Saying Yes

Abby the Librarian has a wonderful post about the importance of giving library users a positive experience when they use the library.  Saying yes is soooo much more fun than saying no.

Sometimes it is just finding a way of saying things that accentuates the positive rather than the negative. For instance:

New Library Card Check-out Limit on Materials
Negative: We know you are going to steal us blind so we only want to lose these 3 items.
Positive: Just for this first check-out, while we process your info, we ask you to just check out three items.

Parents Insisting Kids Attend Program They Are Too Young For
Negative: We have strict age limits and no one is allowed in unless they meet our age requirements
Positive: Kids need reading skills for this particular event.  We also have this and this event perfect for your younger child. And if you want to drop by and observe, come on in! If your child gets bored or fussy though, you can take a break out in the hallway.

Too Loud in the Area
Negative:  Be quuuuuiiiiiieeettt!!!!!!!!!!!!
Positive: I'm going to ask you to quiet down a bit - I can't hear the questions. And that's what I do best- find answers.

What other ways can negative be spun into positive gold?

Image: 'it's in your hands' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40892749@N03/4657652249

Wrap Your Head Around Post PLA Wrap-ups

Ok, ok, I couldn't make it and still have enough staffing available for our youth area.  But that doesn't mean I didn't wish I could go.  Now, thanks to bloggers around the kidslibrary blogosphere, reports of sessions from the Public Library Association's Portland conference are starting to come in. Eva M over at Eva's Book Addiction has a great post about a session that focused on training staff at all levels to be welcoming to kids and teens using the library.

We all know the drill.  We build it - great programs, a welcoming atmosphere, cool stuff for teens, great stuff for families - and in they come!  But teens, families and kids bring a level of activity and sometimes chaos that can be a challenge to staffers not directly serving these age groups. Yet, staffers beyond children's folks should find ways to welcome these groups and support them.  Training is a key part of this process - as well as support of the administration in placing value in kids and understanding their needs.  Whether we come from a small library or a multi-branch system, we each can do our part to promote helping our co-workers understand our clientele better.

Thanks Eva for a thoughtful post!

Image: 'I 'm starting to crack'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/3812840962

Kids and the Circle of Life

One of my colleagues today shared on Facebook an album of photos of her dad - from very young tot through his early eighties. The pictures were in chronological order - from eager-eyed young boy, to  sophisticated looking teen, through early manhood and marriage and then on through his years as father and worker and on to his retirement years. The man he became and the boy he was were wonderful to follow in the pictures.

At the same time, colleagues shared the most amazing Times Online story of Keith Richard and his book collection. It is so huge that he thought about training in librarianship for a bit to get it organized.One quote especially touched me.. “When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equaliser.”

Each day that I work with kids and see eager young faces I imagine the arc of their lives - will they be happy and hopeful; be adventurous, studious, rebellious, reflective or crazy; will their life be sweet or sad; rich in experiences or a trap from which they can't escape? And I think is there anything that I can do to make that experience while they are young just a little happier and a little better so that as they grow older they not only want to remember the library fondly but support a place that means so much to so many?  I hope I can.  I will always see the eyes of that future self with a long-lived life in the bright little peepers of the kids. And I'll keep trying to make a difference for them.

Image: 'H'Mong babygirl - mũ mèo nh�'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75199686@N00/3048514778

You're Not the Boss of ME!

I was talking to a couple of children's librarian friends in the airport on the way home from ALA the other day. We were discussing some of the challenges we face with our public and how much things have changed in the past thirty years that we have worked with kids and families.

We come from various sized libraries but there was a common theme running through our conversation. People of all ages are increasingly unable to accept limits on their poor behaviors in the library. Back in the day, if you set a policy or limit, most folks accepted it. But somewhere, somehow, somewhen, some people of all ages, all socioeconomic backgrounds and all - well, all! - simply don't think they need to accept there are limits to behaviors out in public and in a public building.

This pervasive "You're-Not-the-Boss-of-Me" attitude is our challenge each day at work. We want everyone to love coming to the library and we want to love helping them. We expect alot of free-ranging action and hubbub- we work with kids after all. But when things start to go bad and patrons are asked to calm down; supervise their children; stop running/climbing/swinging/cheese-doodling on the keyboards - well, you get the gist- the reaction is outrage that someone would attempt to limit their actions.

Some staffers handle this reaction with fear and back down. After all, we are supposed to be endlessly friendly. But in doing so I think those staffers lose control of the space and cede their authority to the kids/adults exhibiting poor behaviors. Other staffers calmly assert their authority to maintain a space friendly and welcoming for all users. Limits are set, perimeters established and expectations calmly conveyed.

Hard to do? You bet. But we do have a responsibility to create a space that all users feel they can use. As the librarian or library worker at the desk or responsible for the department, we help to set the tone for the children's area. We are the boss -not bossy - or at least the manager who manages the space. So here comes my mantra: be brave, don't fear. You can do it!

Image: '018_18' http://www.flickr.com/photos/94976401@N00/362852690