While the numbers vary widely depending on the definitions being used to count, over 1.2 million school-aged children were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2021-2022 school year. Hundreds of thousands more very young children also experience homelessness every year. These numbers are not improving; recent news headlines from around the U.S., in big cities, small towns, and everywhere in between, are reporting record numbers of children and families experiencing homelessness.
Tag: families
Understanding Trauma in Underserved Children and Their Caregivers: The Vital Role of Librarians
Trauma is an all-too-common experience for many children and their caregivers, particularly those in underserved communities. The effects of trauma can be profound and long-lasting, influencing every aspect of a child’s development and a caregiver’s ability to provide support. Libraries, as we know, have a unique role to play in recognizing and addressing trauma. By developing specialized programs and resources, librarians can provide support to those in need. Also, those who support the supporters. The ALSC Library Services to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers Committee is currently constructing a toolkit designed to help librarians and library workers understand and address trauma, allowing families healing and growth. What is trauma? According to Merriam-Webster, Trauma is 1 a: an injury (such as a wound) to living tissue caused by an extrinsic agent b: a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury c: an emotional…
Successfully Reaching Out to Families
As Family Engagement Specialist for my library system, I spend a lot of time considering how best to keep families notified of upcoming events.
Connecting Families to Resources
Libraries are no longer just hallowed halls of books and learning. They have adapted throughout time, always meeting the needs of the patrons and the greater community. First, computers, then internet access. Nowadays, it’s common practice for libraries to offer services such as homework help and career services, food programming with local food banks, and even resource closets with household supplies. They partner with government agencies, local housing networks, and more.
FamilySpace at the Library
Several years ago, before the COVID-19 outbreak, Invest in Children, a community wide public/private partnership administered by the Cuyahoga County Office of Early Childhood, and the United Way of Greater Cleveland came to the two largest library systems in Northeast Ohio (Cleveland Public Library (CPL) and Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL)—the largest suburban system for which I work) with an idea. Although delayed thanks to the pandemic, the first FamilySpace location opened in September 2022 at CCPL’s Garfield Heights Branch, and three other locations (two in each system total) followed. The response has been positive, to say the least.
COVID Babies in the Library
In a Disability Scoop article about so-called “COVID-babies”, author Adam Clark explores various ways that the pandemic has affected children’s development. Clark begins with a vignette about a two-year old named Charlie who is in speech therapy to help him learn to speak more than one-word utterances. Nancy Polow, one of the speech-pathologists interviewed in the article, is quoted as saying “I have never seen such an influx of infants and toddlers unable to communicate. We call these children COVID babies.” The good news is that lots of the kids like Charlie who are now turning up at speech therapy centers quickly make strides. After reading this, I found some emerging evidence that being gestated during the early part of the pandemic is associated with some developmental lags. Babies born to two groups of mothers (those who were and those who were not infected with COVID during their pregnancies) were…
Serving Expectant Parents & Families with Newborns From Where We Are Today
It is important that expectant parents and those with newborns know they are welcome at the library, even as pandemic precautions persist. Luckily, there is someone there to help them – YOU! Acknowledging them with a simple “hello” can be a high point of their day, especially if they are feeling overwhelmed. A sympathetic “some days are like that!” may lower the pressure when they are dealing with a fussy child. Life in the library is beginning to look more familiar as things begin to “open up more.”. There are still precautions to take to make sure everyone stays safe and healthy until this pandemic is over. Keeping this is mind may have an impact on your library’s ability to do in-person programming and outreach for families with infants since they are at a higher risk. Programs may be offered as a series, once a month or quarterly. Keep your…
English Learners Family Storytime
What do you do when your evening storytime is not drawing the crowd it used to? It might be time to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming and reevaluate. That’s exactly what we did at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, and the outcome is our new English Learners Family Storytime! Our regular Tuesday evening storytime was a sight to behold, with great picture books, fun songs, and colorful flannel board stories and rhymes. However, attendance was dropping. We knew we wanted to reverse that trend, but how? From the start, we recognized that families are busy with other after-dinner activities. We also recognized that our library serves a diverse community with multi-generational families who speak English as a 2nd or 3rd language. Occasionally, these children and caregivers struggled to communicate their needs with us at the service desk, and we knew this was an audience we wanted to cultivate and better…