Hyperlink Communities and Family Units

After watching Ciara Eastell’s Ted Talk,  I was inspired to continue my brainstorming about potential programs that could come to our libraries. I’ve been thinking a lot about nuclear families and how they each use the library differently. My current branch is the busiest library in our system, and we offer many different programs throughout the week. Many of our programs are based on age, which is to be expected, but I’ve been brainstorming about how to bring the different age groups together.

The majority of our programs are currently for younger children or adults. We do have some teen programs, but they tend to be sparse compared to our other offerings. While teen programming is a topic in and of itself, I realized there aren’t many programs that cater to family units. I see many families with multiple children and large age gaps in our branch, and I see them struggling to find something that meets everyone’s needs. I also see parents who clearly leave the older child at home while they browse the stacks with the younger child. These parents have stopped and asked me for reading recommendations for their older children, and I always struggle to give sound advice since I prefer to talk to older children about their needs directly.  While I do not know the inner workings of each family, it has become apparent that many families still view the library as a place where families with children of wide age ranges cannot enjoy the library together.  It reminds me of the reason why Disneyland was created. Walt Disney wanted a place where families could vacation together and not have to find separate activities for each person in the group. Libraries are extremely capable of doing the same, just without all the corporate costs and high ticket prices.

We have a beautiful patio space at my branch, and I feel that possibilities are endless for entire family units to enjoy an activity together at the library.

The patio meets a large glass window that connects to our large children’s activity space. The glass doors can be removed to make the space even larger. I was thrilled when I saw the glass could be moved, and I thought this would be a wonderful space for family units to spend time together. Families are always busy getting their children to and from school, activities, tutoring, etc. Not many families even have dinner together anymore (myself included). Libraries could facilitate an event environment that could have food, activities, and socialization with other families that are struggling to meet the needs of children with large gaps between them. I don’t know exactly what the event would look like, but I am excited about the possibility of using the space we have available at our branch.

References:

TEDx Talks. (2019, June 13). How libraries change lives | Ciara Eastell | TEDxExeter [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvt-lHZBUwU