Signature Assessment | Marissa Guzman

Description of the Idea

The Blue Island Public Library is a small public library that serves the community of Blue
Island, Illinois. Blue Island has a population of 22,899 according to the US Census Bureau in
2019. According to city-data.com, 49.6% of the population is male and 50.4% is female. One can
also see from city-data.com that of the population: 47.6% Hispanic, 18.9% White, 31.1% Black,
0.2% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 2.0% 2+ Races and 0.2% Other.  Blue Island Public Library is
very involved with their community and the patrons they serve. They have many events from
bilingual story time, different outing events and many more. These events go along with their
mission and vision statements, which they have available on their website. Their mission
statement states, “The Blue Island Library is a vital community center providing access to
information and materials that enrich the lives of its patrons by meeting their
educational, occupational, cultural, and recreational needs.” Their vision statement states,
“Blue Island Public Library is an inspiring hub of civic life, fostering collaboration between
local cultural and educational institutions to inclusively engage the Blue Island community in
the exploration of arts, literature, and technology for intellectual growth.” Both of these
statements are shown through their current programs/events that they offer their patrons, but
some aspects of their statements are missing through their current programs/events.
Through observation, I started to notice how these events only match up with some of
their mission and vision statements. This is when I discovered that there was a gap between what
is written within in their statements and what is showcased within their programs and events.
With this being said, I have noticed that the Blue Island Library is lacking events that are focused
on occupational activities. Sure, they have an event that the patrons can go on community outing
events where they meet up at the library and go on tours of places in the surrounding area, but
this is not what I think of when I hear occupational and recreational needs being met for the
community members. The new Interactive Occupational Program could foster collaborations
with many different opportunities, including a yoga studio, preschool kids for educational
purposes, while also exploring the arts, literature, and technology aspects as well. This new
program could be run by one or two librarians, one that focuses on the occupational part and the
other one focuses on the other aspects. Having two more librarians be involved, also causes for
collaboration to occur throughout the library staff. This also leads to an opportunity for
networking and partnerships with the library to develop as well.
The project would be held bi-weekly while the program is still developing, if the program
becomes very popular, then the meeting times will be reconsidered and discussed further in order
to accommodate the patron’s needs. Parents can sign up their children through the online Google
calendar where all of our event information is held. This program will consist of monthly yoga
and/or exercise activities and there will be a theme for each month. The classes will be held at
the library in the conference room or at the local Salvation Army where the gym area will be
rented out for this purpose. The group will then do an activity of either arts and crafts, cultural
component, or educational component the following week after the gym. These components of
the program will switch off every meeting session. This way the children of the community can
be introduced into multiple different fields and get a sense of which ones they may or may not
like. Through this exposure, children may find which areas they really enjoy and which areas
they may or may not need a little bit of extra help with. According to parentingscience.com,
research shows that “Children who exercised showed greater improvements in one executive
function skill: the ability to improvise — and follow — a plan” (2021). A daily dose of exercise,
even a small dose a day, can help children in many other aspects of their life. This includes
helping them retain information and be more attentive to what they are learning.
 Signature Assessment | Marissa Guzman

Project Plan
Team members- the team members would include the librarians who are working on the
program together. This would also include the other librarians that are not on the project because
while this program is being ran off or on site, there may need to be other people on the schedule
to help cover the shifts of those individuals that are running the program. The parents of the
children that are involved within the program may also be considered team members because if
the program requires that the group meet somewhere, then it is up to each individual, parent, or
guardian to get them there on time or even early before the event is set to start. Also, the bosses
or the library board is a part of the team members as well because since the program is new,
there are going to be many people checking in to see how the program is running and if it is
going well or not.

Goals (SMART)
 Provide occupational activities bi-weekly to children of all ages until high school who
need some extra movement or activity throughout the week
 Help the students focus better on their schoolwork and other projects they may have
 Physically show the patrons that physical activity does not need to be anything hard, that
it can actually be really fun
 Tie in yoga/workout themes into the arts, educational, and cultural aspects to include
diversity, improve knowledge and foster for new ideas to come about

Budget
Need Cost (per month)
Gas $40
Arts & Crafts $100
Physical Activity 30 Minutes-1 Hour
Planning/ Prep 1-2 Hours @ $20/ Hour
Drive Time: Library to Salvation 20-40 Minutes
Army/Library to School
Themed Music/Video Internet Access/ Technology Use
Marketing Flyers, social media posts, etc.

Estimated Total Cost $220/month; 3 hours and 40 minutes of

time/month
Estimated Total Budget $300/month

Outcomes
 Improving children’s knowledge of different technology, cultures, literature and different subjects
of education
 Teaching children to high school students that exercise and moving your body can be something
that is fun
 Help the kids get rid of some of that built up energy that they have throughout the day
 Teach kids how beneficial yoga and exercise can be
 Improve the overall focus that children have throughout the day

Key stakeholders- There would be many key stakeholders for this project. Starting off, there
would be everyone involved with the creation of this project. So, the two to three main librarians
 Signature Assessment | Marissa Guzman

that would be running the program and helping set up any needed materials, ideas, equipment,
etc. There may also be other team members that do not directly work on this project, but they
may help behind the scenes with creating materials, coming up with new ideas/themes, and so
on. Then, there are the patrons and children who come in to sign up for this program. Remember
that the program will be open to children of all ages until high school so there are many key
stakeholders in this aspect because they help keep the program growing and going! There are
also the key stakeholders from the library board who must approve of this project before it even
gets started. There will be a project team, project sponsors, the people that we collaborate with
(like the Salvation Army, the surrounding schools, and any other members that may be brought
in to help with cultural or educational activities. This also includes the people that see us while
we are out in the community. If a huge group is getting ready to go into the Salvation Army to us
the gym, then we are also coming into contact with everyone there who may have questions
about the program that we are running. The same goes for all the other students that are at the
surrounding schools or classes that we go to in order to teach a classroom or two about the new
program that we offer. This may lead to those other students’ going to their families and talking
about what we are doing at their school. This is important because this may spark ideas for other
children to get their parents involved, which leads to more patrons being interested in the
program, which leads to the program growing much bigger than it already is.

