What to do on a programming off-week: Take-Home Story Time Kits

Today marks the beginning of two story time program off-weeks in my branch. It's not unusual for us to have an off-week about once a month--that week off provides time for staff to regroup, recharge, and plan for the next three-week story time series. We're taking two full weeks off this time, though, for a number of reasons: summer reading was hectic and requires time to recover; we've got some early literacy trainings this week; and Labor Day closures affect the library's schedules. All good reasons to take a little break, I think.

But just because library staff are living by a different schedule for these off-weeks doesn't mean that our customers are. How do you meet customer demand for librarian-mediated story times when you're giving your staff a much-needed rest? Enter the take-home story time kit, available for regular check-out during programming off-weeks.

Every take-home story time kit I assemble includes two or three books loosely on a theme--think farm animals, things that go, princess stories, etc., whatever your kiddos are into. To top off the stories, I include a children's CD that includes music similar to what we might include in our traditional story times. These stacks of materials get bundled together and tied with a pretty bow. To finish off the whole appealing package, I add a bright label that gives the kit's theme and simple instructions: "Take twenty minutes to read these books and listen to or sing songs on this CD with your child. Talk about the books' pictures and what happens in the stories. Draw a picture about the theme when you're done!" Ta-da! Brief, simple instructions for an at-home story time.

I love several things about these take-home story time kits. First, they meet some of the demands of our customers for programming during those weeks when we're taking breaks from traditional story time programs--there's never complete radio silence between customers and story time providers. Second, they emphasize the importance of having story times at home, be they formal or informal. Third, they entreat caregivers to engage in ECRR-recommended practices with their children without ever sounding pedagogical. Fourth, they are pretty quick to assemble. And lastly, they are so pretty! Don't you think they're pretty?

Caregivers who frequent my branch enjoy knowing that they can rely on the library to equip them to provide literacy-positive activities for their young ones even when our program room doors are shut. And that's part of the whole goal, right? To empower readers and those who raise readers. My staff may be resting over the next two weeks, but the library kiddos are still very much engaged with stories.