Stuck in a Waiting Room? Do Some Reading, Courtesy of New Library/Schools Program
Monday, July 10, 2023
The Kansas City Public Library and Kansas City Public Schools are partnering with local health care providers, social service providers, and non-profit community organizations to create reading spaces for children and families in public waiting areas.
The pilot program is called Kansas City Loves to Read and by mid-July will be at Swope Health’s WIC (women, infants, and children) office, the pediatric dental clinic at the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, Research Medical Center’s Brookside emergency room, the Mattie Rhodes Art Center & Cultural Center, Phoenix Family’s East Hills Village apartments, the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division, the Police Athletic League of Kansas City, and Jackson County Family Court.
“We were looking for places where families might spend some time waiting,” says Courtney Adams, Kansas City Public Schools’ family and community engagement coordinator. “Nowadays, the first thing we want to grab is a device.”
But what would happen if a range of new, high-quality children’s books reflecting the demographic and language needs of the host location was available in a comfortable, child-friendly area?
“We thought they might be more likely to pick up a book and read while they're waiting,” Adams says.
The program arose from a 2021-22 school district initiative, KCPS Loves to Read. At more than 38 schools, teachers used reading, reading logs, and worksheets to address heightened socioemotional needs caused by the pandemic.
One goal of the first iteration of Loves to Read was to encourage and establish reading as a habit. Students, teachers, guardians, and community members alike stopped everything to take a reading break from 10 to 10:15 a.m. every Wednesday, with the intention of sending a message to students that reading is important and reading is for everyone.
Similarly, Library patrons of every age sign up for and participate in Summer Reading. Prizes and free books at all 10 Kansas City Public Library locations are available to tots, teens, parents, and guardians of all ages.
Books can amplify unheard voices and offer visibility for the unseen and overlooked. Stories of people who have faced challenges similar to our own resonate with us and make us feel less alone. Reading introduces us to an array of other worlds and perspectives, and within the pages of books are paths that lead us toward a greater understanding of one another.
Crystal Faris, the Library’s deputy director for youth and family engagement, says it’s important to encourage families to read together. “We know from research that young children seeing their parents read reinforces for them that this is a behavior they should have,” she says.
The school district and Library partnership aims to open the door to reading to children or families that might not regularly visit libraries. Through a grant from the Sosland Foundation, each Library location will have roughly 125 books curated for the demographic expected in each waiting area.
Outreach Youth Librarian Elizabeth Giles says, “We took their specific needs, and who they're seeing in their spaces, into consideration when we picked out books.”
Adams says that meant ensuring selections were culturally responsive and that the books’ characters reflected the children who were most likely to read them.
For instance, the WIC office at Swope Health sees many very young children, while the Police Athletic League tends to see school-age kids and up, so the Library chose books accordingly. People from dozens of countries seek care at the Samuel U. Rodgers clinics, so the Library purchased titles in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Swahili, Arabic, Pashto, Dari, Burmese, and Farsi.
The reading areas will include rugs; soft, child-sized seating; and toys like puzzles, magnetic letter boards, and board games. They’ll also include signage explaining how to sign up for a library card at a branch or straight from a phone.
The pilot program is called Kansas City Loves to Read and by mid-July will be at Swope Health’s WIC (women, infants, and children) office, the pediatric dental clinic at the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, Research Medical Center’s Brookside emergency room, the Mattie Rhodes Art Center & Cultural Center, Phoenix Family’s East Hills Village apartments, the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division, the Police Athletic League of Kansas City, and Jackson County Family Court.
“We were looking for places where families might spend some time waiting,” says Courtney Adams, Kansas City Public Schools’ family and community engagement coordinator. “Nowadays, the first thing we want to grab is a device.”
But what would happen if a range of new, high-quality children’s books reflecting the demographic and language needs of the host location was available in a comfortable, child-friendly area?
“We thought they might be more likely to pick up a book and read while they're waiting,” Adams says.
The program arose from a 2021-22 school district initiative, KCPS Loves to Read. At more than 38 schools, teachers used reading, reading logs, and worksheets to address heightened socioemotional needs caused by the pandemic.
One goal of the first iteration of Loves to Read was to encourage and establish reading as a habit. Students, teachers, guardians, and community members alike stopped everything to take a reading break from 10 to 10:15 a.m. every Wednesday, with the intention of sending a message to students that reading is important and reading is for everyone.
Similarly, Library patrons of every age sign up for and participate in Summer Reading. Prizes and free books at all 10 Kansas City Public Library locations are available to tots, teens, parents, and guardians of all ages.
Books can amplify unheard voices and offer visibility for the unseen and overlooked. Stories of people who have faced challenges similar to our own resonate with us and make us feel less alone. Reading introduces us to an array of other worlds and perspectives, and within the pages of books are paths that lead us toward a greater understanding of one another.
Crystal Faris, the Library’s deputy director for youth and family engagement, says it’s important to encourage families to read together. “We know from research that young children seeing their parents read reinforces for them that this is a behavior they should have,” she says.
The school district and Library partnership aims to open the door to reading to children or families that might not regularly visit libraries. Through a grant from the Sosland Foundation, each Library location will have roughly 125 books curated for the demographic expected in each waiting area.
Outreach Youth Librarian Elizabeth Giles says, “We took their specific needs, and who they're seeing in their spaces, into consideration when we picked out books.”
Adams says that meant ensuring selections were culturally responsive and that the books’ characters reflected the children who were most likely to read them.
For instance, the WIC office at Swope Health sees many very young children, while the Police Athletic League tends to see school-age kids and up, so the Library chose books accordingly. People from dozens of countries seek care at the Samuel U. Rodgers clinics, so the Library purchased titles in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Swahili, Arabic, Pashto, Dari, Burmese, and Farsi.
The reading areas will include rugs; soft, child-sized seating; and toys like puzzles, magnetic letter boards, and board games. They’ll also include signage explaining how to sign up for a library card at a branch or straight from a phone.
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