Going On Safari - Elementary Program and Preschool Storytime

This is a program I did back in the summer; I originally planned it for the elementary aged program, then adapted it for the preschool storytime (see below) the next day. We had an animal show booked that week with animals from around the world, so I wanted to do something with a safari theme. Not knowing if I was going to have any help over the summer or not, I also wanted to keep it fairly simple, without a lot of advanced prep, set-up, or clean-up, so decided on a simple binocular craft and safari activity using inflatable animals (cheaper and take less storage space than plush animals).

This was one of my "splurge" programs for the summer, as purchasing all the inflatable animals was a bit pricey, but they can (and will) all be used again in the future. If you already own larger plush or inflatable animals you can use, it would be significantly less costly to do.

Program: Going On Safari

Ages: 5-10, then adapted for ages 3-5 (see below)

# of Participants: Planned for up to 30, actually had 14 kids, then 8 for storytime

Budget: $165, but bulk of cost was reusable inflatable animals, consumable items cost less than $1/participant

Materials:

• cardboard craft tubes (such as from toilet paper, but I opted to purchase for hygienic reasons), 2 per participant, $0.33 each, 60 for $20
• colored masking tape, $7 for 8 rolls
• washi tape (already had), optional
• yarn or heavy string (already had)
• markers
• crayons
• construction paper cut into pieces sized to fit around tubes
• glue sticks
• tape
• scissors
• hole-punch
• assorted inflatable animals - $138 (The ones by JET were good quality, though scale is inconsistent since they are all about the size of a medium-large dog, so we just said some of them were babies.)
• elephant, $18
• rhino, $18
• zebra, giraffe, & tiger, $40
• alligator, kangaroo & kiwi bird, $38
• monkeys, $14 (poor quality, leak, but will last barely long enough for program)
• snake, $10 (this one was plush)

Activities:

Binocular Craft 

1. Participants could decorate two cardboard tubes however they liked using crayons, markers, colored paper, colored masking tape, and/or washi tape.
2. The tubes were then glued together, as well as taped together by wrapping tape around the middle. [Realized too late that it would have been nice to have something to act as a spacer in the middle to have at a more appropriate width.]
3. Holes were then punched on the outer side of each tube at one end, and string or yarn tied to them so they could hang around the kids' necks.

 

Safari 

1. Prior to the program, my co-worker had made a "fact sheet" for each animal with one or two interesting facts, along with a photo of a real animal, and a checklist of animals to find with a question about each animal that had to be answered.
2. The animals were hidden all around the library, and the appropriate fact sheet was posted next to them.
3. The kids took their binoculars and checklists and searched the library until they found all of the animals and answered the questions, requiring them to have actually found the animal and read the fact sheet. They were reminded that it was NOT a race, it didn't matter how fast they found them, or who found them all first, and there was no running or yelling. I also encouraged them to take photos with the animals.
4. Once they had found all the animals, they returned to the program room and showed one of us their checklist. If they had all the questions answered correctly, they got to pick a small prize (I gave them a small selection to choose from: small plastic animals, slap bracelets, or pop-it bracelets).
5. If they had missed a question or had the answer wrong, I sent them back to find the animal again and get the correct answer (most were because they didn't read the question carefully, a couple accidentally skipped a question), then they got to pick their prize.

How It Went:

I was a little worried some of the older kids would think the binocular craft was too babyish, but they seemed to enjoy being creative decorating them, and most did use their pretend binoculars on the safari. They really enjoyed the safari, and I got a lot of positive feedback from caregivers, too. More animals would make it even more fun! Of course you can use whatever animals you want, and either inflatable or plush. I chose inflatable because I could get larger animals for less cost than plush, and they could be deflated and thus take less storage space. I will definitely do this program again in the future!

Preschool Storytime Version:

Since we had so many cardboard tubes leftover, and had so much fun with the safari, I decided to just adapt both activities to use after the safari-themed preschool storytime the following day. I followed my usual storytime plan, reading Sitting in My Box by Dee Lillegard & Jon Agee and Starry Safari by Linda Ashman & Jeff Mack and singing songs featuring exotic animals ("The Animals in the Jungle Go...", or "If You're a Lion and You Know It"), then did modified versions of the binocular craft and safari afterward, simplifying both in order to be more developmentally appropriate and take less time.

For the binocular craft, we provided fewer options for decorating, skipping the colored paper and washi tape, and just having them color directly on the white tubes with crayons or markers, and using the colored masking tape to attach them together. For the animal safari, instead of sending them out to search for them, I led them around as a group to find the animals together, and read the facts to them, skipping the checklist with questions and prizes. Then they were free to go back for photo ops with the animals.

How It Went: This streamlined version worked perfectly for the preschoolers, and they loved it! One caregiver left me a note over the weekend telling me her child had not stopped looking at the world through her binoculars, and when I saw them again a couple of weeks (or more?) later at the library, the child still had her binoculars, except that the caregiver said they were a different pair, and that she had been obsessed with making them at home since the program. So definitely a hit! 

 

What Youth Services Staff Want Management to Know

 

If you are a director, board member, manager, supervisor, or any other member of library management or upper administration, this article is for you! These are all the things your youth services staff would like you to know, but are either afraid to tell you or have tried but feel they aren't being heard.  

Youth services librarians and staff everywhere are struggling with excessive workloads, unrealistic expectations, vocational awe, understaffing, and a public that is more demanding and less civil. We are often overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated, leading to burnout and many leaving, or considering leaving, the field. If this trend continues, it will seriously impact the quality of library services for youth and families and the library's ability to meet community needs, undermining public perception of the continued relevance of the public library.

