Kids' Own main areas of work include, Publishing and The Travelling Library, Professional Development, Technology, Long-term Engagement and Best Practice.
Publishing and The Travelling Library
"I'd love to see it in every library and every town and village of Ireland.
I'd love to just have it as part of that library because I think that children
everywhere need to enjoy the whole experience that is the Travelling Library."
Pauline Brennan, Senior Executive Librarian, Sligo Library,
Kids' Own is Ireland's only dedicated publisher of books by children. We develop meaningful programmes of work by with and for children. We provide a safe structure and framework in which children can think and express them freely. In 2010 Kids' Own built The Travelling Library. This resource offers sustainable and low cost models of engagement between Kids' Own and Library services.
Professional Development
"A valuable resource for networking with other artists working in this field, a great database of projects past and current, a place to communicate and ask questions to a membership with broad and varied experience, a place to document and promote your own work."
Practice.ie artist
A core aim of Kids' Own is promote excellence and support artists and other professionals working with children. To raise awareness of the value of the arts in the lives of children and young people and professionalise arts practice working with children. In 2008 Kids' Own developed the first online network for artists working with children/young people, Practice.ie. In 2009 we launched the first Issue of practice the publication. In 2010 we extended our member base and re-designed the practice.ie platform In 2011 Kids' Own will continue to address the needs of its members by developing regional groups at the same time developing the international member base of practice.ie
Technology, Long-term Engagement and Best Practice
Kids' Own have pioneered new ways of working through technology. We have partnered with many organisations to share our approach and way of working. Technology has formed a central part of Kids' Own's work for a long time and has multiple functions as a facet of the creative experience. In Practice.ie, it is the vehicle through which artists connect and communicate; access information and profile their work. In our residency Virtually Here, technology becomes a tool for creativity and enables artists and children to investigate new ways of working and engaging creatively. In all other projects, the online journals provide a facility for sharing the work that is undertaken and created, as well as a space for reflection for the participants involved. This also forms a core element of Kids' Own's model of best practice.
