INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

TO:

WAYNE DISHER, LIBRARY DIRECTOR

FROM: BRIANA ELLIOT, BRANCH MANAGER

SUBJECT:
DATE:

SCHOOL KIDS

08/07/2013

CC:

Hello Wayne,
I hope this message finds you well. Regardless of how swamped we are
over here, I truly appreciate you bringing this challenge (and
opportunity) of afterschool children in the library directly to me, and
my new expertise. I am confidant that we can find a solution that will
work for our library, the children, and the outer community at large.
First, some background information can shed light on this challenge we
are currently encountering:
Background:
As you may know, our East Oakland Public Library branch has been in
its visionary stage of renovation for quite some time. We have been
holding off new, larger changes to our library, for fear we will not have
the financial support in the future. This delay of important renovations
is also delaying progress in our new role in the community; the role of
providing a safe-haven for our community of patrons, particularly to
children in the afterschool hours that have nowhere else to go.
However, our time of waiting for improvements is over, as Mayor Quan
is in her final stages of receiving the recently-won $10 million grant of
Federal Domestic Assistance, for bringing a brighter future to many
of Oaklands Public Libraries. Mayor Quan has constructed a list of
Oaklands libraries, on a most-in-need basis, and, unsurprisingly, our
East Oakland Branch is on that list. Realistically, this grant money
could help fund a long-term project, one that we can implement now,
in striving to better serve our at-risk youth population.
Bringing the issue of latchkey children to the forefront of our librarys
mission, could not have come at a better time. I truly mean that. Lets
see this as an opportunity for positive growth and change! Yes, we are

overwhelmed by the large number of unattended and unaccounted for

children during the afterschool hours, but I have done thorough
research and I am confidant that we can collectively come up with a
solid strategic plan, building on my final recommendations. Ultimately,
we must view our library latchkey children as a blessing in disguise, for
they are, as Shirley Fitzgibbons writes for the ALA: an opportunity to
work cooperatively with the community, to turn a captive audience into
program potential, and to recruit future library users who enjoy books
(1).
Our current space for children (as well as for teens) provides us with a
great foundation to build on. Smaller federal financial grants have
helped us in recent years, in providing newer books and library
materials that reflect our urban youth population, as well as providing
the East Oakland Library with a modest, but new, computer lab and
ample digital technology.
Now, all we need to get our objective clear, and we need to get
organized, and fast.
We need to look at other libraries successes, and get inspired to
refresh and revitalize our childrens center, in order to serve our
communitys latchkey children. We can succeed with them, where their
school system has failed. We will provide them with shelter, safety and
innovative fun after school, where their rec centers, gyms and school
facilities cannot.
Public schools in our area have just begun a new school year, most of
them being in their first weeks or so. Perhaps this is why the current
issue is so pronounced, as well as being influenced, I believe, by other
environmental changes that I will discuss with you in a later section.
Let us now look at our problem up-close, in order to get a better idea of
what exactly we are dealing with, as well as possibilities why this
situation of latchkey children is occurring so prominently now, and
ways we can analyze the situation so a validly strong solution can
come from this discussion.
The Problem:
Our immediate problem here, the continuous build-up of issues that
you and I have been regularly hearing about via community members
complaints, is that, between the peak afterschool hours of 2:30pm
5:30 pm, this library branch is absolutely flooded with afterschool
latchkey children. These children, not accompanied by a supervising
adult, are often rowdy, sometimes disrespectful to librarians and other
staff members, and are simply not using our facility and library

resources for either homework or supporting other academic

endeavors.
During these said hours, the noise level is off the scale, even in the
loudest of library terms. Think Lord of the Flies, minus the conch shell,
and replace it with amplified static of popular music being blasted from
the tiny speakers of the childrens many cell phones. (Since when, us
older people ask, did children need or even afford, cell phones?!).
Regardless of this, the noise, rowdiness and overall disrespect to our
librarys environment are disabling other patrons, many of whom are
older community members or students, from doing quiet and focused
work in our library facility. Taking matters into their own hands, one
patron, upon delivering an official complaint concerning those
wretched children, has disclosed their tactic: total and utter avoidance
of the library at these hours, despite their own needs to use the library.
One rare and compassionate patron made this point to me the other
day, that though the library is an inappropriate place for perpetually reenacting Wild Things Wild Rumpus, If there are little kids making
noise, its cute, and they can run around, its O.K Or if seniors with
hearing difficulties are talking loudly, thats accepted. But a [child or
teen] who might talk loudly for a minute or two gets in trouble(2).
The public school system of Oakland, for reasons I will explain in the
following section, clearly can not provide their children with adequate
afterschool enrichment and programming, as it cannot collect and
organize all the afterschool youth population in constructive and
educational ways. Thats where WE come in. We have, or will have
soon, the new funding to make a real difference; to impact the
communitys youth in a powerful and engaging way.
An Analysis:
Most children come through our doors as soon as this neighborhoods
closest two public schools are let out. Unfortunately both of these
schools, Malcolm X Elementary School and Rosa Parks Elementary
School, have no afterschool programs instated for the majority of their
students, as city and state funding limit the small programs they do
have, to students with physical and/or learning disabilities only. On top
of this lack of afterschool programming in the area, Rosa Parks School
does not have their usual afterschool sports team coordination, due to
having no one to coach them; Malcolm X Schools gymnasium is closed
for afterschool access as well, due to recent roof repairs that are only
now being funded and followed through with.
Not only do we have a problem in numbers and noise, (the kids are
completely taking over the library!), but also a substantial issue in

