Serving Brighton’s

Families
Suggestions for Anythink‟s Brighton Library

Andrea McCullough, LI 863

October 30, 2010
 Families
• 34% of population are children (24% are school-aged)
• 40% are adults of parenting age
• 78.25% are family households
• 12.83% are single-parent households (Still families!)
Working Families
• About half of Brighton‟s population works (14,162)
• Average commute time is 26 minutes
Working Hispanic Families
• 39% of population is Hispanic
• 25% of households speak a language other than English
• 11% speak English “less than well”
Libraries and Family Support
 The capacity for communities to respond to
family needs may moderate stress.
 Libraries (along with parks and events) were
chosen by dual income couples as the 5th
important factor in choosing a community to
live.

Sweet, Swisher & Moen (2005)

Supporting Hispanic Families
 Literacy is both a barrier to using library services designed for
non-English speakers and is what most library services and
programs support.
 The most successful library programs and services developed
were: English as a Second Language (ESL), language-specific
materials and collections, computer use and computer classes,
story time and special programs.
 Family programming and targeting programs and collections
for children helps overcome major barriers non-English
speaking adults face: „lack of the reading and library habit,‟
and „lack of knowledge about the library.‟

American Library Association (2008)

Programs for Hispanic Families
 ESL classes paired with
existing programming
for kids
 Computer use classes
 Spanish-language
family story times
 Book clubs featuring
Hispanic authors
Supporting Brighton’s Kids
24% of population are school-age kids =
24% have HOMEWORK!

Research (Jeynes, 2005; Dawson, 2010; Ianelli,

2003) underscores the importance of having
parents and guardians involved in a child‟s
homework.
Supplementing School Education
 Encourage teachers
in Brighton to
post/submit their
lesson plans and/or
assignments
 Education students at
Metro, UNC, Regis,
etc. as tutor
volunteers.
Working Family Challenges
Working Family Challenges
Families and Work Institute (2002)
Combined work hours for dual-earner couples with children rose
10 hours a week from 1977 to the present
The combined time that spouses with children spend caring for
and doing things with their children on workdays has actually
increased
Stevens, Kiger & Riley (2006)
Family cohesion in contemporary working families is influenced
by how well an adult worker can integrate demands of work
and family life.
McFarland (2004)
The lifestyle-management “Selection, Optimization, and
Compensation”- setting and achieving goals
Time management
Increase your social network
Working Family Challenges

Blumen (2000)
In a US study of professional couples, most workers
mentioned their psychological need to separate home and
work. Many noted that commute time helped this
separation…

Could the library become another option?

A Family Affair at the Library
 Families gather/meet
 Unwind
 Do homework
 Socialize
 Synthesized programming
Refreshments
Perfect Location
Parent Programming
Workshops on issues working families face
• Child care issues
• Choosing schools
• Nutrition on busy schedules
• Healthcare
• Handling stress
• Recreation options with kids in the area
• Going back to school
• Making technology work for work-family
responsibilities
• Money management
Parent Programming
Best Practices for
Working Families
• Sharing methods
• Sharing
resources
• Social; reciprocal
• Librarians can
oversee and
provide
reference
Children and Teen Programming

 Story time for preschool & young school

age kids
 Homework help
 Already offered by Anythink:
◦ After School Get Together
◦ Prime Time for Preschoolers
◦ Tween Scary Stories and Craft
◦ Teen Gaming
Same Topic, Different Approaches

Careers
 Preschoolers-Tweens
“What do I want to be when I grow up?”
 Teens
“Next steps towards my dream job”
 Adults
“Career Counseling”
Considerations
 Security- Chuck E. Cheese model
 Staff, volunteer and community
representative coordination would be
formidable
 Affect on patrons not participating?
Evaluation
1. Date of attendance
2. Age of all family members who attend
3. At the FHH, I (on a scale of 1-5)
a. Learned something
b. Had fun
c. Socialized
d. Relieved some stress
4. The FHH (on a scale of 1-5)
a. Added value to my family‟s everyday life
b. Helped integrate work and family
c. Increases my feelings of community
5. Will you and your family attend another FHH?
6. Is there anything you would change about FHH?
7. Please share additional comments and suggestions in your own words.
Evaluation Results
 How program can be improved
 If FHH is positively affecting families in
Brighton
 If program increases community value
 References
American Library Association. (2006). Serving non-English speakers in U.S. public libraries: 2007 analysis of
library demographics, services and programs. Retrieved on October 19, 2010 from
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/olos/nonenglishspeakers/index.cfm
Blumen, O. (2000). Dissonance in women's commuting? The experience of exurban employed mothers in
Israel. Urban Studies, 37(4), 731-48.
Dawson, P. (2010). Homework: A guide for parents. NASP Resources. Retrieved from
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/home_school/homework.aspx
Families and Work Institute. (2002). Highlights of the National Study of the Changing Workforce, Executive
Summary. No. 3. Retrieved from http://familiesandwork.org/site/work/workforce/2002nscw.html
Grover, R., Greer, R., & Agada, J. (2010). Assessing information needs: Managing transformative library
services. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Iannelli, V. (2003). Homework help for parents. About.com:Pediatrics. Retrieved from
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/parentingadvice/a/homework_help.htm
Jeynes, W. H. (2005). Parental involvement and student achievement: A meta-analysis. (Family Involvement
Research Digest).Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved from
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/publications_resources/publications_series/family_involvement_research
_digests/parental_involvement_and_student_achievement_a_meta_analysis
McFarland, L. (2004). The work-family balance. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 41(4), 47-53.
Stevens, D., Kiger, G., & Riley, P. (2006). His, hers, or ours? Work-to-family spillover, crossover, and family
cohesion. The Social Science Journal, 43(3), 425-36.
Sweet, S., Swisher, R., & Moen, P. (2005). Selecting and assessing the family-friendly community: Adaptive
strategies of middle-class, dual-earner couples. Family Relations, 54(5), 596-606.
Townsend, L. (2010). Top work/family challenges and solutions. BlueSuitMom.com. Retrieved from
http://www.bluesuitmom.com/career/balance/challenges.html