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. 

Storytime Hiatus

Beginning January 1,  we are on a ten week storytime break. "What?!?!?!", you may ask. Yep, a ten week break.

It's no secret that I believe that is perfectly fine to take breaks rather than run storytimes year round. I believe we have finite hours in the day. I believe we have finite staff. I believe it is important to do planning and library work on paid time at work. I believe that we serve more than one age or one demographic. I believe the programs we do outside the library are as vital as those we do within. I believe we need to balance our commitment to all our services, not just the flashy ones the public notices but the mundane, hidden services (collection development, staff development, stats and reporting, collaboration within our libraries with outer departments, planning, recovering our mojo after tough patron interactions).

For staff, our usual 3-4 week break is full of attendance at conferences, CE, planning, vacations and time off for staff (22 weeks worth annually), working on developing new services and iniatiatives, like that. For patrons, we are usually running a stealth program (Lego Tower Build, Spy Club, No Place Like Gnome) or a special event like Toddler Drive in, Halloween Party of Toddler Dance Party during our breaks. And of course, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and Baby Book Bees are great in-between storytime literacy affairs for families.

This particular break is so radical, though, that it makes me nervous to even write about it. It happened because of last year....well, and the year before.

Two years ago we invited every 2nd grade class in for a field trip adventure beginning in January. We tried booking these tours while running our seven weekly storytimes. It took a solid four months to get all the field trip adventures booked in, often with staff working split shifts, longer-than-8 hour shifts and coming in on days off to get those adventures accomplished at the same time as our full storytime schedule. Staffers were game but burnt out.  That was nasty.

Last year, we had our long-time early literacy librarian retire at the bright dawn of January 2, 2013. We knew we would still be in the process of hiring our new early literacy librarian through at least the end of February. And we still had 2nd grade tours. So we took the radical step of delaying storytimes until March- it was a three month break. Being short-staffed, this seemed like the only solution.

It worked swell. We were able to book in the 2nd grade tours when it was convenient for the teachers and despite being down a woman, we did it in a way that made it far easier on staff. It was a revelation. And best of all, many of our storytime families kept coming into the library regularly during this time and flocked back to storytimes once they returned in March. It was a big risk. But the reality was a pleasant surprise.

This year, the 2nd graders are again coming...and they are joined by all the kindergarten kids in the district for our brand new Library Sneakers field trip adventure.

So we scheduled a few stealth activities (Book Bundles and Smart Cookie Club featuring Pete the Cat); a few preschool programs (Dance Party; 1000 Books Graduation Party) and are widely advertising an early literacy monthly calendar developed by our  state library association's Youth Services Section (thanks to the ever inventive Amy over at Show Me Librarian).

The next ten weeks are dedicated to our 22 separate tours scheduling in and discovering the wonder of the library. They are dedicated to staff attending PLA and ALA. They are dedicated to a massive weed before our records are dumped into our new ILS system. And they are dedicated to still serving our preschool friends with awesome stealth programs and special events. Win win win win!

Graphic courtesy of Pixabay

When Scout Troops Come Knocking at the Library Door

Scout troops always present an interesting challenge when they contact us for a visit. The leaders are trying to have the kids complete a communications or reading or library or "?" badge - they often seem to be unclear on what they want/need.  The tours need to be scheduled in the late afternoon or evening when we tend to be either busiest or most lightly staffed. The kids are usually a little wild when they get together and the leaders a bit at a loss on how to reign in the natural exuberence of boys or girls not in school.

We have developed a tour that is fun and informative for the kids and inevitably helps them with their library visit. We usually start off gathering the kids for a very brief introduction to the library. At that time, if we can, we storytell either a funny or scary story for the kids to establish a rapport with them. It is always based on a kid's book so we can make the connection with them that the books in the library contain great stuff.

Since many of the kids on these visits have been to the library before on with their class or family, we usually next go to a "background" tour of the library. The outside bookdrop with hydraulic lift; Tech Services; our server room; back storage shelves; basement areas and elevator. While in Tech we chat a bit about the preparation that books need - cataloging into a collection; dewey numbers and barcodes.

Then we catalog the kids!  We ask them for a favorite subject or two, pick one and write a dewey number on a sticker and stick it on them. We also stick on a barcode. Then we head into the non-fiction and show the kids where we would shelve them. A wonderful result is that kids have already told us a favorite subject or interest so they head right back over to that area to find books they love and can relate to once the formal part of the tour is done.

