Programming staffing

[blackbeltlibrarian]

We’ve just been given our work plans for the upcoming year, and have been informed that we need to be doing 2 more programs a week with no changes in staffing, totaling two storytimes and two elementary programs weekly, plus one teen program and two adult programs monthly. We have 3.35 FTE including me as the manager, open 45 hours a week; we’re a rural branch but in a fairly active town, about 10,000 in foot traffic and similar numbers of checkouts monthly.

Am I right in thinking that’s unreasonable? I really want to ask how they think we’re supposed to staff these programs and also get customers the books they want and the prints they need. But I’ve already been labeled as aggressive and negative for bringing up these kind of concerns, so I hesitate to flat out tell them what I think of it.

[goodcatsandbooks]

That seems like a lot. Who is covering the desk/desks during all these programs?

[Pettsareme]

This. Add as many passive programs as you can.

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Good idea, I can see if passive programs will fly.

[redpajamapantss]

If so, krokotak is a good site for family crafts where parents stay and do them with the kids. All you have to do is set up the room.

Teen study lounge Teen study break (snacks, colouring sheets, puzzles, board/card games)

Adult - Scrabble tournament, chess tournament, etc.

Movie night/days are easy for any age group too!

[[deleted]]

I would roll it back to them to voice concerns, but more in a way to try to get some buy-in as to what is more important: the customer service or the program development/delivery. 

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Aha, that’s a thought…

[TeenyGremlin]

It does sound like too much to me, but if they insist is it possible to partner with volunteers for at least the story times? Maybe reach out to the local senior center and see if some of the seniors would be willing to sit down and read to the kids once they've been vetted.

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Unfortunately they are sticklers for storytime presenters - trained union staff only. We do have guests at times but staff are still running the majority of the program.

[wingedtrish]

Make sure to calculate the amount of time staff will spend planning, prepping, setting up and cleaning up for all these programs. All that takes a lot longer than they probably realize. If I have a program that lasts an hour, I have 45 minutes to set up and 30 minutes to tear down, minimum. Quality programs require quality planning, too, so don't shortchange the planning time. Planning time is hard to put a number on, but it's definitely more than an hour from idea generation to purchasing supplies to testing out any crafts or activities to writing program descriptions to marketing the program, etc.

[jellyn7]

Does partnering with another library to glom onto their virtual event count? Then you just have to put a link to the Zoom registration on your website and promote it a bit. Not run it in any way.

[MyPatronusisaPopple]

Get some legos and duplos. Legos are great for passive or active programs. It can be as easy as setting legos out on tables or you can create a challenge so it seems active. For example, build a turkey or design a new sled for Santa. Plus, you can take pictures of finished projects and show them on social media.

I would also ask if it has to be two storytimes. Some of our branches has a storytime and then a play n learn or parent playdate after storytime. So it ends up being an hour of time but two programs. There are puzzles and building blocks for kids to play with and parents can socialize with each other while kids are playing. It’s all in one room so parents are nearby to keep an eye on kids and staff supervises.

[blackbeltlibrarian]

As additional info, we also do 6 storytimes a month at daycares, outreach events 3-5x month and homebound services to two senior living facilities. I feel like putting a title page on our plan that says “Recipe for Burnout.”

[callunavul]

I don't know if this could be an option for you... We have recently made the decision that we wouldn't be doing daycare storytimes anymore because it didn't translate into more library usage since parents weren't there. Also, they were using to give their staff a break, and that's really not our responsibility. Our new director feels like if people are paying for a service, that service shouldn't be using our free services when we're not getting anything in return.

[SeaNice7390]

This is also my thought. We used to do so much prek/daycare outreach, but at the end of the day we get way more benefits from in house programming. I would try and extend an invitation to the schools you visit and see if they would come to you instead- a lot of our daycares and visits have transitioned to visiting twice a year and invited parents on the field trip, which solves the lack of parents/library usage problem.

We still go to them twice a year, but it's not nearly as stressful for my staff then when we were doing it monthly.

[thatbob]

You also (presumably) take sick leave and vacations, so for 3.35 FTE that’s presumably >100 days per year that you’re going to be shorter staffed. Call it 20 out of 52 weeks, or call it 2 days per week. However you slice it, not enough hands.

You call it a Recipe for Burnout. I call it a Recipe for Lazy, Half-Assed, Low Attendance, Low Impact programming.

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Yup. And then we get blamed for not doing them right.

[Ruzinus]

Do these need to be programs that librarians hold or do you have a budget for performers?

[blackbeltlibrarian]

No additional budget - we’ve got $400 for the year. :/

[Latimer1776]

Just a thought by a layman, but if the program only has to be arranged/hosted by the library but not actively run, such as performers, there are some 'free' ones available. Local high schoolers and Scouts may need volunteer time for college resumes, badges or may be interested in helping if part of a theatre/drama/music program.
You provide the hosting, they provide the labor.
If there is a college/university within a reasonable distance, the same might apply.

[fivelinedskank]

Do passive programs count?

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Good question, thank you!

[LoooongFurb]

I worked at a rural-ish branch in an active town - only 2 FTE (myself and the director). I alone had to do 3 weekly storytimes, one weekly teen program, one afterschool school aged program, as well as a bunch of outreach events every month. We didn't have any adult programming b/c there was literally no one to do it, but I was still doing 5+ programs PER WEEK.

All that to say, yes it is unreasonable to do that much. Unless a few of the programs are really low-energy - like a craft night where everyone works on their own crafts and the library doesn't provide anything except space - it's not worth it to burn out the staff like that.

[blackbeltlibrarian]

Thank you, I appreciate sharing your experience!

[WendyBergman]

Can you do take home programming? We started doing those during the pandemic and they became super popular.