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November 06, 2007
Library Club and the Return of the Wii
So I started this new program for kids in grades 4-6 at WPL called “Library Club.”
We had our first meeting tonight.
My idea here is to have a program for kids in the upper elementary grades and also to get some input from them about things we should be doing at the library—kind of like a teen advisory board without the teenagers. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a group of kids who would willingly come to something called “Library Club,” but the eleven kids who showed up to the program are my kind of people.
For the first program, I said I’d serve pizza, let the kids do some catalog shopping, and then play the Wii.
Part One: The Food
I had three (3) large pizzas, a big bag of baby carrots, a bunch of animal crackers, and two big pitchers of lemonade for these kids. They ate it all. Everything. There was nothing left except the cardboard boxes the pizzas came in.
Part Two: Catalog Shopping
The kids got distracted from their catalog shopping when I turned on the Wii, but they did pick some stuff out for me. I gave them a bunch of highlighters and catalogs I’d been saving. I told them that if they found something they wanted me to get, they should tear the page out of the catalog and highlight the title. I wish I had the sheets here with me now, because they had some wonderful unexpected choices.
Part Three: Playing the Wii
A few of the kids admitting to coming to the program only because they knew we’d be playing the Wii. Only one or two of the kids had ever played one before. If you should ever have the opportunity to watch a bunch of kids who have never played a Wii try to figure it out, I highly recommend it. It was chaotic, but also hi-larious. We have three controllers, but we were playing games tonight that required the players to take turns. The kids were so excited that they couldn’t even keep track of whose turn it was and were all flailing their arms about shouting, “Is that ME?” “Is that ME? I think it’s me! No, it’s me. Is it ME?” Whatever about kids having a natural affinity for technology. The reason kids figure out technology is because they don’t get frustrated and are willing to put time into learning. Plain and simple.
Coda
Watching the children flail about, Jason and I realized that we were going to have to learn a little more about how the Wii worked so as to better guide our patrons in future programs. Since we had it all set up, we spent some time playing games when the program was over. My favorite was a Need for Speed game, which I kind of wish I was playing now. I haven’t played a car racing game in a long time, and I’d forgotten how much I love them. For a few minutes, I forgot I was at work or trying to learn anything or attempting to accomplish any kind of objective at all. That was a wonderful thing.
Library Club was fun. A few of the kids said, “See you next month!” on the way out the door, which leads me to believe that they didn’t have a rotten time. I don’t know if I’ll be getting out the Wii again so soon. I want the kids to help me buy some DVDs and music, I think. Maybe we’ll play board games. I don’t know. The program’s a bit of an experiment; I’m very interested to see where it will go.
Posted by adrienne at November 6, 2007 10:09 PM
Comments
You are a genius. What a great idea to lure kids into doing your collection development for you. Brilliant!
Posted by: eisha at November 7, 2007 06:52 AM
I know! Next I'm going to see if I can figure out a way to trick them into representing the children's department at staff meetings.
Posted by: adrienne at November 7, 2007 09:15 AM
I am so excited for you. Sounds like a great time and I wish I was in 4th grade!
Posted by: Pat at November 7, 2007 09:57 AM
Boy, wish I had a librarian like you when I was a kid at Kendall School! We only had Mrs. Waring, a real relic,and grumpy to boot.No wonder you're head of the children's Dept., you've got some great ideas.......
Posted by: Bri's Mom at November 8, 2007 10:57 AM
I love the idea of having an "advisory board" for kids. I have one for the teens, but until you mentioned it at our last meeting, I really hadn't thought of doing my own. However, now I may have to.
Posted by: Cathy at November 8, 2007 10:59 AM
A great multi-player kid safe Wii game is WarioWare, or Wario World, whatever it is. It's quick moving and quick to switch turns, so it's a great group game. However, you need to beat part of the game to turn on the multi-player (not difficult). We also have the new Super Mario Galaxy at home, which is really, really great!
Posted by: Sara at November 13, 2007 01:31 PM