We no longer sweat when the phone rings with a scout leader on the other end.  We got the goods!

Peeking Behind the Scenes at the Library

We are going full-tilt with our Library Stars 2nd grade field trip adventures. By the end of the week we will have seen kids from five of the eleven schools who will eventually come before May. We are super happy that all the thought and planning has resulted in a great program and many return visits so far from our "Stars".

By dividing each group into three, all kids get to experience each piece of the tour as a small group which leads to alot of spontaneity and sparks interest. That brief 15 minutes per "station" provides a glimpse at the collections in Youth Services; some lively booktalks of high interest books, and a background look at the parts of the library that only staff gets to see. I want to expand on this last component because it has been such a fun part of the adventure.

We start at Circ and let the kids see how a book comes through the book drop into a comfy, lined bin.  They learn that over 3,000 books a day are checked out and returned and get to see the busy Circ workroom where books are staged to go back on the shelves or shipped to other libraries with faraway names like Black River Falls, Mindoro or Viroqua.  We open the door to the outside bookdrop and let them know that we empty those books every four hours to avoid puking bookdrops.

Then, on to the adult area where they walk past the Reference desk and into the back storage shelves for both Reference and Archives. That's where we have the slick movable shelving with hand cranks. We explain that this is where we keep lots of the history of our community but the shelves are scrunched together - only Harry Potter's Knight Bus could get between the shelves unless we crank them open. They love that demo.

We head over to Tech Services to see the boxes of new material ready to be opened (like Christmas every day!) and the carts of new books ready to get cataloged and "dressed" with labels, stamps and plastic jackets. We tell them that we choose all the books, CDs and DVDs to buy for the library and spend about $8,000 every month on new materials.  If we have time, we open the door to the busily humming server room, show them the old mini dumb waiter elevator used for book delivery and then whisk them back down to the Children's Room.

The kids are wide-eyed amazed to see what goes on in the library and staffers in those departments enjoy having a spotlight on their often unseen and under-appreciated work. It's fun to insert a few facts along the way as well.

Do you have favorite background tours? What stuff do you show?

Second Grade Library Stars

Next week marks the beginning of our field trip adventure for all second graders in our community.

The idea was hatched at a meeting between our public library youth librarians and our school district's LMC folks. Our LMC colleagues came up with the grade level suggestion and we looked into how to make it happen. We wrote and received a mini-grant from our local Community Foundation (combined with a small starter grant from our local Parents magazine Coulee Parenting Connection) to help us fund buses for so all kids could visit the Main Library Youth Services area.  The schools collaborated by providing us with class lists so we could forgive outstanding fines and send library registrations out before the tours.

When we wrote the grant, we noted that only 25% of our community's kids participate in SLP. And no wonder - as we are going through the school lists, almost half the kids don't even have cards. Those are statistics we want to turn around.

We are making this into a mega-big deal. We want to introduce the kids to the library but also encourage return visits to check out books.  We are calling the kids "Library Stars" and using that as a thematic thread. Stars are on the specially designed registration forms, bookmarks and in the room.  Kids who return to the library once and check out material will receive a cool flashing star pin. After three return visits between the time of the tour (scheduled in February - May) and August, families can enter their names into a drawing to win a free night at a Marriot Hotel.

The nuts and bolts of the field trip: we plan to welcome the kids and then divide the groups in three, with each group rotating between the three activities:  a tour of the Children's area; booktalks/stories; "background" tour of Tech and Circ. And, of course, there will be free time just to explore as well.

We have created a simple database to trace return visits and see if this kind of initiaitive results in better use of our library. We think it will!

Mixing It Up with Tykes

Last week we had a group of 2-5 year olds in for a field trip adventure. My colleague Sara and I divided the group in two - she showed one group around the room while I shared stories, songs and storytelling with the other half - and then we switched the kids. Because timing is always a bit imprecise on this kind of thing, I had to be prepared to wrap up at a moment's notice as the touring group came back to the storyroom.


I ended up playing with the concept of clapping - asking kids to clap in sign language, clap like a penguin (with elbows); like a frog (with knees); like a hippo (opening and closing our mouths); like an elephant and so on. Kids started suggesting animals and characters - rabbits, aliens, monsters - and we had a great time playing and mixing it up.

