It’s time to get ready for 3:30pm! As the school year kicks off, the volume and activity levels in the youth services rooms will soon raise to a cheerful, lively, and indisputably high frequency. Back to school season is go time in the children’s room. There is almost always room for one more addition to encourage afterschool engagement, and sometimes the simplest possibilities make the most impact.
As we know, public libraries play a key role meeting community needs, offering an important third space between home and school for literacy, cognitive, and social development. Inspiring passive, pop up, and planned programs throughout the school year play a role in afterschool engagement efforts. We’ll launch with a back-to-school party to set the tone for a fun (re)orientation. The simple act of welcoming highlights available activities and provides a friendly way to start the year with reminders about expectations. Each afternoon, we’ll roll out carts loaded with new crafts, supplies, and board games. We’ll provide art, literacy, tween, STEM programs, minute to win it games, and more every week.
It’s a familiar afternoon scene: patrons using computers, asking for assistance, and stopping in to say hello. Some visitors will keep to themselves, wandering the shelves looking for books, a place to read, talk, or charge their tech. Other children will socialize while munching on snacks. Since it’s challenging to make time for one-to-one academic support, we also have a partnership with college volunteers to offer afterschool homework help. Our space looks a lot like other busy libraries I’ve visited during peak hours: our afterschool engagement superpowers are ready to go and we’re always looking for one more thing…
The reminders I need to prep for my own peak performance are actually pretty simple too:
- Take a breath.
- Greet everyone who enters the space, even if it’s just a friendly smile or hello.
- Move around the room and ask about school.
- Notice the space and the traffic patterns.
- Consider how the space is being used, and identify where improvements can be made.
- Have a pocketful of (redirecting) alternate activities.
- Most of all, pause the multi-tasking. Projects I might have hoped to accomplish can wait.
Every day provides an opportunity to remind myself that the best afterschool engagement doesn’t come from a box or silly activity; it comes from being present.
Today’s guest contributor is Erika Hogan. Erika is a youth services librarian at Heights Libraries in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.