"I left my job as a youth services manager because after 7 years I was totally burned out. My director expected far more work out of the youth department than any other department, but respected it the least. I wish my director knew how important children are in a community. And understood that working with youth is not *easy*." 

I recently surveyed 228 youth services staff, and 84% reported feeling at least some degree of burnout! *Eighty-four percent!* In this same survey, a third of respondents felt that upper management and admin do not have a good understanding of youth services job duties or the skills required to perform them, and almost half felt that upper management/admin do not understand the time involved and generally do not feel supported by upper management/admin. Nearly half of all respondents felt they were not fairly compensated for the work they did, did not have enough time to perform all the tasks expected of them, and that the library was not adequately staffed to meet expectations or community needs. In addition, a quarter of all respondents were unable to take sufficient paid time off to rest, recharge, and attend to personal, family, and health needs. No wonder so many of us are feeling burned out!

"I am so exhausted and burned out, and so unhappy after just 2-1/2 years in this position. I feel like no one has any understanding [of] how much time and energy go into programming and collection work, and they keep demanding more and more community outreach and engagement, yet give me no staff at all. I have zero help with anything."

In this same survey, youth services staff were asked what they wished their supervisors and upper management better understood about their jobs, and they didn't hold back! While there were a few that commented they felt their immediate supervisor understood their job fairly well, far fewer could say the same about upper management, and there were many, many more who commented otherwise, with the most frequent themes summarized in the table below; links to read all of the comments in their entirety are in the caption:

Table 1. Most frequently reported topics youth services staff wished superiors better understood about their jobs.
Many other topics were mentioned in the comments collected, which can all be read in the following linked documents:
Understanding YS - Supervisors and Understanding YS - Upper Management

Many respondents felt their supervisors and/or upper management (collectively referred to as "management") had unrealistic expectations and needed a better understanding of their workload, all the different tasks and duties they perform and how much time they require. They also reported that management did not appreciate the special skills and knowledge required for their job, including child development and early literacy, nor understand why we do what we do and that it is based on research. Many feel that they are not respected as professional librarians and just seen as "playing with kids", and are assigned more duties than their adult services counterparts as a result. Programming and collection maintenance/development were specifically mentioned as being particularly time-consuming. In addition, many wish management recognized how exhausting and draining it is working with the people and children, and how much physical, mental, emotional, and creative energy the job requires. 

"I don't feel they are completely aware of all the different things I have to do, and they definitely do not understand how much time and effort goes into programming and proper collection development."

"[I wish they understood] how much research, prep, and planning time goes into programs. That 1 hour program you see has anywhere from an hour to several hours of researching and testing ides, planning, buying and preparing materials, setting everything up, then taking everything down. Also, managing the collection and selecting and ordering materials takes a great deal of time, even if you don't really see it." 

"What we do in YS and YA often looks silly or trivial but it's usually backed by evidence based practices and is actually important."

"Not make jokes that our job isn't that hard...We just make it look easy!" 

 "It's exhausting!" 

Staffing issues were also mentioned frequently, with many expressing frustration about not having enough staff, staff needing more training, and not having enough support from other staff. There was also an emphasis on management needing to recognize the need for qualified staff for youth services, and not thinking "anybody can do it". Related to staffing and workload was the problem with being spread too thin, having too much interference and distraction due to interruptions, meetings, covering the service desk, having to help other departments, provide training for other departments, and taking up the slack from others being out or not doing their jobs. Several reported the need for acknowledgement and appreciation of the good work that they did, rather than just hearing criticism or demands for more, more, more. 

"I wish I could get them to understand that our department is not adequately staffed to do even the most basic services, and that it requires qualified staff, not just anybody, to work with kids and do programming and materials selection."

"More programs should equal more assistance. I can't do it all, even if I tried."

"A little bit of encouragement can go a long way." 

Survey participants were then asked what could their supervisor and upper management could do to better support them, and again, they had a lot to say! There were a few who commented that they did feel fairly well supported, mostly by their immediate supervisors rather than upper management. There were many similar comments made by multiple respondents, and the most frequently reported supportive measures needed are summarized in the table below, with links to all of the responses in their entirety in the caption:

Table 2. Most frequently reported ways youth services staff could be better supported by supervisors and upper management.
Many other topics were mentioned in the comments collected, which can all be read in the following documents:
Supporting YS - Supervisors and Supporting YS - Upper Management

Staffing issues made another appearance, this time as the most frequently reported area in which youth services staff need more support. In order to do all of the things expected of us, we need more staff, and that staff needs to be qualified, well-trained, and work together as a team. Additionally, youth services needs more support and teamwork from the staff in other departments, particularly circulation to help with tasks such as shelving, shelf reading, prepping materials, promoting programs and services, and giving patrons accurate information. The refrain of "I can't do it all!" was repeated throughout the comments. If management is unable or unwilling to increase/improve staffing, then they need to re-prioritize, stop over-committing, and reduce workloads to be in line with budget and staffing constraints.

"Hire more staff! Have reasonable expectations! Give more PTO and provide proper staffing and back-up so I could actually take it."

"Hire more staff who can effectively do their job."

"Hire additional staff (even temporary ones) before creating significant new programs and responsibilities. Spend more time in the actual branches to understand the staffing needs we already have."

 "Better manage employees who aren't pulling their weight."

Communication is another big issues. Youth services staff would like more communication and transparency from management, more check-ins to see how staff are doing, more awareness of what is going on, clear expectations and goals, and to be included in the conversations for planning and decision making. Youth services staff would also like to see supervisors and upper management be more present and pitch in and help with programming, big projects, or to cover so staff can take PTO; this would also help management have a better understanding and appreciation for what youth services staff do, and what is going on in their department.

