Many thanks to Valerie Spooner from Ladysmith for this inspiring guest post!
We
have a women’s shelter in our town that does a wonderful job, but residents don’t always feel comfortable coming to the library. Many of the women
who use their services also have children, so I have been trying to build a
relationship with the shelter, and with the families who live there, so that they feel comfortable bringing their
children to storytimes and events at the library. Here are two of the outreach
activities I have tried that have been really successful.
Foster
kitten visit. I foster kittens for our local animal shelter. I want to
raise heathy kittens with lots of social skills, so bringing them to visit the
women’s shelter is great. The kittens get a chance to socialize with new
people, and the shelter residents get a chance to play with some adorable
kittens. It’s a win- win! This outreach activity requires only time and access
to kittens. After this event some of the children came to visit me at the
library, which was really exciting for me! I plan on repeating this event with
my new batches of foster kittens.
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Child and kittens socializing...or napping, as kittens tend to do. |
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10-day-old tiny nuggets. They'll be ready for their play date when they are 5-6 weeks old. |
Nail
decals. My director recently purchased a book about making your own nail
decals and suggested that it would be a fun event to host at the library. I
thought that I might like to practice on a smaller sized group first, so I
asked if anyone at the women’s shelter would be interested. They were, so we
set up a visit.
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Materials needed:
waterslide paper, small scissors, white nail polish, clear nail polish,
tweezers, nail file, cotton balls, nail polish remover, small containers to
hold water. And, of course, the book! Make Your Own Nail Decals by Janelle
Estep |
This outreach event required a bit more prep time, but cost
less than $20 total (and I have enough supplies left to repeat this with about
300 more people). I bought waterslide paper ($10), white nail polish ($2), and
clear nail polish ($5 for the giant bottle that will last a really long time).
Everything else we had on hand. The ladies chose designs from the book, which I
printed onto the waterslide paper and sealed with clear nail polish. Then we
painted their fingernails white (you don’t have to, but it does help the decals
show up) and applied the decals. We topped their nails with more clear polish
to keep everything in place. It does take about 30 minutes for the waterslide paper
to seal, and then there is the drying time between coats of nail polish, but
that gave me a chance to talk about storytimes and the Summer Library Program.
Labels: community engagement, kittens, outreach, partnerships