It brought to mind a link from a couple years ago that spoke to this. Abby the Librarian had a delightful post about a song she keeps in her storytime arsenal that is ready in a second and can be used often. These fun and funny activities help stretch the time in a pinch and are fun and inventive for the kids.

Mixing it up happens when the creative muse pays a visit and inspires us to play. A friend taught me to do "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" as "Noggin, Shruggers, Benders, Tootsies" and it gets giggles every time. Other times, I use the fingerplay "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" (two little eyes looking at me/well I shook that tree as hard as I could/ down fell the apples/mmmmm, were they good) and do it a few times. Each time I let the kids suggest a new food. We always end up climbing pizza trees, candy trees and other nummy fauna.

Having a storybag at my side also helps to create fun and suspense and stretch out time. I keep some books, props, puppets inside relating to the stories I plan to do. Then I make a big production with much fanfare and hoohaw of groping for and finding the prop and bringing it out in triumph. The results: big-eyed kids, quiet and interest zeroed in on the story. Priceless!

What do you use to keep little kids interested and stretch out timing?

Image: 'Baby Kong' http://www.flickr.com/photos/45777632@N06/6300899555

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Field Trip Adventure!

In the past, our tours were ok but lacked punch and direction. Kids were led around from one collection to the next and given pretty much the same spiel no matter what the age. The highlight was a half hour of stories and songs at the end. Content often depended on which staffer hosted the tour and messages and emphasis varied widely. It didn't seem like we were getting any over-arching message across like, "Hey this is a really fun place and cool too!"

So a year ago, we decided to re-imagine the tours into field trips with a concentration on fun and giving kids a glimpse into how libraries really work. But before the fun we had to work on the mechanics. 

The first thing we did was make some decisions on dividing field trips into appropriate content depending on age/comprehension. Then we worked on some messages we felt all kids needed to hear: Books belong to everyone in the community and are shared. A library card allows access to great books and information.  We are like your school library but you have more time to browse for books and we are open when your school library is closed (evenings; weekends; summer). 

Preschool-Gr. 1
We use this scenario to explain how a library works:

Ask who the books belong to (librarian? Nooooo; Library? Nooooo. You?  YES!)?  The books belong to all the kids and people in La Crosse. They live here at the library but they love to visit you.  When you have a visitor, do they stay forever?  Noooo. That’s right, they go back home.  When a book “visits” you, it stays for 3 weeks then you bring it back here to the library- its house.  Then another child checks it out.  We all share. [This can be expanded and played with depending on your crowd.]

For their tour, we do a theme each school year based on a children's book. Last year it was based on Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny. We placed stuffed book characters at the collection or room points we wanted to highlight. Then we searched for Knuffle Bunny and found all the other characters and told kids about those collections. Knuffle Bunny was found back in the storyroom where we shared another book or two. This year we are using Emma Dodd's Dog's Colorful Day. We'll have a white dog cut-out for each child and they will collect dots at each stop on the room tour.  More great books to use include Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Where's Spot by Eric Hill.

Gr. 2-4

We can "play" a bit more with this age group. Our new colleague Sara came up with a great way to engage these kids. You can read about it at S. Bryce Kozla.

We also give the teachers options for an activity rather than just stories. So kids can be cataloged, barcoded and shelved; can do origami ; can create spine poetry; can play Book Bingo or get a booktalk. If teachers want a non-fiction concentration we let the kids know that the non-fiction is arranged alot like grocery stores. In stores, all the cereals are together; all the canned veggies are together -they aren't arranged alphabetically and that's how it is in non-fiction. I also like to ask kids if they know words in other languages.  Then I tell them my other language is Dewey Decimal and it helps me know exactly where the books are that they crave!

Finally, no matter what the age, we build in time for the kids to browse and ask questions while they go through the collection. These changes have really refreshed what we do and made our old tours into SUPER fun adventures for kids. What do you do to sparkle up these opportunities for kids at your library?

Image: 'Thor vs. Superman (49/365)'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/83346641@N00/4369073183

Field Trip Fun

We have been seeing a decline in the frequency of class tours of the library over the last couple of years.  Certainly, economics have played a big part - when schools have many choices for their field trips but limited funding for the buses, the library often suffers.  After meetings with our school library media center colleagues, they expressed an interest in having all second graders come to the library for visits and that got us inspired to look at visits for all ages.

