On my to-do list is a January reflection, but of the first month of programming my library has every done! Maybe I got that term from this assignment that I also need to reflect on. Like everyone else I have been extremely busy since leaving Midwinter. I have reporting due, I need to update the website, I have grants that I am applying for, I am working very hard to try to fight for funding for tribal libraries and museums. Among these administrative duties I have also been working on programming, and working to hire new interns (which is a great idea, and a little more work for me to get them up to speed). It’s amazing to think how Future Ready can be incorporated into all of the other things that we are doing here at the library.
We had our second family event last weekend, and it was very well thought out, and had next to no attendance. The few families we did have come in were given extra attention, and I had the opportunity to play with them through the circuit of activities we had. I had made my very first community partnership with the hospital nutritionist, and I’m not sure she was very keen on my sad little family day. I still have to bring up the tablecloth she left and a thank you note, because even though we had poor attendance, I am so happy that she participated.
Lesson 1: Follow up with your partner soon after your events. I have yet to hear what she thought of our event and how she would have made it better. I don’t want her to feel like I just used her. So, big on my to-do list today: go up and thank Stefany for helping on Saturday.
I don’t really know where I found the time to hang out with my extended family, but on Sunday I was at my in-law’s house and I had a little bit of time to sit and visit with my niece, a 7th grader. I asked her what kinds of learning they enjoyed and she told me that they liked an online quiz game that they get to play in one of their classes. I then asked her if there was college prep at her school and she told me about Avid, and Gear Up. (I really grilled her!) I then asked what the criteria were for students to participate in either Avid or Gear Up, and I asked if she was involved with either of those programs. She wasn't involved in either program. Thankfully I had her full attention and she was happy to answer me that day (you know how pre-teens can get!). It got me thinking about what we could provide for a wider audience.
Lesson 2: Talk to the kids who are your target audience. I still need to talk to someone at the school to get the more academic version of what Avid and Gear Up are and how they help students, but if it hadn’t of been for my conversation with Brittney I might not know what kinds of questions to ask when I get there.
On Monday I forgot to talk about Future Ready to the entire group of Senior Administrators in our bi-weekly meeting. After I did stay behind to talk to my boss about it. She had already read my travel report, but sometimes I wonder if people even read those things. I told her briefly about the training, and some of the reasons why I am excited for this opportunity (because I was a smart kid with a mom who made to much money to qualify for college and career readiness type programs and so I was very unprepared when I got to college). We talked about how, in our community, having a parent(s) with a college degree did not necessarily mean that students will succeed beyond k-12. She wants me to make a program that fits our unique needs in our community and I wholeheartedly agree with her.
Lesson 3: Elevator speeches are not just for partners. I didn’t want to keep my boss standing there while I prattled on about Future Ready, and so my little 5 minute conversation helped me get her buy-in. She is supportive of everything we do here in the library, but oftentimes I don’t think that she is invested in what we do. I think I just got her to invest in the program!
So, after this long reflection (with lots of side bars), I am looking forward to what I can do to engage the Middle School aged kids and I also look forward to figuring out what I want my community partnership to look like. Our programming theme this month is “Music” and we will have a Loud in the Library day at the end of the month. I am asking my aunt, who is the band teacher, if she will ask her middle school band to play a few songs at the library that day. I’m very excited, and I want these kids to feel like they are important parts of our community. It would have been nerve wracking, but exciting to play for the public when I was in middle school band.
Let’s see what February has to offer!