legal liability and safety concerns that are inherently problematic are
now coming to my attention. Review the following results, of a national
study conducted with 100 large public libraries surveyed, all
encountering latchkey (or unattended) children, who used the library
for child care purposes after school The minority of libraries sampled
were adversely affected by latchkey children in regard to legal liability
(13%); medical emergencies or accidents (18%); reallocation of staff to
cover the after-school hours (20%); and need for increased security
measures (34%) (3).
These statistics should not be ignored, for we might be facing the same
issues with safety, liability, and accidents in our near future, if we dont
get to the bottom of this. However, we cannot go about finding a
solution without first discussing the underlying problems at work here.
The REAL problem we are uncovering, with the observance of the flood
of unruly (but overall, just misguided) afterschool latchkey children in
the library, is simple: these kids, sadly, have nowhere else to go. These
kids are being bussed from their neighborhoods to their schools, or
dropped off by full-time working parents. If they had means to get back
home, using public transit and/or the rare ride or carpooling option, the
majority of the time these kids would be greeted by an empty home,
leaving them completely unsupervised and, quite possibly, in high-risk
situations.
The majority of these afterschool kids are vulnerable to (the quite
frequent) exposure to East Oaklands gang violence, general gang
activity, physical and/or sexual abuse, as well as early drug exposure,
some by neighbors and/or older siblings and family members. Studies
show, that during the time of afterschool hours, children (and teens)
are more likely to be involved in and/or exposed to some of the
frightening experiences I just mentioned; librarys stand as a
communitys sometimes only option to provide meaningful programs
to at-risk youth (4). I do not wish to bring this up simply to victimize
these children in our eyes, but to highlight the deeper, and systemic,
socio-economic issues at play here, and also highlight what we, as a
community of library professionals, might prevent (in some cases), if
we can serve the community in a new light.
Despite this sounding clich, these children are our worlds future, and
as Judy Nelson, president of the Young Adult Library Services
Association, part of the American Library Association, states: We
dont consider the world as safe a place as it used to be, and we dont
encourage children to run around, hang around and be free[s]o you
have parents telling their kids that the library is a good place to go
(1).

In these childrens world of lack, and the perpetual NO, lets be the
first to tell these kids YES. In the following section, I will be presenting
and exploring what other public libraries, in similar latchkey-kid
situations, are doing to resolve the problem and/or improve the
situation with targeted programs.
Alternatives:
Fortunately for us, there are MANY options for us already laid out by
other libraries in similar situations. My research, I believe, has flushed
out many of the more popular and substantial solutions, some I agree
with, and some that I dont think will be well-suited for our particular
library and demographics.
Ill begin by introducing Maplewood Memorial Public Library of New
Jersey, which I learned about in a captivating New York Times article,
titled Lock the Library! Rowdy students are taking over (2). Like our
own library, Maplewood Library was perpetually overwhelmed by outof-control latchkey afterschool children; children who, reportedly, were
overtly disrespectful to the librarians and would often block other
patrons from entering and exiting the library. Adding another horrific
element to this chaotic mix, there were several instances of children
urinating on the bathroom floor.
Unfortunately, under this undue pressure the library staff and
administration succumbed to the quickest (and perhaps hastiest)
solution: locking their doors to the children, and all of their librarian
patrons, during peak after-school hours. Though this tactic is
immediate, and it solves the superficial problem of not housing rowdy
children within the library, the question we must ask is: who are they
truly serving, with their doors closed? For this reason, of failing to
provide proper library services, even in a difficult situation, as well as
Maplewoods choice in tackling the latchkey challenge as if it is
separate and not apart of a larger, systemic problem, we here at the
East Oakland branch, cannot adopt such a solution.
Moving on to more promising and innovative solutions, I uncovered
some cases in which public libraries weighted down by the challenge of
large numbers of latchkey children viewed the situation as an
opportunity to grow in services. We must do this too. The mere
presence of these children in our library must suggest to us that there
is an urgent need that must be identified and serviced to. Having the
children in our library, with their particular afterschool needs, shapes
this situation into a library need. So, what can the public library do to
fulfill this need?