"Check in regularly, ask about programs and outreach after they happen, establish process and procedures that make it easier to do my job and make sure all staff are on the same page. Communicate clearly and consistently with all staff...."

"Have more thorough and thoughtful conversations about workflow in the library and whose duties are what."

"Give a 'good job' when it's due." 

"I've always thought it would be fantastic if our managers worked our job to really understand it. At the very least they could have a meeting with me and ask me how I do my job. How do you plan a storytime, why do you do it that way? Where do you get your ideas for your family or teen programs? It would show me that they are interested and also management might learn something about youth programming they don't already know."

Recognizing youth services librarians as professionals and experts in their area, trusting their judgement, and allowing them a reasonable amount of autonomy would be much more supportive than micromanaging, over-committing on their behalf, and continuously expecting more from them. Trust them when they tell you they are already spread too thin, believe them when they say they can't do any more programming or outreach without additional staff, allow them to "just say no" sometimes. Again, we can't do it all and be everything to everybody, all the time.

"Respect would be nice, believing us when we say things like "that's a big ask" or "that's going to be a lot of work."

"Either be more involved with programming, or support the decisions I make regarding programming and time constraints."

"Trust my experience."   "Trust us to do our jobs."

"Give me autonomy to do my job instead of micromanaging."

"Stop pushing for more, more, more. Give recognition." 

Receiving fair pay that is (1) a livable wage for the area, and (2) commensurate with job duties, performance, and professional knowledge and skills is an issue across public libraries, but with youth services in particular. Several also mentioned the need for better benefits, including healthcare and more PTO in order to have time to rest and recharge, and attend to personal, family, and health issues, and the ability to actually take PTO when needed. Flexible work schedules, working from home, less time on the public service desk, the need for acknowledgement and recognition, and in general being a better manager, leader, and advocate for staff were also other ways in which youth services staff needed more support from management.

"Fight for me to have a living wage. We get paid poorly and only a 2-3% raise. Not even enough to keep up with inflation :("

"Fight for higher wages, rather than compare it to salaries of other libraries in the area. They are all so low, no wonder nothing changes. At this rate, management seems to have the "you should feel lucky you are of the higher paid in the area" attitude. Frustrating."

"Fight for better benefits!"

"Give regular pay increases to match my experience and inflation. Also give me more sick leave and vacation leave." 

"Have regular staff meetings, do the strategic plan, revise bylaws, follow public meeting procedures. Basically just do her job better." 

Finally, survey participants were given the opportunity to add any additional comments they wished, and these are summarized in the table below, followed by a few noteworthy quotes, and can be read in their entirety in the linked PDF document:

Table 3. Topics of additional comments from survey participants.
Full content of original comments can be read in the document "Additional Comments".

"I am just so exhausted - physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am about at my breaking point and am seriously considering leaving the field. I love working with the kids and [other] patrons, and I am passionate about literacy and libraries, but I just can't take it."

"This is a tough job to do as a single woman. I am having a hard time supporting myself in today's economy on a single income, but I love my job and would hate to leave it."

"My director recently enacted a sort-of four day work week. Each librarian is given 8 WFH hours per week if it is possible. This has made my mental health so much better and improved my ability to get stuff done while I'm at work."

"My answers are very positive because I landed in what seems to be a unicorn library. I've worked...in 8 or so other libraries and my answers would have been on the low end of the scale for most."

"Your survey is very appropriate at this moment in my working life, as I've reached my breaking point with the lack of support...from my manager. Thank goodness the kids and their families are so wonderful and make my job fulfilling, because otherwise I'd be a puddle on the floor now. It bothers me how many managers like mine who have a background in adult services think that youth services is easy, fluffy, not important, and that youth services staff are less intelligent (I have 2 master's degrees...but she treats me like an imbecile)."

"This is the first library I've worked at where youth services is looked down on and often not included in the big picture decisions, but running into library staff who don't work in youth services who think working in youth is easy has been the case in every library I've worked at. I also feel the bar for success in youth services is set so much higher than other departments." 

"I love my job and it is on me that I take it home. My boss repeatedly reminds me not to work over my hours or take it home. She doesn't want me to burn out."

"After 17 years I feel extremely burned out and am actively looking to make a career change out of librarianship. The difficulties with management have soured the last bit of joy I felt for this job. It's heartbreaking because this was my career that I started out feeling very passionately about, but at this point I just feel totally done."

Of course there are good situations and good supervisors, managers, and directors as some responses indicate, but responses also indicate that burnout is a serious problem despite that. The five primary issues seem to be:

1. Unreasonable expectations and excessive workloads.
2. Understaffing, and underqualified staffing.
3. Low pay and inadequate benefits.
4. Lack of respect, trust, and understanding of what youth services is all about and the knowledge and skills required.
5. Lack of communication, transparency, inclusion, and recognition of accomplishments.

So, what can management do to improve things?

1. Talk to your youth services staff! Make the effort to understand the demands of their jobs, why they do what they do, what the challenges are, and what their needs are; really listen! Include them in planning and decision-making.
2. Recognize that they are professionals and know their job best. Treat the field and professionals within with respect. Give them enough autonomy to perform effectively and control the workload. Trust their judgement and allow them to say "no" to things. Believe them when they say their plates are already full.
3. Hire more staff, recruit qualified staff, and provide adequate training. If you don't make it a priority, it will never happen.
4. Fight for higher salaries and better benefits. Again, you have to make it a priority.
5. Be present. Get out of the office and see what's going on in the library, help with a program, talk to caregivers after storytime, see how great your staff are at their jobs and how much they mean to the community.
6. Just say "No"! Stop over-committing, we cannot do everything or be all things, to all people, all the time. We don't have to participate in every event, partner with every organization, or agree to every request.

