Libraries are a melting pot, a representation of a beautifully diverse society. As we progress further into the 21st Century, this fact, this statement, is becoming more and more understood. A focus, and a very important one, has been put on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in collections and spaces. However, do we take EDI components and take them into our library programs–namely the time and topic of our programs? What does this look like? Well, it means getting creative. It means thinking outside of the box. To be honest, I never really thought of programs outside of the 9 to 5 time frame until I became a working mom. I work until 6 PM most nights; it is impossible to take my daughter to what we view as a traditional storytime. I know I’m not just the only person this applies to. Many of your library patrons are in…
Author: ALSC Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers
Summer Reading: Let’s Work Together
When my role was a Children’s Librarian, I was working at my first branch in the inner city inNew York. Children and their caregivers would often come to the library with long reading listshoping that we had anything on their list at the branch. We often would ask the students comingin during the summer if we could make a copy of their summer reading list. We did so due toeach school and potentially each grade/class had a different summer reading list. What aburden to caregivers to try to locate several titles? During my second summer, I had a thoughtbubble moment. I thought, “Why isn’t the public library working with our public schools increating a summer reading list?” Public libraries and schools are natural partners in creating andpromoting summer reading and reading lists. Libraries offer a wealth of resources for childrenand their caregivers, including books, summer programs, summer themed events andincentives….
Mobile Outreach to Underserved Families: No Budget? No Problem!
Library outreach in 2023 continues to evolve and include services for underserved families more than ever. While there was previously a strong lack of information on the topic, there are now many more librarians researching, writing articles, and sharing their processes and success stories to enable others in the profession to continue this important and wonderful work. Many library systems offer robust outreach services and allocate funding for it into their budgets, but there are also many libraries both big and small that don’t receive adequate funding to purchase and operate a bookmobile or hire dedicated outreach staff. While funding and support are incredible to have, it simply isn’t always there to start, and that’s ok! Luckily, there are many outreach services that librarians can provide at little to no cost. Bookmobiles & More Many libraries have fully embraced the idea of on-the-go librarianship and outreach, and bookmobiles have been…
Strengthening Underserved Communities through Collaboration Between Librarians and Media Specialists.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, access to knowledge and information is crucial for the growth and development of every individual, especially our underserved populations. Librarians in public libraries and media specialists in schools play significant roles in fostering the love for learning, promoting literacy, and empowering communities. When these professionals collaborate, their partnerships can become a force for positive change, extending informative and educational opportunities to those who need it most. In this blog post, we will explore what synergy between librarians and media specialists in supporting underserved communities may look like. Before delving into a partnership, you should understand the uniqueness of both Librarians in public libraries and Media Specialists in schools. This is vital because it allows for targeted support and resource allocation in their respective environments. Recognizing their distinct roles enables the development of specialized programs and services that cater to the diverse needs of their…
Equitable Programming
As library and library-adjacent staff, we all probably have a shared mission of making a positive impact on our communities in equitable and inclusive ways. However, how do we ensure that all of our programs, outreach, and services are as equitable as we can make them? Last month, members of the Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers Committee, Georgette Spratling and Ewa Wojciechowska, shared how to grow with your community. As you listen to community members and actively engage with families, there may be opportunities for larger projects and more partnerships to make them possible. This is a great time to ask yourself and your team questions to ensure that the overall approach will bring the largest impact you can make on those who could benefit the most. Big Picture: Is this program reaching an underserved community where they are? Example: A library is hosting bilingual Spanish storytime…
Growing Together with your Community
Libraries often need to overcome barriers in order to provide services to those who need them most, but how? There’s no specific answer that will work for every library, so instead we suggest focusing on the idea of planning library services as a growing experience. By this we mean that success is easier to find when we consider the uniqueness of our individual communities and tailor our offerings accordingly, essentially growing our offered services to be more of what our communities want, as opposed to planning exclusively around what we might think they need. The suggestions below include specific examples of ways to employ this mindset, and we hope that they can aid other youth services professionals (especially those looking to reach underserved families) in their planning process. Research and Repeat Growing with your community involves research, and lots of it! Luckily, research includes everything from sitting down at a…
Universal Design in Storytimes-An Open Invitation to Play!
Have you ever broken a bone? Or accidentally injured your eye and needed to wear a patch? If so, you may have unexpectedly developed empathy for individuals who navigate everyday life with disabilities. Using universal design to create storytimes events helps libraries plan for successful participation and play. By using universal design, all people are assured opportunities to engage at the library!
Empowering Caregivers in your Community
Preparing children for a lifelong love of learning is a goal shared by most children’s librarians, although the ways we cultivate that joy vary vastly. There is, for example, no standardized way to deliver a storytime, and no prescribed set of programs a library absolutely must offer. This vagueness can be helpful because it allows us to cater to the uniqueness of our communities, but if I could suggest a common theme to incorporate into most children’s programming, it would be family engagement. The goal of family engagement, especially with our youngest patrons, is to empower caregivers to be their children’s first teachers. A recent research article from Frontiers in Psychology states that this movement is largely underway in spaces such as children’s museums, but also mentions that not every community has access to a museum, and that admission costs can be a barrier to families. Luckily, libraries are able…