Westlink Public Library Early Childhood Evaluation

Running head: WESTLINK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Exploration of the Westlink Public Library

By Angie Locke

LI 829

September 15, 2013

WESTLINK PUBLIC LIBRARY 2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a

good understanding of the children’s services provided to the

community by the Westlink Branch of the Wichita Public Library.

It characterizes the demographics that the library serves. It

covers research obtained by visiting the library itself with on-

site exploration into the children’s librarian staff

responsibilities, programs designed for children, a physical

space dedicated to welcoming and encouraging literacy in

children, and surveying the literary collections pertaining to

the interests and needs of children. Participation in a story

time event at the facility is described and a reflections section

recounts the author’s experience and what was gained from it in

terms of learning about librarianship and children’s needs.


Introduction

In this day and age, when for-profit agencies and sources

of funding are questioning the value of libraries in our

communities, one is privileged to find the merit in them. Their

importance cannot be overestimated for patrons of all ages and

their varying needs. Adults, teens, and children in our

neighborhoods deserve quality facilities that demonstrate an

interest in nurturing literacy, intelligence, knowledge,

entertainment, and social epistemology; in other words, a place

where people can gather and share books and ideas with each

other.

Wichita, Kansas, located in Sedgwick County, is a city built

on the Arkansas River in the Great Central Plains. It is host to

over 385,000 people as counted in 2012. The Westlink Public

Library is a branch library in the Wichita Public Library system,

the only library located on the “west side” of town, which is

separated by “the Big Ditch,” officially known as the Wichita-

Valley Center floodway. It is situated near the St. Francis of

Assisi parish, with large trees surrounding it and benches for

patron use. Nearby, to the east, are Genesis Health Club and

Bishop Carroll High School. The address of the library is 8515

Bekemeyer Street. Library hours are Mon- Thurs. 10:00 a.m. – 8:00

p.m., Fri. & Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sunday 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

and special postings are on the website for holiday hours and

closings. It is a ranch-style facility with a single floor

spreading out at 10,000 square feet.


Westlink Branch Public Library

http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/

Patrons /Service Population

In the most recent demographic report of Wichita, which was

in 2010, 26.6% its population was under the age of 18. White

persons make up 71.9%, white persons of non-Hispanic descent

64.5%, persons of Hispanic or Latino origin 15.3%, African-

American persons 11.5%, Asian persons 4.8%, persons reporting two

or more races 4.3%, American Indian and Alaskan Native persons

1.2%, and native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander make up

only .1%. The main patrons that frequent Westlink Library are

young families, students, and senior citizens. It is highly

popular in regards to its children’s reading programs. In fact,

http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/

the children’s librarian, Eva Caudill, reports that 40% of the

circulation at Westlink is children’s resources. Jenny, who

offered her review on a Yahoo! Website (Infogroup, 2013) stated,

“I'm pretty happy with this location. There are a lot of

activities here in the summer and the kids always have fun. There

is a large selection of children’s books, I think, for a branch

location. I also notice how hard the staff works, and it shows.

It's a very busy place.”

WESTLINK PUBLIC LIBRARY

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General Interior Space and Collection

Upon entering Westlink, either through a manual door or one

facilitated electronically for handicapped patrons, one finds an

offering of community information in the foyer, including the

publication “The Book Page,” informational pamphlets about non-

profit organizations in the community such as The Lion’s Club. On

the bulletin board, located to the right, near the water fountain

and restrooms, librarians have posted local happenings related to

literature and theatre, such as Debbie Macomber coming to town

for a book signing and the musical, Hairspray, being offered at a

local university. Many other miscellaneous posters of interest

are there as well. Of special note is the board announcing the

current children’s programs for the fall season, right in the

entryway to the main library. Even further down the hallway to

the right is the children’s story time room,

which is large and could accommodate up to 100 people were it not

for the fire code. It is equipped with stacks of chairs, carpet

squares, and a puppet stage. On the bulletin board in the

children’s story and performance room the children’s librarian

has hung a poster of the “Six by Six Literacy Skills” for the

parents to peruse and become more educated about how they can

enhance their children’s reading habits and be an influence in

their literacy development as at-home teachers and caregivers.

There is also a poster of the alphabet on the bulletin board, so

that kids can review their letters during story time, should the

need arise for the librarian to point out a particular one.


