Welcome to the Brainstormer

Welcome to the Programming Librarian Brainstormer, the best place for librarians to get started planning cultural and community programs. The ALA Public Programs has cultivated some valuable resources from past ALA grant initiatives and from partnering organizations to make them freely available, with more resources, ideas, and planning tips added regularly.

To get started, check out some of the popular tags and content categories, or search by keyword to find something specific. Recent entries are displayed below.


Children's Reading List (Becoming American: New Immigration Stories)

Becoming American – New Immigration Stories is a project designed to provide libraries throughout the United States with a selection of excellent books on immigrant literature for adults and families. The reading lists and resources on this Web site have been developed to help librarians engage their communities in reading and discussing important texts containing rich and deep insights into our vibrant tradition of immigrant literature.

Young Adult Reading List (Becoming American: New Immigration Stories)

Becoming American – New Immigration Stories is a project designed to provide libraries throughout the United States with a selection of excellent books on immigrant literature for adults and families. The reading lists and resources on this Web site have been developed to help librarians engage their communities in reading and discussing important texts containing rich and deep insights into our vibrant tradition of immigrant literature.

Adult Reading List (Becoming American: New Immigration Stories)

Becoming American – New Immigration Stories is a project designed to provide libraries throughout the United States with a selection of excellent books on immigrant literature for adults and families. The reading lists and resources on this Web site have been developed to help librarians engage their communities in reading and discussing important texts containing rich and deep insights into our vibrant tradition of immigrant literature.

Sample application, Atlanta-Fulton P.L. GA (Louisa May Alcott discussion series)

The film, biography, and library programs will re-introduce audiences to Louisa May Alcott by presenting a story full of fresh insights, startling discoveries about the author, and a new understanding of American culture during her lifetime.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Myth Making in Popular Fiction)

The mass appeal of many fiction best-sellers seems to come from the combination of mythic characters and realistic, historically identifiable settings. These five novels, published between 1852 and 1971, are united not only by their reliance on a sense of place but also by the similarity of their myth making.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Native Americans)

Manifesto, history, and fiction collide in this series to present a multi-layered view of the condition of Native Americans. Eye-opening and thought-provoking, this series will teach you more about Native Americans than you ever learned in school.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Christopher Columbus)

This series examines Christopher Columbus and his effects on history from a variety of genres and viewpoints: cultural, historical, fictional, and satirical.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Civil War)

“Rebirth of a Nation” brings to life the issues, the events, and the personalities that divided a nation and led the North and South through war to reconciliation. Through reading and discussion, we have an opportunity to experience the Civil War, to debate and judge for ourselves the merits of the principles the Union and Confederacy fought for so bitterly, and to increase our understanding of the forces that finally bound the nation together.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Picturing America: The Work of Freedom: Individual and Communal)

The selected works in this series tell the story of the significance of both solitary and communal moments of reflection and transformation. Careful examination of these pieces advances the perspective that the lessons of freedom have been reborn throughout African American history and that those lessons have served to nourish each succeeding challenge.

Scholar's essay, Book list and Supplementary texts (Let's Talk About It: Picturing America: Places in the Heart)

Images from the Picturing America collection celebrate scenic as well as man-made wonders—those carved by the forces of nature and those crafted by human ingenuity. Some also suggest the ways in which human experience is shaped, even defined, by place.

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