Salnave Elementary playground during COVID-19

I wanted to share this image to capture what now feels like a forgotten moment in the pandemic -- for the first few days of statewide lockdown, I had taken my daughter to this playground at her elementary school in Cheney, since playing outside was about the only safe thing we knew to do. But then an order was issued to close playgrounds out of fear of the spread of covid-19, so this is a picture taken on March 23 -- you can see not only the big sign, but the faint yellow caution tape that\u27s wrapped around all of the playground equipment. There was something very chilling about it -- at the time it seemed ominous but no one was sure yet how bad things would get. And now, with the playgrounds having been open for many months (though we wear a mask and hand sanitize, etc.), this picture feels more like a dream I had than like a memory.https://dc.ewu.edu/covid/1000/thumbnail.jp

Stories to Empower Our Communities: Promoting Diverse LGBTQIA+ Narratives in Picture Book Collections

Do you want to move past marking that diversity checkbox and take your LGBTQIA+ collection development to the next level? As seen through the work of Diverse BookFinder, how historically underrepresented identities are portrayed in our collections is just as important as increasing the number of books depicting these identities. This presentation moves beyond asking if there is LGBTQIA+ representation in recently published picture books and instead explores the more complex questions of who is being represented, in what ways, to what extent, and why each type of narrative is important to children and their families. Join us to gain a better understanding of the current landscape of LGBTQIA+ representation in picture books and learn about new tools designed by the presenters to help you develop and advocate for rich collections that feature an array of authentic LGBTQIA+ stories. Learning Objectives: Upon completion, participant will be able to articulate the importance of each type of LGBTQIA+ narrative found in picture books in order to advocate for holistic representation in their collections. Upon completion, participant will be able to assess their picture book collections using advanced analysis tools in order to critically develop and promote authentic LGBTQIA+ representation in their collections. Upon completion, participant will be able to evaluate the LGBTQIA+ representation within individual picture books in order to recommend texts based on library user and/or programming needs

The Relationship Between Student Demographics and Student Engagement with Online Library Instruction Modules

Objective – To investigate whether there are any demographic trends affecting student engagement with online library instruction which might have implications for practice, the authors designed a case study to examine the relationship between student demographic characteristics and engagement with online library instruction modules in English 102 courses at a single university. Methods – The authors recruited 181 students from English 102 (ENG 102), a research-based composition course, to participate in the study. ENG 102 instructors asked all participants to complete an online library instruction module embedded in the university’s course management system, either before in-person library instruction or in lieu of face-to-face library instruction. No external incentive was provided for online module completion. The research team measured levels of student engagement by recording the amount of time students spent on each page of the online module. In collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research, the authors then pulled demographic data on each participant using the university’s student information system. Pearson chi-square tests were performed to determine whether there were any notable associations between levels of student engagement and student age, grade point average, gender, and race/ethnicity. Results – Observable trends tied age and higher grade point average to higher levels of engagement with online instruction. There was additionally a slight trend linking female participants to higher levels of engagement than their male peers. In the category of race/ethnicity, the two largest subgroups, Hispanic and Caucasian students, exhibited similar levels of engagement. Conclusions – The authors conclude that there may be demographic implications for practice in designing online library instruction programs, especially when considering student age and academic performance indicators. They also conclude that, owing to this case study’s limited sample size, further study is warranted to investigate these conclusions, and to further examine the possible impact of gender and race/ethnicity on engagement with online library instruction modules

Sharing Pride Through Curriculum Materials Collections: The Evolution of LGBTQIA+ Representation in Picture Books

Understanding the changing landscape of LGBTQIA+ representation and its discoverability in popular collection development resources prepares curriculum materials librarians to develop inclusive collections and to support and advocate for the needs of preservice educators and the diverse audiences they serve. This paper maps how LGBTQIA+ representation in children’s picture books has evolved from 2008 to the present and to determine the scope of LGBTQIA+ visibility in professional book reviews. We did this by examining two subsamples from different four-year periods: 2008-2012 and 2018-2022. Our research found that recently published picture books with LGBTQIA+ representation have made substantial progress in depicting a wide range of gender identities and sexual orientations and introducing young readers to diverse stories about the LGBTQIA+ community. Additionally, the increased use of queer terminology in professional reviews has made LGBTQIA+ picture books more visible, although there are still limitations in representation in professional reviews. However, despite these positive findings, challenges still remain in the inadequate representation of some LGBTQIA+ identitie

Stories to Empower Our Communities: Promoting Diverse LGBTQIA+ Narratives in Picture Book Collections

Do you want to move past marking that diversity checkbox and take your LGBTQIA+ collection development to the next level? As seen through the work of Diverse BookFinder, how historically underrepresented identities are portrayed in our collections is just as important as increasing the number of books depicting these identities. This presentation moves beyond asking if there is LGBTQIA+ representation in recently published picture books and instead explores the more complex questions of who is being represented, in what ways, to what extent, and why each type of narrative is important to children and their families. Join us to gain a better understanding of the current landscape of LGBTQIA+ representation in picture books and learn about new tools designed by the presenters to help you develop and advocate for rich collections that feature an array of authentic LGBTQIA+ stories. Learning Objectives: • Upon completion, participant will be able to articulate the importance of each type of LGBTQIA+ narrative found in picture books in order to advocate for holistic representation in their collections.• Upon completion, participant will be able to assess their picture book collections using advanced analysis tools in order to critically develop and promote authentic LGBTQIA+ representation in their collections.• Upon completion, participant will be able to evaluate the LGBTQIA+ representation within individual picture books in order to recommend texts based on library user and/or programming needs

An AgMIP Framework for Improved Agricultural Representation in Integrated Assessment Models

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) hold great potential to assess how future agricultural systems will be shaped by socioeconomic development, technological innovation, and changing climate conditions. By coupling with climate and crop model emulators, IAMs have the potential to resolve important agricultural feedback loops and identify unintended consequences of socioeconomic development for agricultural systems. Here we propose a framework to develop robust representation of agricultural system responses within IAMs, linking downstream applications with model development and the coordinated evaluation of key climate responses from local to global scales. We survey the strengths and weaknesses of protocol-based assessments linked to the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), each utilizing multiple sites and models to evaluate crop response to core climate changes including shifts in carbon dioxide concentration, temperature, and water availability, with some studies further exploring how climate responses are affected by nitrogen levels and adaptation in farm systems. Site-based studies with carefully calibrated models encompass the largest number of activities; however they are limited in their ability to capture the full range of global agricultural system diversity. Representative site networks provide more targeted response information than broadly-sampled networks, with limitations stemming from difficulties in covering the diversity of farming systems. Global gridded crop models provide comprehensive coverage, although with large challenges for calibration and quality control of inputs. Diversity in climate responses underscores that crop model emulators must distinguish between regions and farming system while recognizing model uncertainty. Finally, to bridge the gap between bottom-up and top-down approaches we recommend the deployment of a hybrid climate response system employing a representative network of sites to bias-correct comprehensive gridded simulations, opening the door to accelerated development and a broad range of applications