If hiring more staff and raising salaries (and budgets) is not possible right now, then reduce workloads to what can reasonably be sustained with current staffing and budgets, and commensurate with current pay rates, and advocate for change! If you don't make it a priority and commit to making it happen, things will never change. Be more like this director:

"I'm a manager under the director...The issues we face - budgets, staff shortage, etc. are not my director's fault and he fully supports us, esp. in cutting back and doing a reasonable amount of programs and services...I know I am very fortunate in my current director, especially after previous experiences. The really big difference is that is doesn't matter if he doesn't fully understand what I'm doing, how much time it takes, etc. He supports and trusts me, so when I say "I can't reasonably do this" he says "Ok, don't do it" or "How can I support you and what kind of work around can we do, b/c the Board is requiring this" or if I say "I need A to do B" he either gets me A or says "well, we can't do B" then."

Though I have summarized the most repeated concerns in the tables and selected quotes above, I strongly encourage you to look at all of the results from the survey and read all of the comments from the open-ended questions, which can be found by following the links below:

• Survey Results, Part 1 - Closed-ended Questions, w/ graphs & charts 
• Responses to "What do you wish your immediate supervisor better understood about your job?"
• Responses to "What do you wish upper management better understood about your job?"
• Responses to "How could your supervisor better support you?"
• Responses to "How could upper management better support you?"
• Additional comments 
  

I recognize this was a highly un-scientific survey with limitations, but I do think there is very valid and valuable information here, and I thank you for taking the time to read over it. I hope it gets shared and sparks some productive discussions that may effect some positive change, as I believe youth services will soon begin to see a mass exodus otherwise.

Related article: "Can We PLEASE Stop with the Vocational Awe Already?"

Play In the Sand Day! - Family Program

 

I typically take a programming break in August to do a deep clean and organizing of the program room, plan for the upcoming school year, get in some training and professional development for me and my staff, and just to have a bit of a break after the busy summer, but this year I decided to throw in one special program to tide people over.

Since August 11th is National Play in the Sand Day and I already had play sand and kinetic sand, as well as a stack of sand art and a few sand bottle necklaces leftover from SRP 2022, I decided that it would be a relatively easy, low-cost, low-prep, and fun program to do. Though I initially hadn't planned on buying anything new for the program, I ended up getting a couple of small inflatable wading pools to use rather than the sensory bin (for ease of access by the little ones), another 100 pounds of play sand, and some great sand toys I happened to see on clearance.

Benefits: Sand play is not only fun, it offers several developmental benefits for kids:

• Sensory Exploration - sand play allows kids to experience different textures, temperatures, dry vs wet, as well as movement, how their body interacts with the sand and space, developing tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive senses.
• Gross Motor Skills - scooping, digging, lifting buckets, using large molds all build muscle strength and eye-hand coordination.
• Fine Motor Skills - using mini molds, spoons, collecting and arranging shells and rocks, sprinkling sand or water, using the pincer grasp all help develop and refine the smaller muscles and coordination of hands, fingers, and even toes.
• Math & Science - scooping, molding and building with sand help develop concepts of volume, capacity, and numbers; sorting shells by size, color or type practices observation and classification skills; mixing sand and water encourages curiosity and experimentation.
• Problem Solving - figuring out the right amount of moisture for the sand to be molded and keep its shape without collapsing or sticking, realizing building too close to the water means a short life for your castle, and trying to build bigger castles all require observation, testing, patience, and perseverance.
• Creativity & Imagination - all open-ended play is wonderful for encouraging creativity and imagination, and sand play has endless possibilities. Build castles with molds or freeform, build something else entirely! Sculpt sand into animals, pretend to be a crab, a pirate, an explorer, a treasure hunter....
• Social & Language Skills - as kids play near each other, they talk together, perhaps collaborate and work together, work out sharing and turn-taking, conflict resolution, and make new friends.
• Boosts Immunity - Children who are allowed to play outdoors and get dirty have stronger immunity than those who do not.

Ages: Offered as family program for all ages, attended by kids aged 1-10 & adult caregivers

Time: Drop-in program, 1-1/2 hour

Budget: $40, all items reusable, already had several items

Materials: 

• Play sand, two 50 lb bags, Lowe's, $7.50 ea
• Small inflatable wading pool, two, $14 ea, Amazon
• Assorted sand toys & molds, already had some, bought a few more on clearance
• Kinetic sand, already had
• Adhesive sand art kits, leftover from SRP 2022
• Sand bottle necklaces, leftover from SRP 2022
• Assorted colored sand, already had
• Assorted shells, already had
• Cafeteria trays, already had
• Mini funnels, already had
• Dixie cups, smallest

Activities: 

1. Sandbox - I filled each small wading pool with one 50lb bag of play sand, along with shells, various castle molds, animal molds, shovels, and other sand toys. Sand was already wet enough to mold; if not, add water.
2. Kinetic Sand - Gave them a scoop (around a cup) of kinetic sand on tray, and provided mini castle and animal molds and shells.
3. Adhesive Sand Art - These came as a kit, and kids just picked up the kit and a tray. Simply peel off the cover from all sections for a given color, sprinkle on the sand, spread, press in, and dump off excess. Repeat with each color until all sections are done.
4. Mini Sand Bottle Necklaces - Dispensed colored sand in Dixie cups, set out funnels and bottles. Kids chose desired colors and using a funnel poured the sand in the bottles in layers. They did this on trays to contain the sand.
5. Book Display - I put together a display with books featuring sand, sandcastles, going to the beach, seashells, seagulls, and sand crabs.

