How Library-School Partnerships Promote Family Engagement
Engagement | Reimagine| Waupaca Area Public Library
Submitted by: Sue Abrahamson
At Waupaca Area Public Library (Wisconsin), one of our most important community partners is our local school district. Through this partnership, we are able to effectively reach and involve families in our K–12 schools in our small rural community. Here are three strategies that I have used to cultivate stronger relationships with one school to promote family engagement:
1. Attend Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Meetings.
The first part of my plan is making sure that one of our librarians goes to every PTA meeting to talk about things happening at the library and how we are involving the school. Connecting directly with parents through the PTA allows the school community to see us as a real partner and not just as a place to go when they want books and resources. Parents who attend these meetings start to see the relationship that way while they get to know us on a personal level.
The results have been rewarding: news and updates from the library are now on the PTA meeting agenda and the organization has a Facebook page where I get to share what’s happening at the library so that every parent gets information online.
2. Identify Resources Schools Can Share to Promote Family Learning.
The constant issue with any new technology or device is that when you have 800 students in a school, a single student doesn’t really get to play and tinker as he would like. Because I have built a strong relationship with the technology coordinator at the school, I go over and watch her use new gadgets with students so that I can look into acquiring the same technology for the library to have for out-of-school use. In the summer, the school loans their devices to the library — all of the iPads, Makey Makeys, and Osmo games — so that kids and families can have more access to the latest technology.
3. Leverage School Partnership to Expand Community Assets for Family Learning.
Another great way we’ve engaged families is by using our school connection to broaden our community partnerships. For example, the school has a nature walk and the teachers asked if we could put up a story to follow on the route. The library partnered with the school and the city’s parks and recreation department to make this work: the library picked the story, the city installed the signs, and families walk and read, walk and read.
On a rotating basis, the school assigns a classroom that adopts the trail and picks the new story to be exhibited. Teachers promote the stories in their bulletins to encourage other teachers to take their classes out to walk and read the new story. Families can come and exercise while reading the story, too. We see it as a valuable holistic approach to family engagement.
Altogether, our library’s relationships with the school district have been extremely important to how we engage families. My staff and I have such recognized roles in the school community that we each have our own school ID card, which not only gives us access to the building but makes us feel like real members of the school community. The most important thing to remember is that when one plan fails, we keep trying something new. I believe that using different strategies, constantly communicating what we can do for the school and for families, and always trying out new ideas are the keys to connecting with families and for continuing to cultivate strong library-school partnerships outside the walls of our library.
I hope these family engagement–focused ideas will be useful for other librarians in rural communities — and beyond!
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