Director’s Thoughts #18 – Leaving a Legacy

Leaving a legacy is not something I think about very often. And the only time I do is hoping that I’ve made a positive impact on my community by creating a safe space for everyone in the community to enjoy and educate themselves! I don’t want someone coming into a position after me feeling as though they can’t change anything about the job because, “When Laura was here, she did it that way.” It’s a lot of pressure, but also a feeling as though the position is still someone else’s. But, after eight years of working as a children’s librarian and two years as a director, we’re hosting our 10th Anniversary Enchanted Library, tonight – a program that I began with a co-worker the first year I worked in the library!

What It’s All About

Ten years of kids coming through the library as book characters come to life! My first group of middle school students has now graduated from college!!!! This program was a re-creation of something we found in a library magazine. Each year we have 20-30 middle school students act out skits throughout the library as families are guided through the library. With nine years of themes under our belt from nursery rhymes to books-turned-into-movies to Dr. Seuss to mysteries – we’ve done it all! Here’s the post about our superheroes theme one year! This year we decided to take one skit from each of our previous years to celebrate ten years of this special program.

Our tours run every ten minutes for 2.5 hours and we usually see about 350 people each year! This is truly a labor of love as costumes, props, and backgrounds are created or found inexpensively. Furniture boxes and thrift stores are our best friends for this program. And working with the kids is exhausting, but so rewarding. I truly love the kids I’ve worked with and as stressful as it is, it’s an amazing experience.

Leaving My Legacy

And as I look back, the Enchanted Library has become my legacy. I’ve worked with middle school kids for four straight years as they’ve grown up in the library. They’ve aged from awkward tweens to poised and mature high schoolers and college graduates. I’ve seen over 3,000 people come through tours, families appreciative of a fun night out together. And I’ve seen my staff pull together for this program in a way they’ve never done before. They help run lines with kids during dress rehearsal week, they donate snacks for the snack table, and they’re here until the bitter end as we race to convert our enchanted place back into a public library after the program ends. And best of all, we’re reaching families and sharing great books.

So, if this was my legacy as a children’s librarian, I’m couldn’t really ask for anything more. I’m excited to see what my legacy will be as a director – and I’ve got plenty of years to figure that out!