For a number of years now, an after-school influx of energetic middle and high school students has regularly disrupted decorum at the town library, creating an increasingly troublesome situation for library staff, adult patrons, and students who come there to study or do research. But according to Library Director Mary Wilson, the number of students using the library after school has dropped considerably this year and the students who come are behaving much better. In her report to the Finance Committee this week, Wilson said that on average, 70 students use the library after school these days, down from a daily average of 85 students last year.
Wilson attributed the lower attendance to several factors. The situation was so bad last year—there were reports of students literally climbing the outside walls—that the library trustees appointed a subcommittee to find ways to improve after-school options for students.
New options ease library crowding
The schools responded by creating new after-school programs for sixth-graders, expanding school library hours, and easing restrictions on student athletes hanging out in the school cafeteria before practice. The town library also expanded programs for teens, which have seen an uptick in participation.
The Parks and Recreation ski program was expanded as well, Wilson said, with 150 students participating this winter. And finally, the General Store café’s $4 lunch on early-release days draws an avid following of hungry young customers. After eating, many of them still head for the library, Wilson said, “but at least they get some fresh air and exercise” on the way.
These new gathering spots give students somewhere else to socialize after school, easing the strain at the library. But while this school year has been relatively positive, Wilson said there is still a need for more adult supervision than the regular library staff can provide. She attributed a “distinct improvement in student behavior” this year largely to the efforts of a 10-hour-a-week teen supervisor, who does “a terrific job” interacting with students, she said. The library trustees agreed to fund this position last year and this year to see how it worked, but Wilson proposes to use state aid funds to pay the after-school supervisor in fiscal 2015. She sees it as an “ongoing requirement,” she said, with a permanent place in the library budget.
