During the past few years, groups like the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Center for Education have been placing great emphasis on the significance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. In brief, the US is seen as falling behind the rest of the world in science and technology education. In response, the curricula have been revised in many educational institutions and school districts across the country. It is clear that for STEM to be successful, other community organizations, most particularly libraries, need to be closely involved in the process. Library staff realize the importance of getting involved in STEM education, but many have difficulty finding comprehensive information that will help them plan and successfully implement STEM direction in their organization. This book is designed to meet that need. It is timely and relevant.How to STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Librariesis by and for libraries who are involved in contributing efforts into advancing these subjects. It is organized in 9 parts including funding, grant writing, community partnerships, outreach, research, and examples of specific programming activities. Authors are drawn from the professional staffs of educational institutions, libraries, and non-profit organizations such as science museums.
The book contains eight parts, each emphasizing a different aspect of how to succeed with STEM. Part 1 emphasizes how hands-on activities that are both fun and educational can be used to further STEM awareness. Parts 2 and 3 contain chapters on the uniting of STEM with Information Literacy. Innovative collection development ideas are discussed in Part 4 and Part 5 focuses on research and publishing. Outreach is the theme of Part 6 and the programs described in these chapters offer an array of ways to connect with students of all ages. The final section ofHow to STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education in Librariesaddresses the funding of these programs.
Librarians of all types will be pleased to discover easy-to-implement suggestions for collaborative efforts, many rich and diverse programming ideas, strategies for improving reference services and library instruction to speakers of English as a second language, marketing and promotional tips designed to welcome multicultural patrons into the library, and much more.

Carol Smallwoodreceived a MLS from Western Michigan University, MA in History from Eastern Michigan University.Librarians as Community Partners: an Outreach Handbook; Bringing the Arts into the Libraryare recent ALA anthologies. Others are:Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012);Marketing Your Library (McFarland, 2012);Library Services for Multicultural Patrons: Strategies to Encourage Library Use (Scarecrow Press, 2013). Her library experience includes school, public, academic, special, as well as administration and being a consultant; shes a poetry Pushcart nominee.

Vera Gubnitskaia, a manager at the Orange County Library System, Florida, obtained her library degrees from Moscow Institute of Culture (Russia) and Florida State University. Vera worked in public and academic libraries in Russia and USA. She co-editedMarketing You Library (McFarland 2012) andContinuing Education for Librarians(McFarland 2013). Her chapters appeared in theLibrarians as Community Partners (ALA 2010) and inLibrary Management Tips that Work (ALA 2011). Her reviews were published by theJournal of International Womens Studies andSmall Press Review.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Paula M. Storm

Preface
Vera Gubnitskaia and Carol Smallwood

Acknowledgements

Part IRange and Scope

WonderWorks: Preschoolers Playing with STEMCarissa Christner

Creating STEM Kits for Teen ProgramsKelly Czarnecki

Digging into Reading: A Worms PerspectiveBarbara Fiehn and Jeanine M. Huss

The Maker Movement, STEM and Libraries: How Libraries Large and Small Can Support Hands-On Math and Science Learning in Their CommunitiesCynthia Houston

TheSTEM Kids Program and theFIRST®LEGO® League (FLL®) at the Grand Forks Public LibraryAaron Stefanich and Laura Munski

Part IITeaching

Animation Programs at the Evansville Vanderburgh Public LibraryMichael Cherry

How Not to Blow Up the Library: Planning and Facilitating a Homeschool Science Lab in Your BuildingFred Kirchner
Customizing the For-Credit Information Literacy Course for STEM MajorsRosalia Petralia and Kathy Turner

Part IIIInformation Literacy and Educational Support

Kid-ventions with the U.S. Patent LibraryBarbara J. Hampton

A Math Emporium ProjectNastasha Johnson and Tiffany B. Russell

The School Librarian Role in theFIRST® LEGO® League Team ProjectKarla Steege Krueger

STEMming From Scratch:STEM Library Services for High School Students Enrolled as University Students
Janna Mattson and Heather Groves Hannan

Part IVCollection Development
How to Get Science GoingKeary Bramwell

Graphic Novels Ignite Imagination in the SciencesMelanie E. Hughes and Gary Pinkston
Part VResearch and Publishing
Showcasing Scientific Research Output: New Audiences for Science LibrariesAlvin Hutchinson

Embedding Librarians into the STEM Publication ProcessAnne Rauh and Linda M. Galloway
Part VIOutreach
How NOT to Reinvent the STEM Wheel: Using Crowdsourcing and Community PartnersJennifer Hopwood

Girls Night Out: STEM Programs for Girls OnlyKathleen J. Clauson

Celebrating Geographic Information Systems through GIS Day @ Your LibraryCarol Patterson McAuliffe

Fun is Learning: Making an Interactive Science Café SeriesKaren Lauritsen

Part VIIPartnerships

How to Make Library Workshops Popular with Science and Engineering Students Giovanna Badia
Learning About Future Stem CareersEileen G. Harrington

Take it from the Top: Cultivating Relationships with STEM Faculty to Connect with StudentsShawn V. Lombardo and Barbara A. Shipman

Part VIIIFunding

Grant Writing to Support STEMSusan P. Cordell and Reenay R.H. Rogers

STEM on a Budget!Sarah Wright


About the Contributors

Index