Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Children’s Department at the North Platte Public Library had 4 staff members, two full-time and two part-time. Our library serves Lincoln County, Nebraska with a total service population of around 32,000. When I came on-board in late 2021 it had dwindled to just 2, a full-time librarian and a part-time assistant. Programs and participation were still slow to pick up after the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and at first regaining staff was not an immediate need when I came into my position.
One of my primary goals in my first year at this library was to create partnerships with organizations serving children and caregivers. I began attending the High Plains Early Childhood Collaborative Action Team Meetings in 2022 to begin fostering these connections. It was in these meetings that I became connected with the Early Learning Coordinator for the North Platte Public School District and began visiting the 7 preschool classes in the district. Once this outreach began, the need for additional staff in the Children’s Department became more apparent, and the need continued to grow once outreach visits to the after-school program began as well.
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the library visited all 7 preschool classes and all 7 after-school program sites for a total of 62 outreach programs over the course of the year and 5 on-site visits to the summer program hosted by the school district. In total, outreach visits had over 2,000 participants and accounted for 126 hours of staff time during the 23-24 fiscal year.
Retaining these statistics was helpful to advocate for both the library and the district’s after school program which is funded as part of the 21st Century Learning Centers Program. The library has completed surveys and letters of support for continued funding of the program, and the program staff have helped the library demonstrate the need for additional staff to support our outreach goals.
City Administration was presented with both the numbers of outreach program attendees and employee hours dedicated to outreach programming in the 2023-2024 fiscal year as preliminary discussions for the 2024-2025 fiscal year began.The proposed budget includes an additional part-time library associate in the Children’s department.
The success of this advocacy to administrations is due to both the quantitative impact on library statistics and support from the School District as a partner that finds value in the outreach programs and advocates for their continuation and growth.
This blog post was written by Anne Price, Children’s Librarian at the North Platte Public Library (NE) on behalf of the ALSC Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee. She can be reached at anne.price712 at gmail. com.
This post addresses the core competencies of V.6 Outreach and Advocacy and VI.11 Administrative and Management Skills .