The Story Behind the Story

We have blogged about our field trip adventures before - Library Stars for 2nd graders (now in it's third year), and our two new additions: Library Sneakers for 2nd graders and 7th grade tours.  These intensive field trips aim to introduce the kids to the library and its resources in a fun (but focused way) that is choreographed so expertly it looks like we are making it all up as we go. Let me talk about this from the perspective as a manager of our department.

The field trips take a ton of hidden-to-all-but-us work and preparation. We get class lists from the school, look up each and every student for fines and whether they have a card, drop off and pick up new card registrations, set a 2-month storytime hiatus to accommodate the twenty + tours, forgive all but cost-of-book fines for all children – and offer “Fresh Start” cards and forgiveness to parents of kids with COBs – create special bookmarks, write the scripts, recruit from among staff outside the department to have the 3 field trip leaders and desk coverage (and few, if any, twelve hour days or split shifts).

On the day of the field trip, each librarian guide knows her part and is committed to hitting their mark. Classes are split in three and rotated among the librarians (one does book talks, one does a YS intro tour, one does a “secret background”). If we stray off the clock, one group has to wait. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. There is also improvisation (the group is late but has to leave at the same time; the kids can't focus so we decrease the time free-exploring the books and collections) that flows smoothly because the staff is ready.

The results are worth every bit of background prep - seeing new faces at the library, knowing kids understand just a bit more about how we work and the way accompanying parents and teachers get excited and look forward to these trips. We get an excellent rate of returns (kids who come back get book bags or a special star), the preschool parents who have to forego storytime are grudgingly understanding and staff throughout the library are super supportive.

The buses that bring the students is the biggest cost. Our first year was grant funded; our second funded by the schools and the third year our school coordinator and I had talked about the library splitting the costs. The financial pressures on the district are as keen as those we feel at the public library. It's a small thing to prioritize this support . Shall we spend, for each grade level, $500 of our programming money on busing that reaches 1200 kids or hire 3-4 performers for the same cost, far fewer in attendance and no message about libraries or what we do?  Hmmm. Snap! We know the answer to THAT!

And then you get this message below (in answer to our query on what we owe for half of this year's busing) from the school coordinator and every piece of this is even more powerful:

I'm so glad everything went well and that our families are finding value in our community libraries. I know you sincerely want to help with the cost, but it is not necessary. We budgeted for the buses and all went well. The time your staff spends with our students and staff at our elementary and middle schools more than covers the 'in kind' cost of traveling to get to the libraries! Your work with Central HS is also very appreciated and we're working on the ways to get you connected at Logan High as well for next year! This is how partnerships work, in our humble opinion. 

We'll budget for the trips again next year -- it is so worth it for our kids!

(and in a PS to our director, she wrote: I know that you are fully aware of the value of your staff, but I just want to tell you once again what a great group of professionals you have -- their commitment to our community is over and above most. If at anytime you want to highlight this partnership at one of your library board meetings -- happy to stop by and have our teachers/kids tell their stories!)

As a manager, I am intensely proud of my whole crew. I open doors and support their work, play devil's advocate to hone the process, help connect the right team member to the work or piece of the work that best fits their skills and talents. All the rest, ALL THE REST, is done by the team. To step back and see them all step up is what I am there for. And, as a manager, to read that support for their efforts from our school peers is all I need at the end of the day. Thank you Linda, Celine, Sara, Brooke and Emily (and my management colleague Jen) for what you do.