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One of the first things one encounters in the main space is

the circulation desk. Of note is that the slot openings where

patrons return media and books are low, at a height that enables

children to return their materials without too much assistance

from their caregivers. In two adjacent spaces to the left of the

desk are two clusters of computer stations, ready and waiting for

patrons to use their cards for a one-hour check out time.

Continuing around the periphery of the facility, and saving

the children’s section for last, which is located across from the

circulation desk, one can continue on the tour by seeing next

that there are full and up-to-date offerings on music (both for

adults and children), playaways, spoken CD’s and audiocassettes.

There is also a sitting area with magazines available, with a

view into the children’s area, which has been demarcated by a

glass wall.


In the center of the left half of the library, one can find

the DVD and videocassette collection. There are separate shelves

for children’s movies, and there is a special section for family

movies. Blue Ray discs earned a section of their own, showing

the modern touch Westlink provides while also accommodating older

technology systems of entertainment through still providing VHS

movies. Rounding the corner from the entertainment section, one

finds the new adult books that the Collection Development

librarians from the main branch library have ordered, both

fiction and nonfiction. Bestsellers are presented on a laminated

table-top display among them. Adult graphic novels, magazines

and newspapers as well as the biography section round out the

back corner of the library.

After the biography books, the south wall of the library

focuses firstly on large print edition books, followed by the

teen graphic novels, then teen fiction. There is a small

bookshelf, separate from the others, which hold the new teen

books and a few teen reference books as well. At the end of the

teen space, there is a completely glassed-in area for studying

that houses two wooden tables with 4 chairs at each.


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The nonfiction section of the library is wide and

encompasses many shelves in the center of the facility. At the

end of that section are the reference books, including

encyclopedias, atlases, Consumer Reports back issues, federal tax

forms, and various testing books such as how to prepare for the

U.S. citizenship test. Beyond that are fiction, romance,

westerns, science fiction, and on the last wall as one has gone

around the periphery, the mystery books. There is a display at

the end of the fiction section with the specialized subject of

vampire books, to appeal to adults and teens of all ages.

In the course of this tour, one surpasses the shelving

designated for “holds,” which are near the circulation desk. At

the desk for check-out, patrons have the option of having a

librarian check out their materials, or there are two computers

available for self check-out, by holding the item’s barcode under

the infrared light briefly so that the computer can read it.

Children are very enthusiastic to do their own check-out in this

manner. It is low enough on one computer for even quite small

ones to manage it on their own, and with minimal assistance from

their caregivers, they appear to feel empowered by the process.

Interior Space: Separate Children’s Areas

The children’s special story time room is located at the end

of a short hallway that is separate from the main part of the

library and is not particularly decorated, but kept with a

minimum of distractions. It is well-lit, and keeps the theme of

the rest of the facility with its carpeted floor and light

yellow-beige paint, to provide an open and sunny feeling.


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The children’s special area at Westlink is encased by glass

walls on the top half, with low shelving around the perimeter

inside the space. It is immediately visible upon entering the

library. On both sides of the open gap leading into its space are

display cases. One is filled with fun memorabilia from the Kansas

State Fair, since that is a current event. The other is always

filled with local children’s collections that a featured child

has volunteered to share with the community, called the “Young

Collector’s Exhibit.” It changes every month or so. In this

instance, a child displayed her horse collection.

The first noticeable items as you walk into the children’s

section are the lovely wooden tables and chairs, built to

accommodate little people and adults alike. There are three low,

wooden children’s table-and -chair sets where board puzzles sit

stacked and ready for interaction with toddler hands. There are

two larger table sets for adults to sit with their children and

read stories or sit and make decisions about books to check out

together.


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One of the next things a person might notice is the posters

and signage around the area, encouraging literacy and informing

parents, teachers, and caregivers of excellent reading materials

for the children, including posters for books that have received

the Caldecott Medal, the Newbery Award, and the Pura Belpre’

award.

The children’s librarian has also made an effort to assemble

a “reading train” bulletin board which suggests some books to

read in a fun way that the children can relate to. Hanging signs

are present, pointing to where the William Allen White books are

located, and colorful book posters brighten the space.


