Well, this is usually the time when Summer Library and Summer Learning plans are in full swing. But it can be hard to figure out how to plan when you don’t know what to plan for! Here are a few things to consider:
- Whatever you do, keep it simple! This is the year to experiment with scaling back your reading record/prize situation if you haven’t done that already. Make it easy for your fellow staff members, yourself, and most importantly for the kids and families who are participating!
- Think about OFF-line opportunities and ways to connect. Get creative when you think about working with schools, food pantries, laundromats, and grocery stores. What will you do if we can’t have big programs? Can you still provide families with supplies to do projects on their own?
- Think about ON-line opportunities and ways to connect. You are already doing it. Are there things you might be able to do in the summer to collect stories from your community and share them? Online reading platform? (look for more on help with this coming from the state). If you usually host performers, many of them are really hoping to still provide an online version of their program if in-person programs are not possible (their income, too, is drastically affected by this situation).
- Think about ways your summer program can support the recovery of your community. I’d love to hear ideas about this! Are there small tweaks you can make? Do you want to take some of the funds you would have spent on performers or prizes and spend them to help participants earn a big donation to a community organization that is suffering? Can you purchase supplies locally instead of online?
- Remember to take a few deep breaths. This stuff is important and means a lot to the families we work with. And it is important to keep it in perspective! Do what you can, and remember that is okay. Be kind and patient with yourselves and your colleagues and your potential collaborators!