From the journal Voice of Youth Advocates comes an interesting article

describing how public libraries can make up for the loss of art
education in public schools due to budget cuts by hosting art events
for students (5). From this premise of fulfilling the lost need of art,
libraries from around the country, including the Cumberland County
Public Library in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Children's Village School
library in Waterford, Michigan, and Woodbury Public Library in
Woodbury, Connecticut, have adopted some very successful art
programs that offer classes on such things as book-cover designs as
well as painting. I am strongly drawn to the social justice aspect to this
solution, that public libraries can themselves adopt and construct this
new societal role in providing for public school children in ways that
their underfunded and disenfranchised schools (and often home-lives,
as well) are not.
I think that taking this idea of providing the opportunity for and the
exposure to creative and artistic outlets would not only be therapeutic
to our high-risk latchkey children, but empowering as well, in that it
can give them a voice to construct their own stories. However, I think
that our particular library would be better suited towards the example
presented by the Metropolitan Library System, of Central Oklahoma,
who are getting local artists to volunteer their time and talent for
enriching the afterschool lives of at-risk urban children, like we have
here in Oakland (source 4). Through outreach and events held in the
library, we could ask for (the free) support of local artists, offering it up
as an opportunity to give back to their own communitys children.
Another alternative, which actually compliments the collaborative
efforts between libraries and local artists, comes from an article in the
School Library Journal, titled Partners in success: When school and
public librarians join forces, kids win (source 6). The article offers
compelling examples from several public libraries (fromDenver,

MetropolitanNashville,EastPortland,&NewYorkPublicLibraries),all
teaming up with public schools to further support children (and teens)
with larger and complimentary collections and library materials, as well
as strive for direct academic support.
The following quote sums up the power of collaboration nicely: The

relationshipbetweenschoolsandpubliclibrariansisacriticalonefewschool
librariescouldmatchthebuyingpowerofalargebranchoramidsizepublic
librarysystem.Andduringthesetroubledeconomictimes,schoollibrariansand
theirbudgetsareoftenamongthefirstitemsscratchedfrompublicschool
budgets(source6).Suchcollaborationisgoodfortheschools,goodforthe
libraries,and,mostimportantly,goodforthechildren.

Why not collaborate and pull resources from several places, to build an
exemplary, cooperative space for our underserved children?
My final alternative I will present to you, one that has been adopted by
many urban public libraries (like the East Oakland Branch), has to do
with YOUmedia networks reimagining learning in the 12st century
(7). This alternative in particular is one that I am favoring, for the
primary reason that it aims to serve underserved children on the basis
of supplemental and creative learning, engaging kids with access to
technology and innovative projects, as it aims to also collaborate with
local schools to create a continuum of empowering opportunities for
children (and teen) participants (7).
The Harold Washington Library Center of the Chicago Public Library has
become one of the leading exemplary examples in adopting the
YOUmedia model (7). This Chicago library was extensively studied for
an article in School Library Journal, as well as promoted in recent
conferences hosted by the Urban Libraries Council and the Association
for Science and Technology Centers, in which 30 Learning Labs located
in libraries and museums across the country were brought together to
share YOUmedia-inspired program successes (8).
With YOUmedia, we would fulfill the engagement component that I
am suggesting we strive towards, as studies show kids are genuinely
interested in learning through technology. We would also fulfill the
collaborative component, that is so vital to provide for our library
environment, a continuity connected to the childrens underfunded
public schools.Without fully engaging the children, and without our
communitys support, we are where we stand now, in the midst of
elementary-age-fueled chaos.
Speaking more on YOUmedia, and what makes it such a fantastic and
ready-to-use resource, is that it provides libraries (and other learning
facilities) a fully scripted tool kit, that outlines the various stages of
implementing their program. There are resources to help us plan,
build, and sustain a digital learning lab, as well as suggestions on
getting started, what to include in the physical space of the learning
lab, what staffing requirements we should consider, and what our
operations plan might look like, including budget estimates (9).
(see also: http://www.youmedia.org/toolkit).
The YOUmedia learning lab remains completely adaptable and flexible,
which remains dependent on each librarys (or other public service
organization) needs and capabilities. The Harold Washington Library
Center of the Chicago Public Library, for example, provides hang out
space with food; computer labs equipped with popular games, like

