Because you will have so much reading, and because many of you have experience, I have chosen to tell the story of Children’s Library Services in Newport, RI, rather than to take a more academic approach. I hope this encourages those of you who share it.
I had a dream of bored and restless children outside a
"secret garden" of books-- wonderful books, delicious books, books
that traveled through time and space. But the wall was high and thick. Few knew
of the garden. Few were able to find the door. Fewer, to get beyond it.
I had a memory: when I was a child, the public library
was next to our school. There was a well-worn path through the hedge that led to
back stairs down to the children’s room. I read my way through each section of
that wonderful room and watched the sweet potato vine grow around its windows.
The librarian was among my best friends.
When I came to work as Children’s Librarian in Newport in 1990, I brought both the dream and the memory with me. My background was in the classroom. My library degree was 6 years old. I had a budget of $15,000, an assistant, a supportive director, and the community. I was fortunate to be selected to participate in a week-long workshop on output measures, funded by the Department of Education. Now, with everything in place, where to begin?
- The second month I was there, 10,000 books--nearly half our collection-- flew off the shelves for Books and Beyond, a program run by Volunteers in Newport Education (VINE). It was not a library program, but children received a coupon for a book raffle for each library visit.
- The Library had a summer reading program and 50 children read 2,000 books. They were 50 very happy children. But there were 4,000 children eligible that summer. And 10,000 books did not fly off our shelves.
When most people think of Newport, they think of Bellevue Avenue and the Mansions. They may think of the Naval Base. Few realize that Newport is one of the five core cities in Rhode Island. It has a population of 25,000; 20% live in poverty; 35% have a single parent, Headstart has 92% eligible enrolled (RI Kids Count Fact Book). The city has the densest public housing in the state, mostly in the north end. What connection did these children, with school libraries on 1963 standards, have with the public library? Where were they? If our mission was to serve all of Newport’s children, how did we reach them? Children don’t drive, and the Library is surrounded by busy streets. In many cases, it was parents, children’s service providers, teachers and student teachers who were borrowing for use with children. VINE had shown children were reading. The summer reading program might be the connection.
I inherited a position on the executive board of the Newport County Council for Community Services. We met monthly during lunch. (We joked we could meet because everybody had to eat lunch...) I began to see that the challenges the library faced were central community issues beyond the ability of any single group to address. Through funding provided by the Rhode Island Foundation, several children’s service providers formed the Newport Community Network to fund a systemic change in service provision--we would collaborate. In the participant evaluation for 1991, I noted the benefits included easier contact with other service providers, immediate feedback on services, avoidance of duplication of services, support, enthusiasm, information. In that summer’s reading program, we scaled back paperwork in a model similar to VINE. The Martin Luther King Center’s Children’s Coordinator asked to participate. We had never had a group before. The Library was reaching out. Someone was bringing a group to our garden, through the open door.
Because of the success of the summer reading program, and because working with other children’s service providers fit the mission of the Department of State Library Services, in 1992 the Newport Public Library was awarded a $500 grant to collaborate in the Summer Reading Program. The Florence Gray Center, the Recreation Department, the Salvation Army, VINE, and the Martin Luther King Center agreed to keep track of reading, bring their children to the Library, and submit a report on changes in behavior and attitude. They were amazed that their children could take part in the Statewide Reading Program, or that we were willing to shape the program to their needs.
Many agency staff were leery: they thought that children had had such negative experiences with reading they would never come off the playground. At the end of the program, children were reluctant to go on field trips because they would miss their reading time. Staff were enthusiastic. Children who now wanted to read, struggled. Reading tutors were hired. Homework support was added. The Rhode Island Foundation funded starter libraries at several sites. Books were hidden with notes for the finder not to move them. We had more requests for groups to come to the library than we could handle. RI READS assigned workers from VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) to libraries in the state.
