Outreach can be tough…

Outreach and Schools- 

Should I contact them one more time? 

You ask yourself as you stare at that email nudge at the top of your screen.

It’s hard! I’m sure if you ask any public children’s librarian they will have a long list of ways they tried to get in touch with and partner with the schools in their area. If you were to ask me I would tell you it’s all about baby steps. Every interaction with someone from the school system is a potential opportunity to remind them that the library exists. 

I think it is important to add to this post that I started my position on November 2, 2020. It was a strange time. My library was ‘by appointment only’ in the children’s room. Schools were off limits, most children were learning at home or by zoom. Navigating schools didn’t get much easier when the world opened back up; so I began searching for ‘school adjacent’ pathways to outreach. Here are some of the ways I have been able to connect with the schools; taking my baby steps for the last 5 years. My outreach is not what I want it to be but it is getting better every year.

Find out where other education professionals are.

I joined the local Mckinney Vento Service provider group. This group is focused on serving the homeless child population of Marshfield. We are composed of representatives from the local schools, shelters, churches, the district attorney’s office, as well as major fundraising programs in town. Anyone who has a vested interest in helping homeless children and families in Marshfield. While the library is more of a silent partner in this program, it is a great way for me to get to know everyone and offer the library’s materials and assistance as well as create bridges in the community that later pan out to partnership opportunities.

I joined The Early Childhood Advisory Council. This is a local group made up of professionals who work in the town and are focused on serving the children here. There is a representative from each of the schools, the CFCE (Coordinated Family and Community Engagement) officer, most of the preschools, the local WIC office and various therapists; as well as parents. We meet every other month throughout the school year to discuss everything going on in our programs and what we can do as a committee to benefit children 7 years old and under in our town. For the last three years we have run a getting ready for kindergarten program, this consists of three separate events.

Parents only

First, a night at the library for parents all about what kindergarten screening is, who is screening them and what their children are doing that day. We have added a Q&A to this session to this program giving parents a chance to ask the two kindergarten teachers and a handful of specialists all the nervous first time questions they have. Things like how does my kid get on the bus? Do they need lunch? What kind of shoes should my child wear? Any and all questions are accepted and anything that someone doesn’t have an answer for the parent is directed to who would know the answer. 

Meet and Greet

Our second program is a Saturday morning where two kindergarten teachers from each school come to the library to show off some of the fun learning materials and meet the kids and grownups. Everyone gets to stop in and meet some friendly faces, have some fun and chat. Often people realize that friends from preschool or other classes are going to the same school or the children make some new friends that day.

Get out and Play

Lastly, when the weather gets nice and the school year is ending we invite all incoming Ks and their caregivers to join us outside for a morning of bubbles, music games and crafts. One last big hurrah before the summer and all the hustle and bustle of Starting Kindergarten really takes place.

These programs are not part of the schools’ kindergarten program. They do their own events starting in September. This is our way of alleviating some of the anxieties that start to bubble up as the ‘You’ll be going to Kindergarten soon! Are you excited?’ conversations begin.

Try getting their attention in your ‘spare time’

Every year beginning in April I send a quick email out to the principals or reading specialists in town asking them if I can stop in before school ends to give a little talk about our summer reading program. Last year I ended up at 4 of the 5 schools! (A huge feat considering I had only made it to one or two of the schools the previous years) I wear my sparkliest outfit and I take 5 minutes during a morning meeting or a lunch time, tell the kids about the programs and performers we will be having and tell them all about how summer reading works. That’s when the fun begins, all these new kids drag their grown ups in to ‘see the lady that came to my school’. Caregivers will often tell me the kids were so excited they just had to go that afternoon. And the chorus rings out the rest of the summer- “Were you the lady…”

Be the fun spot

Lastly, we are fortunate that one of our schools does a Kindergarten field trip to the library once a year. This came about because I became friendly with one of the teachers in the Early Childhood Advisory Council. It’s the Children’s teams’ favorite day of the year! The kids come by bus and file into the library. We split them into two groups. One librarian gives a tour of the library (complete with a special scavenger hunt) while I do a special dramatic reading  storytime. This is always a fun day. We often send home something for the kids to color and write their favorite books on that we then display in the children’s room. The kids then drag their caregivers to the library to see it.

Don’t Give up! It’s tough and it’s frustrating but those baby steps and adjacent places can work to your advantage!

This post aligns with ALSC Competency V.6.

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