A Day in the Life of a Youth & Family Program Coordinator

It's been eons since my like "Day in the Life" post, and I thought now would be a good time to share one, what with my working a new job and all. The day below is from earlier this week. How've you been filling your days this autumn?

8:30 a.m. - Arrive at the library and get the youth services program room set up for the morning. Then I run up to my third-floor desk to stash my stuff.

9:00 a.m. - Weed the juvenile fiction shelves. This has been an ongoing project this month, and the shelves are looking so much better.

9:45 a.m. - A colleague from the city arrives in preparation for our 10:30 activity...

10:30 a.m. - Multicultural storytime photoshoot! This isn't a traditional program but rather an opportunity for families to participate in a few multicultural activities as part of a promotional campaign. That said, as far as kids are aware, it is pretty much a storytime. We sing songs, read some stories (including My Mother's Sari with the assistance of scarves--highly recommended), dance to some ukulele tunes, and then head to the craft room for some activities. Caregivers are wonderfully engaged with their little ones throughout.

11:45 a.m. - After cleaning up after the photoshoot, I head up to my desk to process a few patron requests for purchase. A few things slipped through the cracks between when my predecessor left and I started, so I'm anxious to get those fiction orders filled.

12:15 p.m. - Gather research for a project I'm working on that will help inform whether we're really meeting the programming needs of kids of every age. What resources do you use to make sure your programs are beneficial for your target audience?

1:15 p.m. - Lunch! It's leftover risotto and a good galley on this particular day.

1:45 p.m. - Run down to the youth services desk to pick up a cart of picture books to be weeded. One of our interns has started a project for culling the oodles of copies of formerly-super-popular picture book characters, and I double check this work and then get the copies reading for withdrawal.

2:15 p.m. - Create a weeding list for picture books in the general collection. Those shelves have been looking particularly packed, making them hard to browse and quite messy as multiple copies come off the shelf anytime you remove a book. I fiddle with the parameters of my weeding list--still getting used to a new ILS.

2:45 p.m. - Start plotting our youth spring program calendar. When it comes to multi-month, multi-program planning, I work best with a paper visual.

3:15 p.m. - Research area performers who might be good for spring programs.

4:00 p.m. - Enter the March/April storytime session in our online planning calendar. The session will be five weeks long, with the following every week: 1 baby time; 2 one-year-old programs; 2 Time for Twos; 2 preschool storytimes; 1 Little Learners program (for older preschoolers); an all-ages time; and social Together Time.

4:45 p.m. - Check my calendar for the next day's activities, including making sure I have prepped what I need for meetings.

5:00 p.m. - Head home.