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Children’s Collection

The books that are reachable for toddler hands, appropriate

for what they need to find to browse, are the picture books,

along the periphery of the children’s space. They are shelved in

alphabetical order by author’s last name. There is a special

section with new children’s books as well as a section that is

separate for new readers called “Beginning to Read.” Board books

for the really wee ones are kept in plastic shoe boxes, easily

accessible and easily put away. Board books titles include:

Biscuit’s Walk in the Woods by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Frog Goes

to Dinner by Mercer Mayer, and One Little Lamb by Elaine

Greenstein. There are shoe boxes for super hero cooks, Dora the

Explorer, and small picture books. Next to those is a section for

brand new books for young ones. There are twelve wooden board

puzzles available.

On the tops of the shelving, the children’s librarian has

assembled some resources for parents. There is a collection of

Mother Goose books, a display of “Books and More” pamphlets,

which have subject lists of prepackaged sets of books, media,

activities, and bibliographies, just right for preschoolers

through elementary students that the library checks out for free.

There is also a grouping of children’s reference books. Included

in that grouping are: Children’s Core Collection (Twentieth

Edition), The Storyteller’s Sourcebook (First Edition), Index to

Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends by Eastman, Sequels in Children’s

Literature, What Do Children Read Next? A Reader’s Guide to

Fiction for Children by Candy Colborn, Best Books for Children

(Ninth Edition) by Barr and Gillespie, and Children’s Book Award

Handbook by Diana F. Marks.


The children’s librarian has made lists available for all

levels of education throughout the entire children’s section.

One can find the “Good Reads” pamphlets listed by grades, of

excellent suggested books. There is a magazine holder of bound

lists such as the Kansas State Reading Circle 2010 Recommended

Reading List, the 2013 Kansas NEA Reading Circle Catalog, and

binder entitled “Award Winners” that lists books that have

received the Caldecott Medal, the Coretta Scott King Award, the

Newbery Medal, and the William Allen White award. The librarian

has highlighted the books on the lists that the library has

available on the shelves for check-out.

In the magazine holder is a collection of lists of “Read-

Alikes,” or suggestions of books that are similar to other

popular books that a child might have already read and enjoyed.

These include: “If you like Harry Potter…..” If you like A

Series of Unfortunate Events…” “If you like Junie B. Jones…” and

“If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid…” The librarian has made

display holders of these lists as well.

There are twelve new William Allen White books currently.

Included in that particular collection that were sitting on the

shelf are: Hidden by Helen Frost, Tuesdays at the Castle by

Jessica Day George, Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard

Jacobsen, Bluefish by Pat Schmatz, Okay for Now by Gary D.

Schmidt, Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick, The Silver Bowl by

Diane Stanley, and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.

The librarian has also posted the 2013-2014 William Allen White

Master List for 3-8 graders.


The children’s section at Westlink has a broad range of

media to offer children, to go along with the printed materials-

only. A section with spoken audiocassettes and DVD’s of favorite

stories, as well as playaways and audio cassette sets with

picture books included comprise a large segment of one wall.

Magazine holders with a variety of children’s magazines abound

that include classics such as American Girl, Humpty Dumpty, Kids

Discover, Ranger Rick and Sports Illustrated for Kids. A very

substantial collection of children’s biography books of famous

people sit proudly on the shelves, as well as holiday books,

graphic novels, and world languages, including a separate section

of Spanish language children’s books.

Series books for young readers are easily retrieved by children

without having to worry about shelving them in any proper order.

In the back corner, near the beginning of the picture book

shelving, one finds a stack of plastic shoe boxes containing

Junie B. Jones, Geronimo Stilton, Magic Tree House, and Sports

Stories. New books are on a cart easily obtained by eager hands.


The books, in general, in the children’s department are

maintained rigorously by staff members and volunteers. Mending,

re-binding, cleaning, and taking books that are falling apart out

of circulation are all a regular part of daily care in the

department. Workers at Westlink are diligent about making sure

that only the best books are left out and in good condition for

patrons to enjoy. The quality of books and currency are

excellent. New books roll into the department constantly, and

the classics are treated with respect and reverence for their

place in the history of parents and passing down reading

traditions to their children. The librarians understand the

importance of balancing the old with the new, and that surely

contributes to the library’s popularity. Again, 40% of the

circulation statistics at Westlink Library are attributed to the

children’s department.

Staffing and Programs

There are a total of 15 employees at Westlink Library.

