ATLAS: A Year in Review

Submitted by Sarah Reynolds

Last Fall, the Youth Services team at Sharon Forks embarked on a new journey to explore the world. Seeking to engage elementary-aged students, who are often so busy with other activities throughout the week that make scheduling an event difficult and often yield low attendance, At The Library After School was launched! 

Each month, elementary students and their families were invited to explore a different country through scavenger hunts, craft projects, story walks, and interactive educational activities. The beauty of the program and what kept students and families engaged was that new activities were added each week, so there was something new every time patrons came to the library.

Watching families learn new facts, engage in discussion, and utilize the library in different ways has been such a pleasure. Each week we are all wondering what will be next. Will it be basket weaving? Tango dancing? Learning Australian slang? Crikey - it was a blast! Many thanks to the hard work of the project leaders Shanna Bottongino, Steph Gardner, and Stephani Lindsey. It has been a joy to watch this program evolve over the past year and we can’t wait to see what next year brings!

A Look at the Numbers August 2022-May 2023

Total Child engagements 10,117

Total Parent engagements 1,693

GRAND TOTAL     11,810

Total number of activities 42

Yes, the numbers are nice, but the true impact is best relayed by comments from our patrons to our staff.

A Montessori class was in today and the head teacher was reading the Thailand signs. She stopped me and told me that the ATLAS program has been great for her students and is well worth all of the hard work. She said they have really enjoyed interacting with the activities each week. – Stephani Lindsey

I watched a young boy and his dad exploring the Polar Station today.  They were deep in discussion!  Then he asked if there were any crafts to go with and I let him know that more ATLAS fun would be added all month long. – Amy Billings

Today a regular family of three little ones was completing the scavenger hunt together – I always love it when the parents engage.  So much so that when this mother answered her phone, I could hear her tell her own mother that they would be leaving the library as soon as they finished the hunt. Back to the main point - the oldest child, a girl of about 5-6, made a glorious observation.  When they went over to the koala, she told her mother that she noticed several of the animals had books near them.  This way "once you find an animal you can read more about them!" Absolutely wonderful! – Shanna Bottongino