I want to give a special congratulations to the Westland Library. Being a youth services librarian and a mother of a toddler, I have become a connoisseur of library story times over the past few years and I was particularly impressed by the Westland Library's Toddler Time. There were several activities during the story time that enabled the kids to get up and move around, keeping them actively engaged throughout the whole session. One activity involved giving each child a small sticker and letting them place it on a printed drawing of a bridge. The older children had fun choosing whether to put the sticker above or below the bridge, while the younger children, like mine, were just excited to put a sticker on something. A pack of stickers and a sheet of copy paper....genius. I did something similar with velcro sets at my library, but I only had about five sets and each set had a limited number of pieces. If I was still doing story times, I would steal this activity.
The story time wasn't the only thing that impressed me about the Westland Library. While my son was placing his sticker, I was talking to a father of another tot. He was telling me how a librarian told him he didn't need to pay for a membership and about all the different resources the library had to offer. 'So', he said, 'I got a card and after story time we're going to check out some books and dvd's'. Be still my heart! A convert! This library really takes advantage of the fact that library programs get new people in the door and uses it to actively reach out to potential patrons. After story time my son and I wandered out to the children's area and sure enough, a librarian asked me if I had been to the Westland Library before, if I lived in Westland, welcomed me to the library, and made sure I didn't leave without a program schedule in my hand. Now that's how it's done.
Congratulations, Westland Public Library. You win the first Chatty Librarian award. Let's call it....hmmm. A Chattski! Good job, Westland.
No comments:
Post a Comment