I was fired up by Jina DuVernay’s article, There is Joy for All: Tips for Joyous Library Programming. I thought YES! Exactly! I want my library to be a safe and fun space, and if we sprinkle a little participatory service in there while we are at it and invite the patrons to help us come up with cool stuff and useful resources, we are golden.
This year my colleagues and I are going to focus on fostering a love for libraries through fun programming and a newly designated “games and crafts zone” for our middle schoolers. For context, our school library is shared by middIe school and upper school students, so we designated a study area for upper schoolers, a study area/“laptop zone” for middle schoolers, and a games and crafts zone. The zones will mostly be enforced in the mornings before classes start, which is typically a busier time.
My school’s policies state that middle school students are prohibited from using their phones at all during the school day, and they are not allowed to use their laptops for gaming or other non-academic purposes. Since we must also enforce these policies in the library, we are offering more screen-free alternatives.
Two weeks into the school year it is going well, and I am excited to collaborate with students to find more ways to unplug and connect. We are keeping an eye on what seems to be popular, and asking students for game recommendations.
So far the UNO cards have been taken out every morning, Rubiks cubes have been completed, and even the classic Etch-a-Sketch is getting some love. It is great to see students coming in at lunch as well to check out books, socialize with friends, and take a nice brain break with our games.
We have tried little things like this in the past, like offering chess boards and puzzles, and one tissue paper flower craft. This year I get to personally spearhead new arts and crafts programming. I was born for this.
“Joy is contagious, so if you exhibit joy in being at your library program, attendees will see and feel it” (DuVernay).
I spent my summer as a camp counselor leading the arts and crafts workshop, and I noticed that the student counselors enjoyed making lanyards and bracelets, so we are bringing them into the library. In his article Think Like a Start Up, Mathews states that three qualities that successful “products” (or programming) must have are “usability, feasibility, and value.”
I chose the lanyards and bracelets because they are: 
- Easy
- Fast enough to be completed during a short lunch break or free block
- Relatively mess-free (if beads spill on the ground it is not the end of the world, at least they won’t stain)
- Already proven to be popular with middle schoolers over the summer
On paper, this programming should be effective. I am excited to give it a try in the library and see what happens.
It will take some trial and error to see what programming and activities are most successful. “We shouldn’t look at failure as finality, but rather as a test bed to help ideas evolve” (Mathews). I am eager to get ideas for programming and games from the students themselves, and honest feedback about what works and what does not. I want them to know that their opinions are valued, so they can help the library invest time, money, and energy into things that they will actually use and enjoy!