How It Went:

This was a relatively low cost, low effort program, and a good way to make use of re-usable materials and supplies we already had and use up some leftover consumables. I had a good turnout, with about 18 kids of various ages and 12 adults. Considering we are in a small, rural town and school was back in session, this was a great turnout for an after school program. I also had a lot of good feedback, with several parents and grandparents thanking me for having it. They always like it when their kids can engage in messy play somewhere other than home!

I figured I'd be sweeping sand for the rest of the week, but it was surprisingly easier to clean up than I expected. We put everything away, wiped down tables and chairs then put chairs up on tables, scooped all the sand out of the pools into storage tubs, spot-swept the obvious areas of sand, then dry-mopped the whole floor. Finally, asked the custodian to wet-mop the floor that evening while the chairs were out of the way. I would be hesitant to do a program like this on a carpeted floor, but putting tarps down could help minimize the mess.

I would highly recommend doing a program like this, and I may make it an annual event. It has great developmental benefits, is inexpensive, easy, well-received, and a nice bonus program to throw in after summer reading to extend the summer fun just a little longer.

Further resources:

• Play-in-the-Sand Day themed storytime
• "Sand Play: Nature's Etch-A-Sketch" from Pathways.org
• "Developmental Benefits of Sand Play" from BabySparks.com
• "10 Amazing Benefits of Sand Play" from EmpoweredParents.com

Summer Reading 2024 - Reflection

 

Now that summer reading is officially over, it's time for my annual reflection on how things went, what worked, what didn't, and what we might do differently next year. This was the 11th summer reading of my career, the third one that I was in charge of almost all the planning and most of the execution, and I felt that it went really well.

There was a lot of upheaval, restructuring, and staffing changes back in the spring that took a lot of time to deal with and adjust to, and caused a lot of distraction, which made planning summer reading much more difficult and stressful this year. I personally find the planning everything, deciding on programs, booking performers, etc., to be the most stressful part by far, but then once we get past the kick-off, the actual summer is the easy part and goes by so fast. This year everything seemed to go really smoothly and drama-free, and I actually enjoyed it. 

I structured this year essentially the same as last year, with some minor tweaks. We had programs each week for every age-group, plus a family/all-ages program that was either a performer or a family craft, and a fun, low-pressure, non-competitive, not heavily incentivized "Bookopoly" reading challenge that awarded free books at the beginning to get them started, another free book when they turned it in at the end of the summer, entry into a prize-drawing (modest, $25-$30 value gift cards or prizes related to reading or learning), and kids also got some coupons for other goodies that were donated by various restaurants. The Bookopoly board had various reading prompts or learning/literacy related activities, almost the same as last year, with slight update in design to fit with this year's theme (for more details on the Bookopoly reading challenge and link to a template, see last year's "Summer Reading - Going Rogue" post).

Some of the changes this year were:

• This year we did elect to go with the CSLP theme, "Adventure Begins at Your Library".
• We have a new adult services librarian who fully supported adult summer reading (the previous one wanted nothing to do with it).
• Adults were also able to receive free prize books just like the kids for the first time
• We also hired a new teen librarian right before summer, so I no longer had to oversee the teen programming or collection development or entrust it to someone who really didn't know anything about programming.
• I kept programs more simple to reduce my stress levels.
• I tweaked the rules/instructions for the reading challenge, to make it clear that they were supposed to keep it and work on it all summer, not turn it in as soon as they met the minimum number of squares (as happened last summer).
• Dropped registration and tracking prize book claims for the reading challenge, which reduced my workload and made things much simpler for all staff. Participants merely had to pick up the Bookopoly sheet, then turn it in.
• We hired two new children's services staff right before summer, who really stepped up and helped out, even covering several programs when I got hit with Covid during the last week.
  
  

Performers & Costs - fees are generally up another $100 this year, and turnout was slightly less than last year, but it does bring families in who don't attend any other programs. 

• Kick-Off, Petting Zoo ($825) and Explore-a-Truck (free), great turnout
• Steel Drum Band ($600, decent show, very poor turnout to have spent that much)
• Theatre Troupe, Cinderella and Jack & the Beanstalk ($700), good turnout, everyone enjoyed
• Raptor Rehab ($350), decent turnout
• Science Show ($400), good turnout
• Animal Show ($400), good turnout
• Edu-tainment ($800), very good turnout, known performer
  
  

Weekly Themes - I book performers first, then choose weekly themes around them. These are just very loose themes that guide some of the programs, weekly displays, and scavenger hunts, but I don't force every single program that week to fit the theme, or force every program to fit the overall summer theme for that matter.

• Backyard Adventures (native wildlife, outdoor activities)
• Adventures in Space
• Explore the Arts (art, music, dance)
• Fantasy Adventures (fairy/folk tales, fantasy)
• Library Adventures (miscellaneous)
• Safari Adventures (exotic animals)
• Treasure Hunt Adventure 
• Ocean Adventures

Popular Children's/Family Programs:

• Play-Dough - The most well-attended non-performer program of the year! Who would've guessed? 🤷
• Beach Terrariums - Had to turn people away after we ran out of supplies.
• Shrinky-Dinks - Kids LOVED making these! Had a choice of shoe charms or key chains, and though I expected shoe charms to be to top choice, it was actually key chains to hang on back-packs that they most wanted to make. Already been asked to do it again.
• Owl Pellet Dissection - educational, slightly gross, but cool!
• Safari - Made "binoculars" then went on safari throughout the library to find inflatable animals and answer questions about them.
  
