Child Development Essay:

Letter to the Public about Unstructured Time at the Library

Rachel Payne

Info 799.004: Resources for Children

Denise Agosto

November 2014

Many parents and guardians want an overtly structured environment for their

children and feel anxious if they think their children have too much unstructured

“free time.” Using Dewey’s ideas, write a formal letter or essay to

parents/guardians explaining why unstructured library time is both educational

and beneficial to children.

Dear Parents;

One of my favorite things about working at the library is to see children come into

the library, from the two year old who totters off to the board books to the ten year old

who disappears in the stacks and you have no idea what they are doing. You, their

parents/guardians, are bringing them here, thank you. This is a great gift you can give to

your children. Lately there has been an increase in requests for structured children’s

programing at the library. As the children’s librarian I want to explain why we will not be

increasing our structured programing for children and are strongly encouraging you to

bring your children into the library regularly.

There are many reasons why it is beneficial for children to spend unstructured

time in the library. When discussing the topic with the children’s librarian at Cherrydale

Public Library, Karen Sullivan listed the following as reasons to bring children to the

library: “It is a place many parents feel is safe for their children to learn social skills in

public, to be independent, and learn how the library system works, which they can then

use to learn how other systems work, it creates print awareness, and it’s an opportunity to

see others reading” (personal communication, Nov 12, 2014). All these and more will be

discussed in this letter.

One of the greatest benefits of kids spending time in the library is that it gives

them the opportunity to develop their social skills. John Dewey, one of America’s most

well known education theorists (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.13), believed that children

learn best from their social environment (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.16). When children

interact with parents/guardians, librarians and other children in the library they are

learning how interact, how to work with other people. Jean Piaget a biologist,

psychologist turned educator, revolutionized grammar school in America in the early

1900’s (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.77-78). He developed his stages of cognitive

development that explains how children learn at different ages. According to him

children ages 2-7 are in the preoperational stage, which means that they learn based on

what they experience (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.81). Lev Vygotsky, a Russian educator

and a peer of Piaget’s (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.99-100), believed that social interaction

and especially conversation were key ways in which children learn. When children play

together they have a goal, working towards that goal is a good way for them to learn

social and life skills (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.107-109). When children have

unstructured time in the library they are given the chance to interact with other children

and the librarians and have the opportunity to develop their social skills.

Allowing children to spend unstructured time in the library also helps them to

develop a healthy independence. Maria Montessori, the first female medical doctor in

Italy worked with ‘unteachable’ children and developed a new style of teaching that

‘cured’ the ‘unteachable’ children (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.35-36). She believed that if

children were taught to create beauty and order in their spaces they would be happy and

learn better (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.40-42). The library is neat and every book has it’s

own location. Children can learn to respect their surroundings when they learn how to

find and care for the books that they read and/or check out from the library. Erik Erikson

was a psychologist who studied how people develop at different ages, from birth to death

(Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.53-54). He believed that letting children ages 1-3 years old

helps them to develop willpower and for children 3-6 years old it helps them to develop a

sense of purpose. For teenagers he believed that being allowed to do what they want,

within reason, helps teens to develop their identity as an individual and how to be loyal

not just to their newfound self, but also to others (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.54, 62, 67,

70). When your children have unstructured time in the library they develop their

independence, their purpose and their own identity.

Spending unstructured time in the library gives them the chance to explore and

learn how the library system works. Maria Montessori believed that children learn how

the world works by exploring their environment (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.38-42). When

children learn how the library system works, they can then apply that to how other

systems work, like the grocery store or the school (K. Sullivan, personal communication,

Nov 12, 2014). Erik Erickson encourages children ages 6-11 years old especially to learn

to become industrious (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.54). By learning how to find books on

what they are interested in they develop their competence while learning industry. Jean

Piaget believed that children ages 0-2 years learn through their senses (Mooney, C. G., ,

2013, p.81). By letting children that age spend time with the board books, they learn

through their senses and reflexes how to manipulate objects. For older children, ages 7 to

about 12, they start to develop logical reasoning (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p.81). The more

familiar a child is with the library the more they will start to form ideas based on

reasoning about that place, the sooner they understand how a library works, the sooner

they can capitalize on the information stored there (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p. 92-95).

Two preliteracy skills that children can learn through unstructured time at the

library are print motivation and print awareness. Print awareness is when children

recognize that words are a language, that they have meaning. When children go to the

library they are surrounded by print and the importance of it (Ghoting, S. N., Martin-Diaz

P. 2006, p.14, 27). Print motivation is when children’s interest in printed material is

encourages and when they recognize other’s interest in printed material (Ghoting, S. N.,

Martin-Diaz P. 2006, p.12, 24). When children experience others valuing books they

learn to value books (Ghoting, S. N., Martin-Diaz P. 2006, p.14, 27).

Spending unstructured time in the library with your children provides the

opportunity for you to develop your relationship with your children in an environment

outside the home. Lev Vygotsky and Maria Montessori both came from scientific

backgrounds and independently discovered the importance of observing children

(Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p. 44-45, 102). The library is a great place for you to observe

your children and see what they can do, then as Vygotsky would say and “build

scaffolding” for them to learn to do more, or in other words provide learning

opportunities to help them with what they are currently learning (Mooney, C. G., , 2013,

p. 119). John Dewey believed that learning environments should reflect the values of the

family (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p. 17). Since we live in such a diverse community your

specific family values may not be taught in our schools and library programming has to

be inviting to people from all walks of life. But you can teach your children your family

values in an environment outside the home when you spend unstructured time with them

one on one the library.

We hope that this letter helps to explain why while we will not be increasing our

children’s library programing at our library, we still encourage you to come in with your

children for unstructured library time. Spending time in the library is a chance for

children to develop their social skills by observing and interacting with others (Mooney,

C. G., , 2013, p. 16). A child’s sense of independence can be developed as they learn to

respect their environment, and how to act as and be an individual in that environment

(Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p. 40-42, 52). They learn how the library system works which

they can then apply to other systems (ex. grocery stores or schools) to learn how they

work (K. Sullivan, personal communication, Nov 12, 2014). But arguably the most

important point is that spending unstructured time at the library with your children gives

you the chance to observe them and then act upon those observations to help your

children to continue to develop (Mooney, C. G., , 2013, p. 44, 102, 119). Spending

unstructured time at the library is both educational and beneficial for your children.

We hope to see you and the children in your lives at the library soon.

Rachel Payne

Children’s Librarian

Aurora Hills Public Library

References:

Ghoting, S. N. and Martin-Diaz, P. (2006) Early Literacy Storytimes @ Your Library:

Partnering with caregivers for success. USA: American Library Association.

Mooney, C. G. (2013). Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori,

Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.