Tips and Tricks for Supporting Challenging Student Patrons

Meeting the needs of all patrons and learners in our library spaces during children’s and youth programing time is paramount to their successful learning outcomes. However, today’s children and youth along with their adults have experienced collective upheaval in the past five years with pandemic school closures, irregular learning experiences, virtual school, and time interrupted for quarantines. We are still recovering. Join this strategy session to discuss how teacher librarians meet the needs of students, children, and youth in our teaching and programming. Consider the basics of storytime and engaging a group of children when a few have not yet gained the skills to listen patiently. What strategies can we plan in advance to ensure all students are successful regardless of their current skills? What strategies can we be prepared to implement on the fly when we are faced with unexpected patron behaviors? This scenario and several more will be the focus of our discussions. Teacher librarians have a background in educational strategies, differentiation, and accommodating diverse learners including those who are bilingual, not fluent in English, neurodiverse, and need learning interventions. All librarians who work with grade level patrons can benefit in discussion about supporting students who challenge us.