Here’s a definite sign of the poor economy: attendance at my two infant storytimes has picked up significantly.\u00a0 Parents obviously can’t afford to pay for infant music classes, so they’re coming to the library; while at the library, they’re finding that their local children’s librarian\u00a0offers a curriculum-based, fun, educational, and very social program.\u00a0 For free.<\/p>\n
The Tuesday morning Mother Goose on the Loose <\/a>storytime used to have an average attendance of twenty adults and kids, but in recent weeks the average attendance has been thirty-five.\u00a0 The Wednesday morning MGOL program has traditionally been rather small, sometimes only five attendees, but this fall it has blossomed into a strong program, too, with current average attendance close to thirty.\u00a0 With this number of attendees, there’s absolutely no spare room in the story room, and I’m actually wondering whether I need to think about moving the program up to the very large program room upstairs.\u00a0 Or, perhaps, I need to add another MGOL program to spread out the attendees and keep the program in the child-friendly space of the story room.<\/p>\n And one more problem has arisen.\u00a0 I don’t have enough musical intruments to accomodate everyone.\u00a0 On Tuesday, I had to rethink my lesson plan mid-way through the storytime, when I realized that there were more than twenty-four people in the room, and I only had twenty-four wooden rattles to offer to the crowd.\u00a0 Quick switch then to the jingle bells (we own thirty-six bells), and we used all but one of those.<\/p>\n I’ve decided that it’s time to use some of my program budget from the Friends of the Library to purchase more musical instruments and scarves from Musikgarten<\/a>.\u00a0 With about half of my program attendance coming from storytimes, this seems like a very prudent use of the funds available for programming, especially considering that with proper care these instruments will last for many years (as opposed to hiring a performer – when the performance is done, it’s done).\u00a0 And the instruments are really lovely, very well-made, very durable, very easy to wash and maintain.<\/p>\n As for the sudden surge in attendance –\u00a0will people\u00a0continue to come to the library for infant programs, even if the economy recovers?\u00a0 I think so.\u00a0 The parents who are attending my storytime have compared it to ones they used to pay money for, and they’re happy enough with what I offer to recommend it to their friends and family.\u00a0 Free is good, but free with quality and educational value is even better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s a definite sign of the poor economy: attendance at my two infant storytimes has picked up significantly.\u00a0 Parents obviously can’t afford to pay for infant music classes, so they’re coming to the library; while at the library, they’re finding that their local children’s librarian\u00a0offers a curriculum-based, fun, educational, and very social program.\u00a0 For free. … Continue reading Shortage at MGOL<\/span>