Serving Youth
Serving Kids & Teens
Story times
Whether it is for babies, toddlers, or Pre-K kids, I believe story times are essential for a child’s cognitive development. After 7+ years, I’ve learned that the same model of story time does not match each child’s needs. So I run baby programs that are inclusive to older children with special needs, yoga story times for high-energy toddlers, and special listening times for children who are learning to tell their own stories. Each one concentrates on language development, fine or gross motor skills, and computational thinking that ties into the thematic concepts of the day.
And the play times afterwards teach them even more!
Teen Services
A librarian has the rare opportunity to act as a mentor to growing adolescents, helping them identify fact vs. fiction and being a mediator in the difficult social situations that occur in a teen room. Providing services for teens requires more listening to them than listening to webinars.
The result? A respected library space. Active volunteer programs. And happy teens.
Collection Development
My standard of collection development combines what the community wants with what makes a collection balanced. Regular audits and responsible weeding efforts ensure that children will be able to feel the library’s collection is both accessible and relatable to their everyday experiences. This includes making decisions from whether a, “classic,” has endured the test of time to ensuring the collection has the same amount of, “I love dog,” books as, “I love cat,” books.
My goal in developing a collection is to create a browsable experience that eliminates the unpleasant sensation of not knowing where to start in your journey to love books.
Family Events
Intergenerational programming becomes more and more relevant as libraries expand their offerings to embrace multi-cultural holidays and maker culture. The concept of a Youth Services Department only being for youth is long past. We provide services the children, the teens, the parents, and the grandparents. In order to satisfy an entire family, we often bring in outside performers and community partners and show movies, but, more often than not, the simplest of activities can become the open doorway families need to break their routine and experience something new.
After School Activities
From regular Crafternoons to Paws for Reading to STEM Explorers, the library provides much of what today’s schools can’t offer: experiential learning outside the curriculum. It isn’t a babysitting service. It’s better than that. Many of the programs I’ve led for grade-school and upper elementary students have caught the interest of as many parents as kids as I guide them through carefully selected resources explaining rocket science, rovers, chemical compounds, electrical engineering, and more.
My philosophy: a librarian doesn’t need to know everything. A librarian just needs to know where to find the right information.
Commitment to Diversity
Diverse voices in children’s literature represent more than an exception. They are identities that have been stolen or underrepresented for far too long. We all deserve to find our voices and live our truth. And, even though my voice is small in the scheme of things, I will help amplify others as best I can.
