My library is a pretty busy urban library in a bustling neighborhood, but Saturdays carry a different vibe. Folks dribble in throughout the day, but no one wants any kind of organized programming, as witnessed by my constantly shifting programming times that usually come up empty. When we didn’t have Saturday programming on the calendar, folks complained. What’s a #SaturdayLibrarian to do?
The answer: PASSIVE PROGRAMS. We’re normally a much smaller staff on Saturdays than our weekdays, so programming had to be easy and low-stress. One of the children’s librarians and I worked out some ideas that were reasonable and easy.
First, we went for the easy one: the educational toys area. We’d open that up for the first couple of hours of the day, when the moms bring the babies and toddlers in. We can keep an eye on the littles, but really, it’s the moms (and dads) engaging with the kids. We can wander over, talk with the caregivers, engage with the littles, and offer some literacy tips along the way. Boom, one Saturday program down.
Next up, the games and puzzles. We don’t like to put out a lot at once; we have one librarian to keep an eye on the whole room for the whole day. The answer: we rotate out puzzles and easy games (matching games, block puzzles, Mr. Potato Head) for earlier in the day, when the littles are in. After lunch, we put out a handful of board games and change up the puzzles to include a couple of more challenging ones. Enough to engage the older kids, but not so many that we lose control of what’s out in the library and, as a result, ends up lost or broken.
Third, the crafts. The kids here love arts and crafts, so we have a “Craft and Carry” weekly program that is, essentially, a grab-and-go craft that they can do either here in the library or bring home. It doesn’t have to be a staff-led program, since we’re short of staff, but still allows us the ability to engage with the patrons and help anyone having trouble. Having my Cricut has been a big help here; I’m able to cut projects out all week long, bag them up, and hand them out on Saturdays.
The result? Three Saturday programs that people are showing up for, are very happy with, and that don’t give me any more gray hair than I’m already getting. Saturdays have gone from stressful to fun again!
Mom Read It 