Meeting Kids Where They’re At

Conversations at the Youth Desk:

Miss Katie: Hi, friends! It’s good to see you, Jane.

Jane: *says nothing*

Jane’s mom, Nancy: I’m so sorry, she’s being shy.

Miss Katie: It’s okay to be shy! We all get to make our own choices about how to be. Let me know if you need any help today!

I must have a dozen of these exact same conversations every month, and that’s why I wanted to write this blog about meeting kids where they’re at.

The library sees thousands of young people every week and we’re happy to see them exactly as they are! Kids are people and they have thoughts, feelings, and experiences that are all their own. The library doesn’t expect children to all behave the same way and strives to meet kids where they’re at—smiling, having a tantrum, being shy, shouting because they’re excited, talking a mile a minute, or not saying anything at all.

I recently read a resource guide from the Fred Rogers Institute [Meeting Children Where They Are] that reminded me of some of the ways that the library interacts with children and strives to meet them where they’re at on a daily basis:

• Showing genuine interest in their interests
• Letting children feel and express their emotions
• Remembering to give children grace as they continue to learn
• Respecting children as people
• Admitting when we’ve made a mistake
• Showing care even when they’ve made a mistake

As Fred Rogers said: “I was just thinking no matter what we're able to learn or what we're not able to learn, we're still lovable. Just the way we are.” And that really gets to the heart of the matter: all children are lovable just the way that they are.