  
  

Programs that Flopped:

• Space - though they loved making paper rockets, the activity making constellations with pipe-cleaners and glow-in the dark star pony beads was a flop. Many said it was "too hard" and wouldn't even try it, though some did complete them successfully.
• Secret Codes & Hidden Messages - Not exactly a flop, but though I've done both in-person and hybrid versions of this program successfully before, it was clearly too ambitious for this group. They had a MUCH harder time and took way longer getting through what I'd expected to be fairly quick, instructional activities, and many struggled with the clues of the final treasure hunt challenge, not recognizing call numbers nor being able to used them to find books containing the next clue. They needed LOTS of help and the program ran WAY long. I still had positive feedback from several participants; it just needed to be simplified.
• Fairy Tale STEM - Another that wasn't a true flop, more of a sleeper, as those who did attend really enjoyed it and had fun with the Lakeshore Learning Problem-Solving STEM kits, but it didn't draw people and attendance was very low.
• Tie-Dye Bandanas - A total shock that attendance for a tie-dye program was very low; I'd expected to be overrun! I don't know if it was because we weren't doing shirts, or what. Those that attended did enjoy it, but struggled more with getting their bandanas tied up than expected. Probably would've done better as a "family craft" program than an "elementary explorer" program.
  
  

The Outcomes:

• Children's/Family program attendance held fairly steady, with just a tiny drop. I expected this, now that everything else is back to "normal" there are many other activities and summer camps available than the previous two years.
• Teen program attendance significantly increased.
• Children's participation in the reading challenge increased slightly.
• Teen participation in the reading challenge doubled!
• Adult participation in the reading challenge nearly tripled! Partly due to being able to get free books this time, but mostly to having a supportive adult services librarian.
• Much more engagement with the reading challenge. Even though I reduced the minimum from 10 squares to 5, by tweaking the instructions so that people worked on it all summer and didn't focus on numbers, most participants completed many of the squares, far above the minimum. I also had many more kids and adults talk about working on the reading challenge and asking for book suggestions for various squares.
• Lots of positive feedback from kids and caregivers about the quality of the programming and how much fun they had this summer, several saying it was the best summer ever. Personally, I feel the quality was just as high, if not higher, both of the previous summers. Our current director and I think the difference is more a difference in atmosphere rather than a difference in quality of programming. We were much better staffed this year, with engaged, qualified staff for one, but the previous two years we were saddled with a very incompetent, unprofessional, and unethical director who pitted staff against each other, alienated patrons, and created a very toxic, high-stress environment, and staff morale was at an all-time low. Thankfully she is gone and we now have new leadership, better staffing, and staff are much happier and working as a team again; patrons can clearly sense the easing of tensions and that the environment is more positive, professional, and welcoming.

I was really pleased with how smoothly the summer went, and that I was able to enjoy it, and especially happy about all the positive feedback from patrons. We generally get positive feedback, but it seemed that we had an exceptional number of positive comments this summer, and no complaints. It's always nice to feel that your hard work pays off and people do appreciate what you do.

Next Year?

Since this summer went so well, will we do things very similarly next time? Well, I don't know. Things have changed so that I'm not solely in charge of it any more. Right before summer, in addition to a new adult services librarian, a new teen librarian was also hired, and it was decided to restructure and divide youth services into two separate departments, Children's Services and Young Adult Services, with me as the head of Children's Services and the new teen librarian as head of Young Adult Services. So it won't all be up to me next year, and though I would prefer for us to have a single cohesive, coordinated program for all ages as I think the simpler it is for staff and families the better, my colleagues may prefer to do their own thing. 

One change I'd like to consider, now that I have two colleagues to help with planning, is to make the Kick-Off more age-inclusive. Previously, since I was doing it all myself I had to limit my focus of the kick-off to kids and families, but I would like to try possibly shifting the time from morning (10:30am - 1:00pm) to late morning-early afternoon and add at least one activity geared to attract teens and one for adults, or something that is truly all-ages. I'd also like to add a smaller finale at the end. As for kids and family programs, I am finding I'm really needing to "water down" and simplify my programs compared to what I was doing 5 years ago. Attention spans are almost non-existent, kids and adults alike are having much more trouble following directions, lack problem-solving skills, and have no tolerance for frustration; they want everything to be quick and easy, and will give up if it's not. I'm going to have to figure out how to step back and design programs to help them build these skills.

Other Articles Related to Summer Reading:

• "SRP 2023 Summer at the Library" - Last year's summer reading reflection
•  "Summer Reading - Going Rogue" - for more details of the Bookopoly Reading Challenge
• "True Confessions" - My past love-hate relationship with summer reading
• "The Inconvenient Truth of Incentivized Reading Programs" - Why research does not support the effectiveness of incentivized reading programs
• "Evidenced-Based Summer Reading Program Design" - Designing more effective summer reading programs that actually support reading, based on research
• Annotated Bibliography - articles related to incentivized reading programs and increasing reading motivation and practice
  
  

Now, time for a programming break to clean, re-organize, get in some training and professional development, and make plans for the next year!

How did your summer go? What worked and didn't work for you? What changes have you made, or will make for next year?

