Thinking Outside the Floor in Bloomer


They were having a tough time in Bloomer, coming up with a way to make the children's area roomier and more functional. Kathleen Larson, the youth services librarian there drew on past experience to come up with a plan that seems to be working well for them:

"My idea for the loft came from my experience in the early childhood field. When we were looking to expand, but couldn’t due to building constraints, a few centers that I worked at added lofts. They are a great way to add “floor” space without a multi-million dollar price tag. I found the loft online, and I  liked the plexiglass stairs so I could see children through the rails. It looked nice, and it was reasonably priced, our Bleskacek Fund paid for it!"

"A few things I was worried about? I was worried about kids throwing things over the rails, and little children falling down the stairs. The library board was, and still is, worried about children who will climb over the rails and jump to the floor. Over all the loft is going great! The kids REALLY love it and I’ve had a few parents stop and tell me they like it. We’ve had a few incidents of children throwing things over the edge (beanbags, puppets, and some soft blocks), but I had purposefully put softer toys up on the loft that wouldn’t hurt if they got thrown. And of course we do strongly discourage throwing items that are not balls at the library! We have toddlers through middle school students using it; a 13 year old pulled a bean bag up to read on it the other night. I love it, the kids love it and our limited kids space is so much less cluttered!"