Again our numbers surged. Because of growth in every area, we added a Children's Librarian, and the Assistant’s position changed from full time in Children’s to 20 hours in Children’s and 15 hours in Collection Management. In summer 2000, 534 children participated. It was not easy as the Library was under construction: there was no program space in-house. 475 children participated through 3 preschools, 1 daycare, 1 shelter, 7 day-camps, and 2 groups of special needs students. 75 children participated through the Library. As children were limited in accessing the Library, we visited the sites.
Visiting the sites: Children in SOAR
(Summer Adventures in Reading),
at Easton's Beach
Kids Count indicators for educational success in Newport have been comparatively higher than for other core communities. We believed that was because of the additional literacy support provided by the Library in partnership with other children’s service providers. In summer of 2000, we were able to document the success of efforts outside of school hours, through funding provided through a federal Safe Schools/Healthy Schools grant received through the Newport Partnership for Families. School personnel trained agency staff in pre- and post-testing children who participated in the Statewide Summer Reading Program, and confirmed that children at risk academically, maintained or exceeded reading levels at the end of summer.
More outreach, more activities: mentoring and professional involvement
Over
the years, we have worked with Headstart to do story hours and write books--and
get library cards, visit the Library and use the Bookmobile. Using a Cambridge
(Massachusetts) library model, we began to print out our story hours and lend
them out. We used Lions Club funds to develop our audiobook collection in
conjunction with resource teachers from the middle school. We used a transaction
log to track reference questions and provide direction for filling gaps in the
print and non-print collections. Newport was selected to pilot Mother
Goose Asks Why, a National Science Foundation funded science/literacy
program, developed by the Vermont
Center for the Book. We have also collaborated with Literacy
Volunteers/Newport County in the Family Literacy Project. Our web page at the Newport
Public Library has a Spanish component, because that is the fastest growing
population in the City.
Two assistants from the children's department went on to complete their MLIS degrees at the University of Rhode Island; one is now a school librarian in Coventry, and the other is in police work, after working as branch supervisor in Providence. A college intern and a daycare teacher who worked with the department also went on to earn library degrees out of state. We have mentored students from the University nearby to provide elementary programming. (And one young librarian exploring a career move decided that perhaps children’s librarianship wasn’t his best career choice.)
I sit on the ESL committee of the Newport Partnership for Families (evolved from the Network above) and on the VINE Board; have been vice-chair/program chair for the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians (NERTCL), chair of the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA) Conference Committee, served on the RI Children’s Book Award Committee, as founding mother of the RI Storytellers in Concert, and as Vice-President of the Newport County Council for Community Services.
The Children’s Librarian, Rowena Burke, has served the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians as Chair, and is currently liaison to the Newport County Council of Community Services.
We have both served as representatives to RI Children’s Library Advisory Council. Additional training support has been added through readings, conferences, American Management Association training, NELINET training and workshops. And, while I’m probably leaving something out, with the support of a committed administration, our Library service has grown. So has our space. We have nearly completed a major addition at the Newport Public Library.
Back to the dream and the memory: more children are being brought to the Library--word of our "secret garden" is getting out. More children are reading and succeeding. And I watch them grow to young adults and adults.
We could never have done it alone.
We never had to.
Kathy visits Mrs. Carr's First Grade,
Sullivan School, 1993
Some thoughts on sustainability
It takes time at many meetings to develop a mental map of organizations in the community that work with children. They have different structures and hierarchies. Personnel change. Their service boundaries are often different, going beyond town lines. Many meetings may be on personal time because of coverage demands. Funding priorities change. It can take years to make a systemic change--and a lot of teamwork and internal support.
There are many benefits, both personally and to the Library, in being able to navigate "the system" with [relative] ease. Often the most productive time seems to be the furious networking that takes place before and after meetings--worth many games of phone tag! Children are worth the effort.
In the end, it comes down to a way of "being" in a world where there are never enough people to share books with children. Then come funding and staffing. I hope that these beginnings in Newport continue far beyond my tenure.
I want to see all children in that "magic garden".