Beach Terrariums - Family Program

 

I was looking for a family craft that loosely fit the "Ocean Adventure" theme for our last week of summer reading, which had the overall CLSP theme of "Adventure Begins In Your Library", and somehow the idea of a beach-themed terrarium popped into my head, though it took me a little bit to figure out exactly how it was going to work.

Ages: Family, all-ages

Budget: About $3.75 per terrarium. This was one of my more pricey programs, but I also had some really inexpensive ones, so it evened out.

Time: This was one of the faster programs, taking only 40 minutes or so (which made up for my treasure hunt program the week before involving secret codes and hidden messages that ran WAY over, at an hour and a half!)

Materials:

• terrariums - I got spherical plastic ones about 4" in diameter from DollarTree for $1.25 each, larger and cheaper than what I could find elsewhere, total of 34
• air plants - $55 for 50 plants, Amazon (there are many different options available). I bought more than I needed because it would have been the almost the same price for fewer, and I figured some would die in transit (only 2 did), soaked in water for 30 minutes the day before the program
• resin figures - packs of 3 for $1.25 at DollarTree, assorted (sandcastles, bucket of sand, coral, flip-flops, lighthouses, shells, starfish), 12 packs.
• tiny shells & starfish - $12 on Amazon, came with 50 starfish and a jar of 800 shells
• larger shells - these were from my personal collection from a long-ago vacation
• sand - we already had play sand that I use for the sensory bin that I got from Lowe's for $5/50lbs
• glue - from our stock supplies
• craft sticks - from stock supplies
• paper bowls - from stock supplies
• small dixie cups - from stock supplies
• measuring cup
• forceps - left over from previous owl pellet dissection program
• air plant care sheet
  (I ended up with about a dozen plants, 3 resin figures, about 12 starfish, and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of the tiny shells leftover)

How-To:

1. I had them pick up the following supplies as they came in: terrarium, paper bowl, craft stick, forceps, dixie cup with 1/2-1 Tablespoon of small shells, and a few of the larger shells if they wanted. Glue and a small amount of dry sand were placed at each table.
2. Next, I called them up a few tables at a time to get sand in their bowls, roughly 1/4 Cup.
3. Add about 1/2 Tablespoon white glue to sand, and mix until it comes together, adding more glue if needed (this is to prevent the dumping of loose sand in the car or home; you could also use kinetic sand if you want to spend a lot more or have a small group).
4. Press sand & glue mixture into bottom of terrarium, sprinkle just a little dry sand on top, and arrange shells as desired.
5. While they were completing step 4 I went around and had them pick one resin figure out of a bowl without looking, to be fair, and they added the figures to their terrariums.
6. Then they selected their air plants (there were a few different types) and added them to their terrarium, being careful to just set them on top of the sand, not pushing them into the sand.
7. And for the final touch, I went around the room and gave everyone a tiny starfish to add.
   

How It Went:

This was a super popular program! So popular that I had to turn away 3-4 families due to all the terrariums being taken, which I really felt bad about, but I had purchased all I could find at all 3 stores in my area (not available online). I've never had this many show up for a craft program before! I had included "while supplies last, first come-first served" in my description (registration just doesn't work for us) and those I had to turn away at least seemed understanding. There was one other hiccup; UPS lost the package of air plants for several days, but they miraculously turned up the day before the program with only 2 dead out of 50 plants.

Other than that, it went really well, and those attending really seemed to like it. It was so popular, I will definitely do some other version of a terrarium program again in the future!

And the Survery Says..... We Are Busy & We Are Burning Out!

A few months ago when I was feeling particularly stressed, overworked, unappreciated, and frustrated in my position as a solo children's librarian being expected to do all the things and be everything for everybody, I put together a survey to see how many others were in the same boat. I posted a link to the survey on my page as well as in two Facebook groups for youth services and summer reading, and collected 228 responses over one week. It's taken me a while, but I've finally finished going through the results. To be clear, this is an opinion survey, and not scientific research.

All but two of the respondents currently work in public libraries in a youth services capacity; one described working in a mixed-use academic/public library, and another had very recently left the field. Most were employed full-time as either a youth services librarian or manager, though various other positions were represented, as well as a few part-time staff. The remaining survey questions related to experience, job duties, work-life balance, compensation, perceptions of how well supervisors and upper management understood and supported youth services positions, what respondents wish management better understood, and how they could be better supported.

Position & Experience:

Job Duties:

Survey participants were given a list of job duties and asked to check all that applied; additional duties not listed could be written in under an "other" option.

*Various forms of social media, promotion, marketing, and/or communications were written in by 14 respondents under an "Other" option. That number would possibly be even higher if it had been listed as one of the original choices. Other items written in under the "Other" option were (each listed once unless otherwise indicated): transferring materials to other locations, helping patrons in other departments, serving on book award committee, storywalk installation, translation, grant writing, special projects, state committees, library committees (2), person in charge (2), branch management, greeter, cleaning & sanitizing (2), soliciting summer reading coupons, departmental management, volunteer recruitment, budgeting, resource sharing within consortium, cataloging, and other duties as assigned. 

These results clearly show what those of us in youth services already know: we are spread very thin, being responsible for a wide range of tasks, many of which are time-consuming and require specialized skills, knowledge, and experience.  As anticipated, programming is a primary responsibility of almost all youth services staff, with over half of respondents being responsible for 2-4 programs per week, and over a quarter being responsible for more than four programs per week! That is a lot of programming!

Work-Life Balance:

I also wanted to look at not just what we are doing, but how long it takes us to do it, how many extra hours we are putting in, and especially how much free labor we are doing on our own time.

