Kid Librarian

Kid Librarian is an event I started over the summer that has gone really well. I have one kid with their parents come in between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. We work together to make an 11 x 17 sign that says what their book display is about and pull 15 to 20 titles. 

I started this because I wanted to give kids a sense of ownership of the library and the children's area. I love working one-on-one with people and getting to know the kids that come to my events as well.

Our Easy book collection has a flat top where we have other items on display. The book display faces our Tween collection, so it's perfect for this. This space allows us to have a 11 x 17 poster, 5 face out books, and 2 bookends to hold extra titles. 

I created the form below for kids to fill out if they are interested in making a display. I first tested out this idea with a kid that has been coming to many of my events for months. We already had a good relationship, so she was an easy first kid to test my process. 

I use the ideas section of the form to make a base for a poster. I've found that many kids think that starting a sign from scratch is intimidating. I have mostly used the templates from Canva to get 3 - 5 ideas lined up for them. Below are the designs I made for Lucy whose ideas were comic books and animals.

She picked number 3 and added many fun graphics and animals to her design! She first changed the title to "The World of Animals." She asked me to search up specific animals, picked the ones she liked, and told me where she wanted them on the poster and what size they should be. I would recommend having their name and "Kid Librarian Book Display" on the poster. 

These are a few other examples of signs the kids have made.

          

Our front desk has a portion of it that's lower where I make the sign with the kids. They think it's so cool to sit behind the desk. Our copier is right around the corner as well so they can stay in sight of their parents the whole time. All the kids so far have wanted a copy of their poster to take home. The displays stay up for about 2 weeks or longer depending on how many other kids want to make a display.

I take a picture of the kids with their signs and send an email out to the branch, so everyone knows about the new display. Some of the staff here have said that seeing their faces has been helpful since they can be easily identified so staff can tell them that they did a great job with the display. 

I have not widely advertised this event. I put the forms out in the regular areas we have and waited. I've consistently had kids turn in forms and some want to come back and do their other ideas. I have not had a lack of kids since the first one went up.

I'd love to know if anyone tries this at their library! Happy reading.