| March
2005
Dear
Fellow Book Lovers:
DISCOVERING
THE ARTS, PART II
MUSIC
The
smallest baby responds to music. This is why some parents
and caregivers play soft classical music as babies nap. Infants
also react to the sweet sound of lullabies and enjoy bouncing
to the beat of familiar nursery songs found in collections
like The
Helen Oxenbury Nursery Collection. I remember learning
to skip to music in kindergarten, and in second grade playing
the tambourine in the rhythm band. Most children learn to
skip to music at a much earlier age now, and all kinds of
rhythm instruments are available for the tiniest tots. Many
public libraries even circulate such instruments so that their
youngest patrons can individually experience music. Each generation
finds their own music with or without the urging of librarians,
parents, and teachers. But, we can play a role in exposing
them to various genres of music and help them see how music
plays a distinctive role in every culture.
How
can music become a part of library programming?
- Purchase and circulate music CDs—from
classical to folk music.
- Circulate small CD players for children
who may not have them in the home.
- Sponsor a musical heritage festival,
and invite people from various cultures to share their traditional
music.
- Invite someone from the local symphony
or high school band and orchestra to introduce the various
instruments to children.
- Sponsor a music trivia contest where
older children have to use books in the library to find
the answers. Or, sponsor an online trivia contest where
patrons submit their answers by email. Perhaps a local music
store would donate a CD as a prize for the winner.
- Introduce readers to books like Peter
and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev and illustrated by
Peter Malone. This particular book comes with a fully-orchestrated
and narrated CD. Random House also publishes The
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Older readers
may enjoy reading this before listening to or viewing Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s musical version of the story.
- Create a display that focuses on the
power of music. Introduce readers to What
a Song Can Do: 12 Riffs on the Power of Music edited
by Jennifer Armstrong (ages 10 up). Ask them to name books
where music is important to the main character. Display
these books and book-talk them so that all participating
readers understand the variety of ways that music affects
our lives. Random Houses offers the following:
- Encourage readers to choose a work of
historical fiction like North
by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Katherine
Ayes (ages 10 up) and locate period music to fit the story.
Do the same exercise, but use a collection of folktales
like The
People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton and illustrated
by Leo and Diane Dillon (all ages). Discuss how the music
selections vary to match the different genres.
- Locate books like With
Love From Spain, Melanie Martin by Carol Weston (ages
8-12) where the main character travels to another country.
Ask readers to find examples of music from that country.
- Include music in a study of other cultures. For example,
have readers identify the music that the Irish Travelers
might listen to in See
You Down the Road by Kim Ablon Whitney (ages 12 up),
or the Finnish immigrants in Song
of Sampo Lake by William Durbin (ages 10 up)?
These
are only a few ideas for including music in the public and
school library. There are numerous other ways, but the important
thing is that children and young adults learn to listen to
music and make it a part of their lives, both culturally and
aesthetically.
You may email me
at pscales@scgsah.state.sc.us.
|
