When leaders at the Oakland (California) Public Library’s Melrose branch realized that they weren’t drawing a good crowd to their traditional story times—even though the sessions featured some dynamic children’s librarians—they decided they needed to try a different approach.
So they flipped their model from a focus on the children’s involvement to instead providing support to the parents and other caregivers—grandparents, extended family members, neighbors, babysitters—in the community. They renamed the weekly bilingual session Play Café and lengthened it from only a half hour to almost two. The block of time includes not only a story, songs, play time, and a snack, but also visits from others in the community, who talk about issues such as potty learning and positive discipline or help with registering children for Head Start or other preschool programs.
Branch manager Katherine Hug says she realized that if the caregivers were going to take the time to strap toddlers into strollers and drive or get on a bus to come to the library, then the library needed to give them a more substantial experience. The librarians also decided early not to take a “didactic” tone with the caregivers, but to let the children’s engagement with books and the growth in early literacy skills happen naturally. In fact, because the librarians stick with the same book and songs for a month—and the participants receive a book and other materials to take home—the children are now initiating at-home reading when they are with their caregivers.
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