Garage Band; free digital media workshops, and graphic design and
digital photography tutorials; and these are only a few named
engagements and impressive resources provided to kids (and teens)
that would otherwise have nothing constructive to do in their after
school hours, that a long-term library program can develop over time
(7).
Recommendation:
For the purposes of fully realizing a strategic plan and next-steps
situation here at East Oakland Public Library, I have come up with a
name for my official recommendation: I call it, PARTNERSHIP,
PROGRAMMING, & PLAY TIME! (Or, the librarys 3 Ps Afterschool
Initiative).
Although I already touched on my main points and agreements for our
particular plan with my discussion of YOUmedia above, let me expand
and articulate further what our plan of action should be for the East
Oakland Library.
This is a long-term project that aims to see long-term results. However,
in our immediate and soon-to-be crisis, the following must occur
immediately: a professional phone call, or preferably, a meeting to be
set up this week, between you, me, and other East Oakland Branch
librarians, as well as representatives from both Rosa Parks Elementary
and Malcolm X Elementary, which can hopefully include some
teachers, and the heads principals.
In this meeting we should discuss near-future, structured conversations
that should happen at both schools, to ensure that the afterschool
children coming to the library are informed that their school behavior
requirements are the same, or stricter, once they enter the library. A
conversation about community and mutual respect might also make a
difference. We can also announce to them that the library is striving to
do their part in making the childrens center new, fun, and engaging.
We could also have the option to organize an upcoming evening event,
to encourage our latchkey children and their friends and family to stay
in the library for food, drink, and conversation, to discuss the
YOUmedia and school-collaborative plan that we will finalize after our
meetings with the schools. We could have this evening event, and
simply advertise our plan for these new library services within the
childrens center, as well as include supplemental announcements and
flyers that can be sent out via the collaborating elementary schools.

We should include our community in conversation, as we explain to

them that the YOUmedia technology and learning lab is the best option
for us, not only because we now have the financial funding from
Oaklands mayor, but because the public schools in our area all lack
adequate technology curriculum and resources. The children are simply
getting further and further behind in their innovative and technological
learning skills. The collaboration with public schools will hopefully be
inspirational, as it would coordinate our library programs to
compliment homework and academics of the schools; strive to
standardize behavioral expectations by implementing the same or
similar behavioral accountability the schools expects of their children
on-campus; and, bringing teachers and other school staff on a
volunteer-basis will also provide the children with familiar faces as well
as a continuity of seeing safe and respected adults that serve as
mentors in their lives.
Other great news is, is that we have adequate space already in our
librarys childrens center, that can be reorganized and expanded to
incorporate hang out outside space, which YOUmedia recommends
to reduce noise within the library. All we need is an official learning lab,
with a larger collection of computers and digital media and resources
recommended by YOUmedia. We can go by the childrens specific
interests once we have the designated area set up, but can start out
with the basic gaming and digital materials that include topics in
music, art, photography and educational technology interactions.
I strongly believe that this educational media and technology program,
on a collaborative basis with the local public schools, can capture the
attention of our disengaged youth, and re-engage them with new ways
to interact with each other, with their school subjects and curriculum,
as well as giving them new opportunities to create and give voice to
themselves, as young and active members of their public library
system!
Lets me in touch on how we can further design our future steps for
implementing a meaningful and powerful program for our youth.
Be Well,
Briana Elliot
East Oakland Public Library Branch Manager
(Reference following:)
REFERENCES

1. Fitzgibbons, Shirley A. (2000). School and public library

relationships: essential ingredients in implementing educational
reforms and improving student learning. Retrieved from:
http://www.ala.org/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/
volume32000/relationships
2. Kelly, Tina. (2007). Lock the Library! Rowdy Students Are Taking
Over. New York Times, online. Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/nyregion/02library.html?
pagewanted=all&_r=0
3. Library Latchkey Children. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from:
http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-4/latchkey.htm
4. Libraries receive grant for After School @ Your Library - See
more at: http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x87453304/Librariesreceive-grant-for-After-School-YourLibrary#sthash.60NhS90x.dpuf
5. Fesko, Shari. It's All about the Art. Voice of Youth Advocates,
Apr2012, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p40-40.
6. Partners in Success: When school and public librarians join
forces, kids win. Retrieved from:
http://www.slj.com/2013/01/programs/partners-in-success-whenschool-and-public-librarians-join-forces-kids-win/
7. Springen, Karen. What's right with this picture? School Library
Journal, Mar
2011, p36-41, 6p.
8. The Important Role of Libraries in the Hours After School. (Blog
from
Afterschool Alliance). Retrieved from:
http://blog.imls.gov/?p=2965#sthash.Z0GYhmAS.VmfipZ4X.dpuf
9. School and Public Libraries: Enriching Student Learning and
Empowering
Student Voices Through Expanded Learning
Opportunities
http://expandinglearning.org/expandingminds/article/school-andpublic-libraries-enriching-student-learning-and-empoweringstudent
10. YOUmedias official website: http://www.youmedia.org