Welcome to the Kids Advisory Board
The Kids Advisory Board, which is open to kids ages 8-12, meets every other month to give advice — from a kid’s perspective — on Peoria Public Library’s programs, databases, materials and more. You can make a difference.
Some past Kids Advisory Board projects: The Lakeview Ledger, a kids-run newspaper; an all-kids Poetry Club and a back-to-school event called “Back To School Bananas.”
Meetings are currently held via Zoom so email kidsadvisoryboard@gmail.com for more information and the Zoom link. We hope to meet in person again soon!
New members of our Kids Advisory Board are always welcome.
Welcome to the Lakeview Ledger
By Katy Bauml & Adam Scachette, Chief Editors
The Lakeview Ledger is an entirely kid-created newspaper facilitated by Peoria Public Library and paid for by the Friends of Peoria Public Library. The youth in the community wanted a newspaper where they had creative license to put the things they wanted into their own newspaper. Creating content, coming up with a name for the newspaper, editing, and working together on the layout were all done by the kids involved in the Newspaper Club at Lakeview Branch.
The Lakeview Ledger is the summation of all their hard work. The program continues to serve as an excellent opportunity to teach our junior journalists about information literacy and ethical journalism.
We are currently seeking submissions for our next edition. Submit your short stories, poems, articles, comics, artwork, book reviews, and more to us at kidnewspaper@gmail.com. This club is open to kids ages 8 to 17. If you would like more information about the club, you can email us at kidnewspaper@gmail.com.
Copies of the Lakeview Ledger are available at any of our five locations. While supplies last.
If you would like more information, call (309) 497-2200 and ask for Katy or email kidnewspaper@gmail.com.
Here’s an example of a recent article in the latest issue of the Lakeview Ledger. We encourage kids to come up with their own story ideas and that often includes reviews of library programs.
LEGO Builders Club
by Bryce Budzynski (age 7)
Lakeview Ledger, Issue 2
In case you didn’t know, the Peoria Public Library has a LEGO builders club. I joined and had a lot of fun. The first challenge was to build an animal, and I built a tiger. Someone built a cat on wheels.
The next time I joined there were two brothers. The challenge was to build something outdoors. I built a building. The next month, there was a car challenge. I just put pieces on the car until I liked it.
This club meets the second Friday of the month at 4:30 p.m. on Zoom. It lasts about an hour. There is a theme each week and then you get to show and tell.
Mini Journalism Lessons
1. Watch this video here by clicking on the link. https://youtu.be/q1k8rcYUmbQ
Additionally, we have included a really handy infographic. This graphic includes a checklist which can be used in evaluating your sources. Librarians use these same tactics every day as we work to help our patrons. The more you use it, the better and faster you become at evaluating your sources.
2. Have you learned anything? We hope so! Now to try out your new knowledge. Examine the list of online sources below and determine if they are trustworthy or not. Be careful! We’ve intentionally added some tricky ones.
https://www.allaboutexplorers.com/explorers/ (Have a look at the various explorers. See if this website provides accurate information)
https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU (Yes, a video to watch!)
http://www.dhmo.org/ (A science website. See if the research is accurate or not)
http://www.thedogisland.com/index.html (An island just for dogs!)
https://www.cdc.gov/ (A website dedicated to disease control and prevention)
Provided is an image of the inverted pyramid. You’ll see it looks like an upside-down triangle. The top is the most important section and the “meatiest.” This portion covers the basic questions your audience is asking themselves as they read your article. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? While answering these questions be sure to give these details in an order that makes sense. If I’m writing about a dog that ran away, I wouldn’t start with the day and time and end with the what.
The middle portion of the pyramid is for extra details that answer more questions about your story. These details are interesting, but not essential to the story. If you only have a small section of space, you can leave these details out, but the story will still make sense and have all the information that is needed. If you have room for a longer story, this is where you put in the facts and information that go beyond the basic questions listed above in the top portion of the pyramid. If I’m still writing a story about a dog who ran away, this is where I may include that the dog has a fondness for peanut butter or was wearing a red collar. These details could help someone spot the dog. If the dog is a known biter, that’s an important detail I would include up above since that’s something you want to be aware of if you’re trying to approach the dog to catch it.
The bottom of the pyramid can be left out for a short story. This is where all the “extra” information goes for readers who still want to know more, but readers who just want the basics or the “meat” of the story can stop reading. An example of this would be that the runaway dog is 4 years old or was given to the family as a birthday present.
Using what you’ve just learned about the inverted pyramid, think of a made-up story and think of details that would go in each section of the pyramid. Feel free to share your work with us if you like.
PPL’s Reading Room
Our persistent and curious band of writers and reporters of The Lakeview Ledger toured our local newspaper, the Journal Star, in January 2020.
