Picturing America for Public Libraries

At the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library we used Picturing America prints for an interactive pottery display which we made available for Native Americna Heritage Month in November, 2009. The display consisted of glazed pottery that children could decorate using dry erase markers. Pictures of influential Native Americans and N.A. pottery were used along with prints 1-A (Pottery and Baskets), 5-B (Last of the Mohicans),and 8-B (Sans Arc Lakota).

I also contacted a local Museum and was able to procur handmade baskets, figurines, sandals, clothing, and jewelry which were made mostly from Native Americans local to this region and from others across the nation.

As we have two locations I created a display at each library which was available for the entire month and the cost was very reasonable. Each display cost approximately $25 (for materials) and took approximately 1 hour to create.

The children loved the display and many were surprised to find pottery they were encouraged to draw on.

These prints are great and I plan on using them for Black History month, Presidents day, Election Day, and Veterans day. i also use the prints in my Preschool Storytime.

For prechool storytime I used a "Buildings, trains, planes and automibiles" theme. I used Visual Thinking Strategy at the beginning of the program and pictures of the Brroklyn Bridge to help inspire children. I then had the children create a structure of their own using seat cushions and large foam building blocks. This taught them to work together, take turns and help each other.

Pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcpl_photos/

To everyone who has shared their experience using the Picturing America prints "Thank you".

Wess Garcia
Library Assistant,
Rancho Cucamonga Public Library
wess.garcia@cityofrc.com