Assessment Plan
Assessment results will be used and incorporated into the future scheduled dates of this
program. The information that is gathered will be used to help access and tweak any upcoming
crafts, literature ideas, technology use and cultural lessons. Updating the upcoming lessons in
future program dates can potentially help the library staff to gain a better relationship with the
patrons and community. This will help build trust between the library staff and the community
by allowing the community to see that the library staff is there to help them in every way
possible. The community members will also be able to see that the library staff is trying to make
this program as engaging as possible. The library staff wants the community to feel safe,
welcomed and enjoy coming to the programs and events that the library has to offer. By catering
these programs/events to their likes while incorporating their needs/wants, they can teach the
children new skills that they didn’t have before while also teaching them the importance behind
yoga, exercise and how important it is to move our bodies in a fun and interactive way.
The Interactive Occupational Program launched on June 1, 2021, and so far, the program
has had a huge impact on the community! We have heard from many different people that the
program has helped with their children’s attention span in school and at home, the physical
activity has helped them sleep better, and some parents have even stated that the program has
caused their children to become more interested in school activities. With this being said, it is
clear that the people that benefit from this program are the community members and patrons that
have signed their children up for this program. The children benefit in many different aspects
including their sleep schedules, which leads them to not being cranky in the mornings or
throughout the day because they are well rested. This also includes the children going to bed at a
regular bedtime because they are tired versus them staying awake while lying in bed until they
get tired enough to fall asleep. Also, some of the children and have gained an interest in school
more than they had before. Although we cannot directly state that this is because of our program,
the parents have stated that they noticed the change around the same time that their
child/children have started the new program. Not only are the children benefiting from this new
 Signature Assessment | Marissa Guzman

Interactive Occupational Program, but so are the parents. The parents are benefitting because if
their child is going to sleep sooner and sleeping through the night, then that means the parents
can do the same thing instead of staying up worrying if they have fallen asleep or not yet. The
schools, Salvation Army and the arts and crafts stores have also benefited from this program
because their sales have gone up and by word of mouth have gotten more business from our
patrons’ family members. The library staff and their communication with other members in the
community and surrounding areas have also improved due to this program. We have had many
positive partnerships/collaborations come out of this program which has led to more networking
opportunities to come.
Each deadline is met on time so that the following and upcoming planned dates can be
ran according to schedule. If there is a holiday and the library is closed or the hours have
changed, then the librarians in charge of the Interactive Occupational Program will look at the
schedule for the entire library and try to figure out a time that they can reschedule the event for.
However, the librarians planned out these events six months out in advance so luckily, we have
not ran into an event where we needed to cancel or reschedule. Starting in the new year of 2022,
we also have deadlines coming up where we help other libraries to start conducting the same
program. Hopefully, one day we will be able to collaborate one huge class between multiple
libraires to show how quickly this program changed the lives of younger children for the better.

Gantt Chart
Research fitness in kids --> benefits Jan-21
Start brainstorming ideas Feb-21
Discuss with library staff Feb-21
List of what materials would be needed Mar-21
Staff is made aware of new program Mar-21
Flyers are made and hung around library ∞ Mar-21 Apr-21
Look at library schedule --figure out best time/day Apr-21
Start reaching out to schools and studios for collaborations Apr-21
Figure out budget plan, outcomes and goals of program May-21
Bring possible "dates" to schools and Salvation Army to confirm ∞ May-21
Start posting on social media about new program Jun-21
Updated flyers with more information Jul-21
Finalized schedule gets posted to Google Calendar and goes LIVE! ∞ Jul-21
Allow patrons to begin signing up foor First class on June 1, 2021 ∞ Aug-21
Prep for first 2 classes Aug-21
Final marketing post for first session on June 1, 2021 Aug-21
First session happens ∞ Sep-21
Second session happens Sep-21
Start prepping second month's activities Sep-21
Third and fourth sessions happen Oct-21
Patron's involved give feedback Nov-21
Staff feedback is gathered Nov-21
Discuss with library staff about program's future ∞ Dec-21
Milestone Collaboration Program Set-Up Library Staff
∞
 Signature Assessment | Marissa Guzman

References:

Blue Island, Illinois (IL 60472, 60827) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes,
statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders
(city-data.com) (Links to an external site.) https://www.city-data.com/city/Blue-Island-
Illinois.html

Blue Island Public Library. Our Story – Blue Island Public Library (blueislandlibrary.org)

Blue Island Salvation Army. Blue Island (Crossgenerations) Salvation Army

Dewar, Gwen. (2021). Exercise for children: How physical fitness benefits the brain. Parenting
Science. Exercise for children: How physical fitness benefits the brain (parentingscience.com)

US Census Bureau QuickFacts: Blue Island, Illinois. 2019. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts:
Midlothian village, Illinois (Links to an external site.)