Six are full-time and nine are part time. Three employees have an

MLS degree. The rest are designated either as a clerk or

Librarian Assistant I, II, III or IV. Dedicated staff for the

children’s program includes:

- Tracy Partridge,

Branch Manager

- Colleen Strouse, Librarian Level 4

and Volunteer Coordinator

- Eva Caudill, Youth

Services/Children’s Librarian

The volunteer program is in place year round. Many

volunteers are teens who get school credit or are thinking about

librarianship as a future career. They help with story time by

counting heads and readying name tags and carpet squares. In the

summertime, there are as many as 40 teen volunteers helping out.

There are also adult volunteers, and they usually help more with

pulling holds and with circulation check-in and check-out

pertaining to held materials. Meeting the requirements to

volunteer includes passing a background check. In addition,

volunteers follow a certain dress code and behavior


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standards. Full time staff expects volunteers to behave as a

regular staff member, by maintaining professionalism in every

way.

Eva Caudill (on right), Westlink Library YouthServices/Children’s Librarian

& me (volunteer)

Programs for early children and their families at Westlink

are varied and creative. They are adjusted seasonally and

quarterly, to allow for new ideas and to allow for flexibility in

programming, and according to participant suggestions and needs.

In each program, space is limited, so it is based on a first-

come, first-seated basis. There are puppet shows throughout the

year as well as a hugely popular summer reading program.

Describing all of the programming in this paper would require the

whole of it.

A brand new program that just started this month is Baby’s

First Story Time for babies aged newborn to 9 months. The event

is held in the study room (the glassed- in area in the back)

every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. from September 10th to December 3rd.

It is led by Tracy Partridge, the Branch Manager. All of the

other story times are led by Eva Caudill, the Youth

Services/Children’s Librarian. The program runs for 20 minutes.


Nursery Rhyme Time is held every Thursday morning both at

10:15 and 11:15 a.m., two back-to-back sessions, running from

September 12th to December 5th. The focus is on music, rhymes,

activities and stories for ages 2 and under with an adult helper.

The program runs for 20 minutes.

Preschool Story time is offered for children ages 3 – 6, and

centers on stories, finger plays, and more. It is held on Tuesday

mornings at 10:30 from September 10th to December 3rd, and is for

children only. Caregivers are encouraged to stay on the library

property during story time. The program runs for 30 minutes.

Family story time is held every Wednesday morning at 10:30

from September 11th to December 4th. Stories, finger plays and

more are presented, and the program runs for 30 minutes.

A Little Story of My Own: A Family Story Time Play by Play

I had the good fortune of observing Family Story Time at

Westlink one recent Wednesday morning. 20 adults and 26

children, including babies, were present. Story time began, as

usual, by gathering in the children’s space in the main part of

the library, where the children got their name tags and did

puzzles while parents helped them and milled about chatting with

each other and keeping everyone corralled. The children’s

librarian, Eva, clothed in her ruffly apron specifically worn for

this occasion, begins by lining the children up along the wall in

a single-file line to get ready to walk to the other, bigger

room.

The children who attend regularly know what to expect and wait

eagerly… Miss Eva blows the wooden whistle softly, and the

children begin choo-chooing with their hands and mouths, chugging

along with the line to march jubilantly to story time.


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With the children and adults settled comfortably onto their

carpet squares and chair, Miss Eva began with a group

participation song called Bread and Butter, which goes like this:

Bread and butter,

marmalade and jam,

Say hello as soft as we

can! (hellllloooooo….)

Bread and butter,

marmalade and jam,

Say hello as LOUD as we

can!!! (HEEEELLLLLOOOOOO!!!!)

….. the pattern repeats

with high, low, fast, and slow

The children and caregivers take great delight in the

theatrical aspects of this little exercise and it is a great

crowd-pleaser.

Next, Miss Eva read the book Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily

Gravett. At the end of the book, she had the children stand up

and do this rhyme and exercise:

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

turn around…


touch the ground…


reach up high…


give yourself a hug!

Teddy Bear, Teddy

Bear turn around…

Teddy Bear, Teddy

Bear sit back down.

The book following was Leaves by David Ezra Stein. After

reading that, she had the children pretend to be an apple tree by

holding up 5 fingers to represent the tree. She read a poem about

an apple tree and had they do the motions for the lines “shook

the tree,” “way up high,” “pick them up,” and “take a bite.”

