Before You Ask “Where Are the Parents?”
Where are the parents?
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They are bone weary tired and stressed out and even sometimes depressed and fighting anxiety. They feel shame, fear… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/780840344648880128 …
Filed under: Things I Never Learned in Library School
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 32 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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YES! LOVE all of this. We are all working harder for less reward and it helps no one to fall into shame, blame and judgement of others. We all deserve better and we must do better. Be kind to everyone; it is a blessing to them and a blessing to you to practice compassion. Thank you so much for this entire thread and for your constant advocacy, Karen. THANK YOU!
Yes, yes, yes! Thanks for this.
We have a huge after-school gathering in our public library, thanks to various factors: 1, we welcome the kids to programming with minimal age limits on weekdays; 2, we have a lot of kids whose parents are working strange shifts at multiple jobs to make ends meet; 3, we have many service-sector jobs that are not high-paid enough for people to consider daycare for older children. Would I rather see these kids with their families? Yes. Would I rather they hung out on the streets? Of course not. I’m glad to have them here, where I can teach them and lead by example in how to get along with others, how to learn, how to be engaged in their community, showing them that the library is a place where they are welcome. A good “article”.