I have to admit, these results surprised me, in a good way. I really expected that more of us would be putting in more 'overtime' at work, and doing more work-related tasks at home on our own time. So maybe we are starting to be better at having healthy boundaries and limits as a profession, though I must admit I still struggle in this area, partly because it's easier to concentrate at home, I can multi-task and look for program ideas or read over book lists while watching TV, and sometimes I have to take care of something to ease my anxiety or I will never get to sleep. I also can't help but wonder if people may have under-reported unpaid work from home because they don't consider trolling Pinterest, Facebook, Tik-tok, and Instagram as work, but if you are in library-related groups, looking for crafts, program ideas, book reviews, etc., that IS a work-related task.

Though almost two-thirds reported working less than one extra hour per week at the library, and nearly half reported spending less than an hour per week on work-related tasks at home, there is clearly still work to be done in normalizing a 30-40 hour week week (max) and maintaining healthy boundaries and work-life balance. Nearly a third were averaging 1-5 extra hours a week at the library, and a few individuals were putting in as much as ten or more extra hours a week! Then looking at unpaid work from home, a third of us are averaging 1-2 hours of unpaid labor per week, 17% are averaging 3-5 hours per week, and a small, but significant number are spending 5-10 hours per week, or even more, on work-related tasks at home for which they are not compensated.

Misc - Time, Staffing, PTO, & Compensation:

The survey had all of the remaining topics listed as statements with which respondents indicated how strongly they agreed or disagreed. I divided them up into 3 separate figures for the sake of visibility, and tried to group statements in a way that made sense.

I was a bit surprised that more respondents had not disagreed, even strongly disagreed, with having adequate time to perform the myriad of duties and large number of programs shown above, and that responses to having adequate staffing were so mixed, though the results do indicate that while staffing and time may be somewhat sufficient to meet management's expectations, they are generally not enough to fully meet the community's needs.

I was slightly surprised that those feeling they are fairly compensated for the work that they do outnumbered those who did not, and I was very surprised that taking PTO did not seem to be a problem for most respondents. While I am fortunate enough to have a salary I feel is fair and is a living wage for the are in which I live, being able to take time off when I want or need to has been a problem, especially the last year and a half. No one ever told me that I couldn't, but since I had no staff who could cover storytimes or other programs, I always felt like I couldn't; when I did take off I would sometimes regret it because the work would just pile up and I would be so behind and overwhelmed when I got back it almost wasn't worth it. 

Supervisory & Managerial Support:

Now to what I REALLY wanted to know! I have observed out-of-touch management, particularly upper management, in every job I have ever had; it is not unique to libraries. But, when combined with the strong sense of vocational awe our field commands, it creates an even more stressful, unhealthy environment than I had observed in my previous career, and Youth Services in particular seems to be more affected by out-of-touch management who have little understanding of what we do. Even when management is made up by former youth services staff, over time they tend to forget how much time and work go into things like programming and collection development. I wanted to see how pervasive this problem is, and whether youth services staff felt their supervisors and upper management really understood what their job entailed and the time and skills required, and gave them adequate support.

The results indicate that most respondents felt that their immediate supervisor understood their job duties as well as the time and skills required, and felt supported by them (though there was a slight drop when it came to understanding the time required). However, the perceived understanding (particularly the time required to perform duties) and support from upper management/administration was noticeably less. This is likely due to the fact many youth services staff are supervised by a youth services librarian or manger who is a former youth services librarian, while many directors and other members of upper management and administration do not have a background in youth services. Understanding the time required to perform all the duties of a youth services position seems to be the area of greatest disconnect.

I also asked open-ended questions about what survey participants wished their supervisor or upper management better understood about their job and how they could better support them, and finally invited them to leave any other relevant comments. The vast majority related to wishing management understood the overall workload, the number of tasks and the time required to complete them (and more specifically to how much time, work, and energy go into programming), and the energy required for interacting with that many people, and sometimes difficult people. Also frequently mentioned was the need for more and better staffing, and a more equitable division of job tasks. Others mentioned unrealistic demands, struggles with mental health, exhaustion, neurodivergence, understanding the needs of children and teens, quality over quantity, understanding that what we do requires special knowledge, skills, and expertise; the need for respect, appreciation, recognition, acknowledgement, and adequate compensation; and more. I provide more detailed analysis, quotes, and links to the several hundred anonymous comments collected in their entirety in a follow-up article titled "What Youth Services Staff Want Management to Know".

Burnout:

And in a final question to assess how pervasive burnout is in youth services, participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with the following statement: "I am feeling some effects of burnout."

It is very evident that burnout is a real problem among youth services staff, with 84% of survey participants reporting that they are at least feeling some degree of burnout. While this is not really surprising in and of itself, it is somewhat inconsistent with the responses to other questions on this survey which indicated more positive feelings about supervisors, compensation, PTO, having adequate time and staffing. 

I am not sure what the explanation is, perhaps it has more to do with the mental and emotional labor involved that cause burnout even with working conditions we feel are generally favorable? Or has the pervasive culture of vocational awe conditioned us all to perceive heavy workloads, low pay, and unpaid labor as normal, so we know we are feeling burned out, but aren't sure why, or feel like we can say we're burned out, but feel like we can't complain about specifics because we have been ingrained with the "do all the things, be everything to everybody" attitude? 

Whatever is going on, I am confident in saying that if this many people in our profession are experiencing burnout, there is definitely a problem with library culture and management. People do not burnout if they have reasonable workloads, adequate staffing, a living wage, adequate PTO, and management that truly supports them and enforces healthy boundaries and work-life balance. 

Don't forget part 2, "What Youth Services Staff Want Management to Know"!