Programming Times Three

I don’t have kids of my own, but I am so proud of one of our library kids that I just had to share.  I have known M. since I began working at the library almost seven years ago.  I’ve seen her grow from an awkward tween (aren’t they all?!?!) to a confident young lady about to graduate high school.  She’s been part of our programming for years, is currently a page and came to us this winter asking if she could use the library to complete her Senior Graduation Project.  It is common in our area for teens to come to the library to help with programming to complete these large projects.  The seniors do a wonderful job and get a little insight into the hard work we do to provide these wonderful programs to our community.
She absolutely loves theatre, participating in every show we offered while she was here and came up with a program to be the director of our spring show, in charge of absolutely everything from props, to casting, to sets and more.  She chose the four shows, casted the parts and has worked with our middle school kids for the past 6 weeks to put together an amazing performance for the families in our community.
I think encouraging projects like this are great because you’re providing programming threefold.  Let me explain, the program helps M. out by allowing her to complete her graduation project here in the library, it also becomes a program for our middle school kids who work hard to learn their lines and play their parts, and thirdly becomes a program for the younger children their families.
The shows that M. produced include:

• Little Red Riding Hood
• Little Miss Muffet (complete with a beat-boxing Miss Muffet and spider!)
• The Frog Prince Continued…  (what happens after the “happily, ever, after)
• In a Living Room, In a House, In the Mother Goose Estates (a story filled with princesses taking back their stories!)

The kids have done an amazing job becoming their characters as M. has created parts for kids just to ensure that no one is turned away.  I am so excited to see the show tonight and I know that M. has truly put her heart and soul into this production and is not just doing it to get the grade.  I am so proud of the young woman she has become and can’t wait to see what she brings to her college education and her career!
These are the days that make me so excited to be a children’s librarian – watching kids grow up and believe that we might have had a little to do with it!