WESTLINK LIBRARY VISIT

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Miss Eva then read an oral story, which was an experiment to

see how the children would do, without any pictures to attend to,

she told me afterward. It was a very successful experiment! She

read “The Little Red House with No Windows and No Doors and a

Star Inside” by Carolina Sherwin Bailey. She had a real apple in

her hand during the reading. At the end, she revealed the apple

was actually cut into two pieces and had a star inside!

Miss Eva then had everyone stand up and sing “Twinkle

Twinkle Little Star, “ while twinkling their fingers and swaying

their bodies.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin came up next. Miss

Eva had laminated animals made from construction paper for each

of the characters in the story. To her surprise, and mine, the

adults recited the story out loud right along with Miss Eva! They

knew it by heart! It was a magical moment. I believe that was

the epitome of what sharing and storytelling is all about, which

is crossing time and generations and hearts. It was beautiful to

observe.

Miss Eva then had everyone stretch up high, touch their

knees, touch their toes, wiggle their noses, stick out their

tongues, bend their knees, swing their arms, pat themselves on

the bottom, and sit back down.

The last story was Corduroy, by Don Freeman. She then had

the children, once again, stand up for physical relief by

touching their shoulders, patting their knees, patting their

heads, making their thumbs dance, making their thumbs dance on

their head, touching shoulders, knees, toes, and clapping their

hands four times.

The final presentation element was when Miss Eva announced

that someone wanted to see them. She dug into her apron pocket

and pulled out a polka dot sock puppet and said that Dot wanted

to come out, and she stayed nice and quiet all during story time,

but now she wanted to taste the children’s fingers. She said it

was okay if not everyone wanted to be tasted. This was a

charming way to end story time. The children and adults were

then


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reminded to turn in their name tags before leaving, and she

thanked them for coming, amidst the giggles of little ones

getting their fingers nibbled on by the sock puppet.

Reflections

I did not realize the depth of professionalism and work that

went into maintaining the children’s space and programming at

Westlink Library until I did this extremely detailed exploration

into it. I have been volunteering there every Wednesday morning

for a year now, to gain experience in the world of librarianship,

and although I was already familiar with the space and many of

the books that get pulled for holds by virtue of the fact that I

hunt for them, I hadn’t dug so deeply as to notice the care and

attention given to such things as book lists and the children’s

reference books, and the sheer volume of work required to keep it

all up. Eva has been, since last week, going through the entire

space and re-assessing books to keep or get rid of, in order to

make more room for the crowded space in the fiction area. It has

taken her armloads of soreness and mind-boggling hours of

decision-making. It is quite something to be tossed in the

middle of a scenario and not just observing from the outside

looking in.

To summarize, I would like to say that I have a newfound

love, respect and joy for children’s librarianship after doing

this project. Attending the Family Story Time that I described

sealed the deal, simply because after reading so much in our

textbook about storytelling and how you never outgrow it, I got

to see it firsthand. The enjoyment in the adults’ faces and how

enraptured they were in the moment was a thing of beauty. I’m so

glad that their children and grandchildren were with them to see

it and feel it. That, to me, is the essence of what this calling

of librarianship is all about: sharing the joy of literacy across

the generations.


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References

Infogroup. (2013). Wichita public library- Westlink branch. Retrieved from http://local.yahoo.com/info-17993559-wichita-public-library-westlink-branch-wichita

http://local.yahoo.com/info-17993559-wichita-public-library-westlink-branch-wichita

http://local.yahoo.com/info-17993559-wichita-public-library-westlink-branch-wichita

U.S. Census Bureau. (2013, June). State and County Quick Facts.

Retrieved from

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/20/2079000.html

Wichita Public Library: The Discovery Center. (2013). Westlink Branch Library. Retrieved from http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/Locations/Westlink.htm

Wilson, B. (2013, August 17). Wichita library debate: ‘we’ve donethis before.’ The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved from http://www.kansas.com/2013/08/17/2948662/wichita-library-debate-weve-done.html

http://www.kansas.com/2013/08/17/2948662/wichita-library-debate-weve-done.html

http://www.kansas.com/2013/08/17/2948662/wichita-library-debate-weve-done.html

http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/Locations/Westlink.htm

Westlink Public Library Early Childhood Evaluation

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