{"id":18180,"date":"2018-05-04T00:01:05","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T04:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=18180"},"modified":"2018-05-03T20:26:58","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T00:26:58","slug":"after-hours-library-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/after-hours-library-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"After-Hours Library Programs for Busy Families"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo courtesy of author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My library is situated in an extremely commercial area of Manhattan. This means our children\u2019s department sees mostly nannies who scour the city for ways to keep young charges entertained. When we do see parents, it’s often as a stop on their way home to select reading material for the week \u2013 without their children. So, about a year into working for NYPL, I decided to try an after-hours library program for families \u2013 to get to know these parents and grandparents we rarely, if ever, see. Thus, the Great Family Camp-In was born. This program allows us to: meet parents and introduce them to the programs and services the library provides; leverage talents from across the system as we bring in staff from other branches; model behaviors for playing and interacting with young children; and simply offer families a chance to unwind together at a free after-work program.<\/p>\n

Just last week, much to the delight of the families we serve, we held our second Camp-In. Because these events have been so successful, I wanted to share the behind-the-scenes details with my fellow librarians in the hopes other systems seeking opportunities to engage the families in their community would be able to implement similar programming.<\/p>\n