So we put our heads together to see if we could ratchet up our usual tour and make a trip to the library into an adventure!  Our first step was developing more age/interest specific content so fifth graders had an entirely different experience than preschoolers or early elementary aged kids.  Our second was committing ourselves to enthusiastic presentation of info that may be old to us but is new to the kids.

For preschoolers through early elementary kids, we focus on basic collections they use (print and non-print); book check-out, book return area and info desk and fun explanations of how a library works; how to get a library card; and how to use our huge boat facade (as a place to read!!).  We wrap this "business-as-usual" tour around a theme. 

This school year, for younger kids, we are using a search for Knuffle Bunny and Mo Willems' book as our theme.  First we read the book to the kids. Then we tell them our Knuffle Bunny stuffed animal is lost and needs to be found - by them.  As we share the story, colleagues are putting book character dolls at strategic points in the library that we want to highlight (see above).  The kids then join us as we find characters and describe collections and points of interest.  We have no luck finding Knuffle Bunny, so return to the program room where Knuffle Bunny is discovered hiding.  A few more stories shared and we are good to go! 

Part of the fun with younger kids is explaining how a library really works.  Here is the way we do it:

We  ask the kids who the books belong to (the librarians?  Nooooooo; the library? Noooooo; You?  YESSSSS!!!!)  The books belong to and are shared by all the kids and grownups in the community!  Then we tell the kids them the library is like a house that the books live in. But books love to visit with kids at their house! With a library card, children can take home materials for a nice visit. And, just like a visit from a friend (we all know that visiting friends don't stay forever), the books have to return home to the library after a few weeks so they can visit with other children. This simple explanation hits home with kids and helps them see how a library works.

For first and second graders I am tempted to use John Perry's The Book That Eats People as the shared story and play with the concept that books aren't dangerous. Or maybe Eric Kimme's Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock  - we could search for stuffed animals that might also live in the village. Hmmm or.....?????  Any ideas out there for a good focusing book for first and second graders that would lend itself to field trip fun?

For older kids, we show a bit of the OPAC; the non-fiction and fiction. We talk about how a non-fiction collection is arranged very much like a grocery store - like thing is next to like thing.  And just like they may know words in a world language (Hola!), our language is Dewey and that's how we know what all those numbers mean.  The groups get a choice of a culminating activity pre-chosen by their teacher/leader activity - a chance to be cataloged and shelved (complete with barcode and a dewey number based on their interest); fiction booktalks; an easy experiment; some spine poetry; playing Book Bingo; or doing a easy origamil keepsake.

For our teens, we are in great shape because we have tied in mini-tours of the Teen area with middle school groups coming in to learn how to do research for projects for National History Day competition.  We see a large percentage of middle school kids on these visits and it is a golden opportunity to familiarize them with that area. It is a win-win situation.

We have been test running a few of the new field trips prior to heavy advertising after the first of the year.  Here's hoping for good results!
Image: 'Tour ->' http://www.flickr.com/photos/15923063@N00/298346278

Re-Aligning the Ship of State

We have been undergoing some interesting changes lately.  One of our co-workers, The Hedgehog Librarian, went off to academic libraryland so we been dividing out desk times, selection responsibilities and the myriad little pieces that go into wrapping up a colleague's time with us.  Amidst all the good-byes and the funny feelings of not-quite-completeness, we are also looking at other changes that are keeping us big-eyed.

When I came on board (just two years ago), the place was like a ship on storm-tossed waters.  The atmosphere in the public areas felt like free-for-all-free-fall. There didn't seem to be alot of procedures or limits on what we were able to realistically offer to our public so we did alot of everything - but often without focus.  Over time, we used technology to ease our way; re-examined and re-thought our services and collections and began to shift our focus in a way that helps us manage the physical space to make it inviting and a little more sane. Changes big and small are now suggested all the time by our able crew and we make progress each month in making a great space better.

Lately I have asked my colleagues to step up the pace of change.  They have really gotten on board and we are creating some exciting changes on our ship.

What's ahead?

