One of the first items of business I wanted to get organized was our teen volunteer program. There were a few major issues with the way the program was currently run and I had many staff members expressing their frustration with it. I wanted to streamline it and make it a bit easier to organize.
At my library, we do not currently do many teen programs -- in other words, planning programs/events for teens to come to. However, I am in charge of a teen volunteer program where the teens come to help me with my School-Age programs.
My peer librarian had been allowing teens to sign up for shifts whenever they wanted and any day of the week they wanted. This caused issues if there were other staff members running the program since they never were quite sure if there would be teens helping them or working with them that day. And, if there were teens signed up, they did not always show up.
They would also sign up for different days, leading to confusion since the teens that might show up to volunteer may have never volunteered that day before and needed more help than the staff member could supply. In other words, if you have the same teens with you at the same program they know how to help every week or what is expected of them.
Things I will be implementing:
1. I created a contract that the teens and parents have to sign stating that if they do not inform staff they will not be present, they will be removed from the volunteer program after the 3rd time. Each time it happens, they AND their parents will be given a warning until the 3rd time when they will be told they are no longer part of the program.
2. For the 'orientations', or information sessions about the teen volunteer program, I am strongly encouraging (almost requiring) parents to attend. I want parents involved in the making of the schedule so they know when their kids have signed up to be at the library.
3. Making teens choose ONE shift on ONE day of the week and remain on that day throughout an entire three-month program session. Having a reliable schedule that parents and teens can count on helps everyone. Also, staff will know exactly which teens will be there each week.
4. Putting teens on the staff schedule. Our adult volunteers are on the schedule, as are our pages and our staff...the one piece missing is the teen volunteers. If we have the same teens each week, we should be able to put their names on their shift for each week, thereby creating open communication about the teen volunteer program with the entire library staff.
So we'll see how all the changes work as they go into effect. I have three orientations over the next week, and I'm excited to be a part of all of these changes to the program. I'm still sad about leaving my position as the storytime librarian, but I feel like I have huge areas to grow in this new age-group!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Bittersweet Transition
Yesterday was officially my last day to do storytimes as the storytime librarian...at least for a couple years. In my library system, in order to provide opportunities to grow and have the ability to potentially be considered for management in the future, we rotate age groups every few years. I have been in my role for 2.5 years, so now it is time for me to work with a different age group and work with the teens and school-agers in my community.
Even though I am excited about doing something new, it was difficult to say goodbye to doing storytimes regularly. I genuinely love spending time with the little ones on a day-to-day basis. Storytime can be exhausting, especially if you do it 6+ times a week, but the kids make it worth it. I pulled some of my regulars aside so they could properly prepare their toddlers for the change. It was difficult, but I would prefer caregivers to not be surprised when they don't see Ms. Allison presenting storytime in the Spring.
That being said, even though it is incredibly sad to know I'm not going to be doing storytimes for all the little ones I've grown to know and love, I also know many of the teens and elementary-age kids. So I am excited to take on a new challenge.
Speaking of a new challenge, each year our libraries do a Cookie House building program. Since we're in transition, I did not have a set group of teen volunteers to help. So, with over 150 people registered for our program that is tomorrow, I had to stuff a lot of the bags myself with some help from one of my Library Assistants.
Even though I am excited about doing something new, it was difficult to say goodbye to doing storytimes regularly. I genuinely love spending time with the little ones on a day-to-day basis. Storytime can be exhausting, especially if you do it 6+ times a week, but the kids make it worth it. I pulled some of my regulars aside so they could properly prepare their toddlers for the change. It was difficult, but I would prefer caregivers to not be surprised when they don't see Ms. Allison presenting storytime in the Spring.
That being said, even though it is incredibly sad to know I'm not going to be doing storytimes for all the little ones I've grown to know and love, I also know many of the teens and elementary-age kids. So I am excited to take on a new challenge.
Speaking of a new challenge, each year our libraries do a Cookie House building program. Since we're in transition, I did not have a set group of teen volunteers to help. So, with over 150 people registered for our program that is tomorrow, I had to stuff a lot of the bags myself with some help from one of my Library Assistants.
Got my assembly-line going:
Only a small glimpse of the amount of bags we put together:
Even MORE bags of treats:
Day 1 as a school-age librarian, so we'll see how it goes from here. Onward to the actual Cookie House program tomorrow, more planning for our Spring session, another huge event next week celebrating the 10th anniversary of our library, and training of the teens.
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