Programming and Outreach
- Teen programs: 10
- Teen attendance: 73
- Teen room attendance: 288
- Teen Volunteer hours: 60
- Children’s programs: 73
- Children’s Attendance: 2023
April break was wet and chilly for most of the week so library programs were a hit! Laura brought in Anita Sanchez to talk about bird songs, Kristine had two Spider Heroes come, and Catherine hosted the Story Ship for their Rainbow Thief program. Additionally, Alex had a Mario gaming jamboree, Kate had a story play, craft and family STEM challenge. Laura also visited Wilton Wildlife and the Spa Park for the annual trout release. Instead of a scavenger hunt, Kristine had a month-long poetry program. 21 children recited a poem at the desk to earn a Stewart’s ice cream coupon.
Spring has brought lots of babies back to story time. While the spring season is ending in early May, Laura will be adding some more baby sessions to make sure these families have something fun to do while the other librarians focus on school visits.
Kate finished out the season of Music and Movement - she shared this lovely story:
For adults, Laura brought back storyteller Jeanne Laverty for a 4-week session. Jeanne said this was one of her best groups ever and the participants were dedicated and had a great time.
Kate and Kristine visited 4th and 5th graders at Caroline St to book talk some new titles and help promote books found in the school library as well.
Laura and Kate each welcomed a class from the Skidmore Early Childhood center. The children and parents enjoyed a story time about community helpers and an activity before heading off to the firehouse.
Kate and Laura tabled and offered an activity at the Autism Expo once again this year. They found that keeping kids engaged with their activities created a positive opportunity to engage with parents about library services and programming.
AnnaRae partnered with Poet Laureate Jay Rogoff to offer a poetry workshop for teens. As expected, the turn out for something so academic afterschool was small, but the teen who has been attending regularly is really learning a lot so it was worth it.
AnnaRae continues to offer a variety of programs for her teens- this month she said they were especially excited for their dip tasting and the leftovers continued to feed the teens for at least a few more days. She has been trying to focus on being sustainable by using up leftover supply materials as well as looking for projects with results that the teens will actually use and value. While younger children tend to benefit from the experience of the craft, teens and adults often see value from the result.
Updates and Projects
There was a great article mentioning the library and our work on inclusivity in the Post Star this month. The internet outage created a gap for YS staff to work on some summer reading prep. They inventoried the prize books, ensured things were labeled correctly and sorted through the treasure chest prizes. Additionally, summer reading visit requests are coming in an YS staff are getting ready to go out to the schools and promote!
Collections and Displays
Librarians are weeding and preparing for summer reading. They’ve also been making some progress on the project to get non-fiction titles grouped more consistently. Its a complicated project and should be helpful in the long run; in the short-term its a bit aggravating.
Youth Service librarians met with a Follett representative to look at Titlewave. It promises to have a much easier platform for finding youth books to order.
Teen displays included “Cottagecore Vibes,” “It’s Like Supernatural” and the Teen advisory board display “American Stories.”
Children’s displays included Trucks, Easter/Passover, Poetry, Autism Awareness Month, Sun and Sand, Historical Fiction, and Author Spotlights on David Shannon, Karma Wlson, Tom Fletcher and Lindsay Ward.
Bulletin Boards are readalikes for Star Wars fans and promotional materials for e-content for kids.
Continuing Education
- Kate attended the ALA webinar Marketing Sensory Storytimes to Ensure Autism Inclusion.
- Kate continues on with the NYLA CE (New York Library Association Continuing Education) committee and working on conference sessions for next fall.
What We’re Reading
- Alex is reading Busted by Dan Gemeinhart.
- Kate is reading When You’re Brave Enough by Rebecca Bendheim.
- Kristine is reading Refugee by Alan Gratz.
- Laura is reading Busted, by Dan Gemeinhart.
Respectfully submitted by Catherine Brenner, Head of Youth Services