas again. You can download as many magazines as you want and keep the mag as long as you want or need.
Our E-Books range is so easy to download onto your tablet using the RB app. All you need to do is register on the RB website with your details and your library card and you can start downloading straight away.
If you have a commuter journey or travelling by car then download one of our EAudiobooks and you can listen to the story while you’re travelling.
You can download up to 10 EBooks and EAudiobooks and you have the flexibility to whether you want to download from 1 day up to 21 days, it’s really up to you.
Go on, give it a try.

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then please go to your podcast app and rate and review us so that other people find out about us and more people get to have their bit of Library Love. We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, go to www.librarylovefalkirk.com, Falkirk Libraries on fb or @LibFalkirk on twitter

Favourite Reads 2018: Young people

Favourite books for young people 2018

Here’s the second installment of our favourite books of this year. We asked staff, library users and author pals for their recommendations for young people and here’s what they suggested.

We’ve made it really easy for you to get your hands on these title. Head to our library catalogue Best of Year slideshow to click and collect your copy from your local library.

Picture books

Our Young People’s Librarian, Lynne, loved Joesph Kuefler‘s charming environmentally-friendly picture book The Digger and the FlowerImagine Wall-e was great big construction vehicle and not a robot.

One of our Falkirk borrowers was delighted by Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen, in which the hero,  Billy, all dressed up in her cagoule and wellies, saves her furry friends from a monster. Lovely.

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith and Katz Kowley is recommended by, well, everyone who has discovered it following the now infamous video of the Scottish granny cracking up as she tries to read it.

Younger readers

For children here’s two books about youngsters from other countries finding their place in their new home Scottish home. One of our lovely customers suggested The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle via Facebook and Author Alex Nye recommended Lauren St. John’s beautiful The Snow Angel .

Who Let the Gods Out?, by Maz Evans, not only wins the prize for best book title of the year, but it’s also a rip-roaring fantasy adventure that’s as funny as it is exciting. It’s about a boy named Elliot who gets roped into helping Olympian Gods vanquish a demon. Perfect for youngsters who have just discovered and are loving the Percy Jackson series.

And let’s not forget the Potter heads. Primary-age readers will adore Jessica Townsend‘s Nevermoor series, as recommended by Librarian Tanya and her kids.

Young adults

We start off with more fantasy, but this time for young adults, recommended via Instagram by Helen. Tomi Adeyemi‘s Children of Blood & Bone, is the first stunning instalment in a new series. It’s a dark, gripping story about one girl trying to bring back the magic in time to save her world from strange creatures, vengeful spirits… and other people. The film rights have already been purchased, so read it now so you can say you were there first! Isn’t the cover beautiful?

Several borrowers, picked the incredible The Hate You Give, which was re-released on paperback this year following the release of the movie. Angie Thomas‘s incredible fiction tale, which is rooted firmly in real life, tells of a young African American girl who is the sole witness to the police shooting of her unarmed friend.

Got any recommendations for young people? Comment below! Remember you can click and collect most of these books via the Best of Year slideshow on our library catalogue.

Book suggestions from Bantaskin Primary

Hi

We had a chat with some P7s and P1s from Bantaskin Primary about their favourite books.  P7s and P1s at Bantaskin do shared reading where the older children read to the younger pupils – I persuaded a few of them away from their reading and chatted with them about the books they love the most.

Sorry for the sound quality – we recorded this right next to the music room, so we had a little theme tune going on.

Jake, Crystal, Mark and Amy chose:

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson (picture book)
The Three Little Pigs (picture book)
Gruffalo’s Wean by James Robertson and Julia Donaldson (picture book)
The Twits by Roald Dahl (6-9 years)
The Magic of the Unicorn by Deborah Lerme Goodman (11-14 years)

Thanks very much to everyone in P7M and P1McP at Bantaskin Primary.

We’d love it if local primary schools want to share some top book suggestions with us – just email tanya.milligan@falkirkcommunitytrust with your audio recording of your pupils sharing their suggestions or just drop us an email with a list of recommendations.