We are highly in favor of libraries being closed right now, and library people working at home. There is a lot of work that any library can provide that can be done online, to keep sharing good information and resources with our communities!
Whether staff are in the library, or working at home, there are things that need to be done, cleaned, and kept up.
We are sharing some ideas from this article, written by Leah Hoenig, a children’s librarian for the Queens Public Library: Ten Tips for When the Library’s Closed.
- “Book clubs via video. I’ve had the pleasure, personally, of doing a Skype call with author Sarah Prineas of Magic Thief fame during a book club meeting. Many authors are available for a quick call, and many more have videos of read-alouds or Q&As online. It’ll take a little bit of coordinating–hopefully you’ve got the contact information to get all your bookworms on board–but will be worth it if you can pull it off.
- “Speaking of social media…exploit it to its fullest. There is so much you can do to engage your customers online: Post a quote from a favorite book and challenge them to identify it. Dispel rumors and promote authoritative information. Do a Dewey or library trivia quiz. Direct customers to online resources. Challenge patrons to a book spine poetry competition. Post a short classic poem (there are many in the public domain). Post reader’s advisory questions and invite recommendations (and don’t be ashamed to completely invent the question). Short story contests or poetry contests are easy to run. Ask-a-Librarian services can be broadcast for the world to see.
- “Get creative. Think of other ways you can replace regular programs with something virtual, besides book clubs and storytimes. A weekly STEM club on Tuesday afternoons might call for a blog post or video with instructions for a DIY science project, experiment or challenge. Some straightforward ideas that don’t require specialty components: magic milk, purple cabbage indicators, baking soda reactions, cornstarch “oobleck;” Lego engineering challenges (check out the legolibrarian.com for ideas!), marble/matchbox car run challenges, automatons, egg drops, upcycling challenges, and more: whatever you do, invite patrons to post their work.
- “Use the time to brush up on your skills. Whether through your own library’s virtual resources, or sites such as WebJunction, or just bingeing on the ALSC Blog or AL Direct back issues, there’s a lot to read up on and learn about. If you haven’t had the chance to learn coding but have always been eyeing Google’s CS First curriculum, try out Scratch. (Spoiler alert: it’s free, easy, and fun.) Khan Academy is another terrific resource, and…wait, I’m talking to librarians here. You know all this already.”
There are other tips on this page that you can check out!
We are encouraging everyone to stay home/stay safe, and to keep providing service to the communities you are serving! We are all going to be home for a while still – let’s keep working on the best strategies for making this work.