Internet

I chose the PUBYAC website, which is a resource for public libraries serving children and young adults. It can be accessed at http://www.pubyac.org.

Here is how the website describes its mission:
PUBYAC is an Internet discussion list concerned with the practical aspects of Children and Young Adult Services in Public Libraries, focusing on programming ideas, outreach and literacy programs for children and caregivers, censorship and policy issues, collection development, administrative considerations, puppetry, job openings, professional development and other pertinent services and issues.

The name PUBYAC amalgamates the most important aspects of the discussion: PUBlic libraries,
Young Adults, and Children.

I chose this website because it seems like a wonderful resource for professionals serving children in public libraries. Because I have been focusing on engaging early readers in the public library, it was very exciting to find this website. It provides an avenue for professionals to share ideas as well as issues and concerns, so that all can benefit.

I found the website by searching for my blog topic on Google.

Research Visual/Multimedia

These images come from a report of the National Center for Education Statistics called "Services and Resources for Children and Young Adults in Public Libraries." It was compiled by Sheila Heaviside and Elizabeth Farris of Westat, Inc.; Christina Dunn and Ray Fry of the Library Programs division of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement; and Judi Carpenter, the Project Officer for the National Center for Education Statistics.
The full report can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/95357/.

Because my topic is engaging early readers in the public library, I chose the preceding images to show how important children have been to the public library and what the public library can offer to children. Although the report is somewhat outdated, it gives an interesting picture of how many children and young adults went to the public library and what kind of programs and materials were offered to them in the early 1990s. I would really like to see this survey collected again with updated information. I suspect the continued progress of technology since the time of this report has had an impact on the number of children visiting the library and how frequently they do so, as well as on the number and types of programs being offered to children in public libraries currently.

I found these images by searching Google for research tables or figures on public library service to children. When I tried Google Images, I was getting too many extraneous results("noise"), so I switched back to the basic Google search page. In that way, I could read a bit more about the source of an image before choosing to use that site.