• Creating hands-on pre-literacy activity areas for preschoolers around the department
• Launching an initiative to encourage parents to read at least 1000 books to their preschoolers before kindergarten
• Reducing in-house programs for school-agers and doing more outreach programs to that age group.
• Increasing the number of outreach visits at literacy fairs, school parent nights and other venues where parents gather while reducing the frequency of preschool outreach visits slightly to accomodate offering services to a wider age range.
• Creating "field trip adventures" rather than tours that make a class trip to the library the best visit in town. The content is specially targeted to specific age levels of the kids.
• Networking and creating more partnerships with our schools and community organizations to create great programs and services
• Streamlining our workflow to create more opportunities for creative thinking and idea generation.
• Revamping our summer reading program to create a simpler experience and one that recognizes that libraries are more than just  reading - they are about checking out materials; attending free programs; and a place for support of writing and other literacy activities.
• Re-imaginging and remodeling our physical space to remove a much-beloved but non-ADA compliant and unsafe boat facade and replacing it with a homage to our beautiful Mississippi River and bluff country.

Some of these changes have been/are welcomed by our patrons, some less popular.  Navigating through the reactions to these changes is probably our toughest challenge as a staff.  It's hard to tell a teacher of one age group that we have to reduce a service in order to offer services to other ages as well; or that our new adventure field trips replace a provider's routine expectations of a traditional storytime; or that we are limiting the number of seasonal books so everyone has a chance to enjoy a winter book.  On the other hand, it's easy to accept the grins of kids who experience the new field trips; listen to the excitement of our school colleagues when they hear about our Dr. Seuss presentation or our gross-out book talk; or accept the praise of families who feel more welcomed in the calmer atmosphere of the room.

I am lucky to be working with willing colleagues who are brave enough to step up to a change (or twenty) in course.  It might be awhile before we hit calm water but the crew is ready to play.  I hope to blog a little more in-depth about some of our initiatives over the next few months - although I have been quiet lately and don't know if this is one of those empty promises!  And I'll share the reactions of our public as we sail between the shoals of change.  It is a good time to be aboard!

Image: 'Ship'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/31805905@N00/35838005

"Do-We" Know Dewey?

A great way to teach the Dewey Decimal system concept to kids is to break it down into a really fun activity. This is perfect for a class visit or scout tour.

Talk to the kids about how the library is organized a lot like a grocery store. "Like" things are kept together. Milks together; toothpaste together; candy together. You wouldn't find frozen ice cream in the lettuce or look for cereal with the cheese. The dewey decimal system is just a way to keep books about the same stuff together.

Mention that the Dewey Decimal system is also like a world language. Ask the kids if they know words in any other language - you'll get lots of polyglot talk back! Then tell the kids that your world language is "Dewey". When you want a dinosaur book you know that 567=dinosaurs; or 398=folk and fairy tales or 636.7=dogs. Then walk them along the non-fiction and explain (briefly) the major areas and point out subjects popular to their age level.

Finally, the piece de resistance! Catalog, barcode and shelve the kids! Just ask them for a a favorite subject, write a corresponding dewey number on a sticker and put that and a barcode on the kids. Then put them in order and "shelve" them in their part of the collection as you walk along with them!

They have a great time and many kids really "get" it. And you always reassure them that staffers are there to help them translate dewey and find the books they want quickly and easily whenever they return!

Let's Take a Tour

When kids come to visit the library, why not make it fun? There's more than one way to explain to kids the nitty gritty of how the library really works. This is what we've found works for us!
Each year we choose a theme for the tour based on a favorite children’s book. This year we are using Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. We start the visit by sharing the story. That settles them in and they are ready for the meat of the visit.
We tell the kids that the library is like a house that the books live in. But books love to visit with kids at their house! With a library card, children can take home materials for a nice visit. And, just like a visit from a friend (we all know that visiting friends don't stay forever), the books have to return home to the library after a few weeks so they can visit with other children. This simple explanation hits home with kids and helps them see how a library works.
Then its time for a walk about the room. Wooden fruits and veggies are plunked down in strategic areas we want to highlight (specific book collections; Check-out and Info desks; book drop, etc) . Then we walk around using a caterpillar puppet to find the food, munch it and describe to the tour group what area they are in. Kids often spot the food first which adds to the fun and the excitement of discovery. Once we've finished the walk, kids are free to go back and browse and/or select material for check-out.
Kids remember the food on subsequent visits with parents when library staffers are overheard saying to kids “Remember, you check out your books over by the banana.” It brings a grin to all our faces.