In a World of “No,” The Library is an Island of “Yes!”
Parenting with the Library in my Back Pocket
How many times have you heard kids ask “Can I have candy?” “Can you buy me this toy?” “Can I stay up later?” In my house, it’s too many to count. We have to tell our children “No” so much during their toddler and elementary years, it can get exhausting.
In fact, in Jeff Olson’s book The Slight Edge, he reports that kids hear the word “no” 40,000–50,000 times before the age of 5 and the word “yes” only about 5,000 times. We try to protect them from tooth decay, materialism, and sleep deprivation (to address the above requests). It’s almost as if the default response is “no”. And it takes a lot of endurance because those little humans are relentless.
This is why I love the local library so much. Whenever we go to our library, the default becomes “yes.”
“Can I check out this book?” Yes!
“Can you take me to storytime?” Yes!
“Can we go to the nocturnal animal program and see a real, live owl?” Yes!
And while we are at it, let’s ask if they need volunteers, because, “My child, now that you are older, you need to be doing something productive over the summer.”
That’s right. I love how our interaction with the library has evolved over the years. First, it was board books and storytimes. Then it was picture books by the tote-bag-full and animal demonstrations. Then it was chapter books and their own library card. Middle school brought book clubs and a few volunteer hours. Once, I dropped them off with a blank map of the USA and told them I’d be back in an hour, and they needed to fill in all the states’ names and capitals, and they would need to gather up their courage to talk to a stranger (the trusted librarian) to ask for an atlas. More volunteer hours in high school, and YA novels and the occasional non-fiction text for school. Now the librarians are part of our network and help my college-age kids connect to others in their chosen field of study. One came to my child’s graduation party.
The library has allowed me to raise my children in an atmosphere of Yes, when so many other parents are wrestling with No.
Thank you, library, for being a place where I can say wholeheartedly “Yes!”
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