Library Lock-In!

I am old. I know I am old because it takes several days for me to recover after one later-than-usual night.

Last Friday, my co-worker and I hosted the first ever Library Lock-In sleepover. It was an idea that came up a few months ago. Sports teams get play-offs and banquets, chorus and band kids get concerts and showcases, library kids get a fun sleepover. It's a culminating event for them; they worked just as hard this year as kids who participate in athletics and other clubs, so we agreed that they deserved something. So, two of our active JALA (Junior Awesome Library Assistants) wrote up the official proposal and protocol.

The school principal approved the plan.

So, we set our plans into motion. The kids began arriving around 5:30. They hung out in the open gym, playing games until the pizzas arrived. We all went upstairs, and chowed down on pizza and other snacks that the kids brought with them. We made them clean up afterwards, and then we did some ice-breaker, team-building type activities since we have members from grade 5-8, and some of them don't really know each other.

After we did a few, we gave them the freedom to play cards, or games, or make art journals from discarded library books, or just chat with other club members.

some art journals

Soon, it was time for cake! Two of our 6th grade members generously brought in a cake to share, and the cake had our official yearbook photo on it:

our cake with our yearbook photo on it

I put on an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? since it was starting to get dark, and most of the kids love the scary stories stuff (the ones that don't like scary stories found other things to occupy themselves).

watching a little Are You Afraid of the Dark?, in the dark

Afterwards, our male students had to depart, because we did not have a male chaperone for the sleepover. I think they had a good time anyways though.

After the boys left, the girls began the process of changing into pajamas, scouting out the best sleeping areas, blowing up air mattresses and unrolling sleeping bags.

When that stuff was all set, they had more free time to read, continue watching Are You Afraid of the Dark?, work on their art journals, and stuff their faces with junk food.

Lights out was at midnight.

We did not have any real behavior issues; we made it very clear to them all at the beginning of the evening that if anything went wrong, we would never be able to approve another lock-in, so the pressure was on them  to not ruin the chances of future fun times.

I told some friends about this plan, and they could not believe I was willing to stay at school on a Friday night, with 25 students, sleeping on a futon for no extra pay. The way I see it, is if these kids are eager to spend extra hours in the school library, talking and playing games,with me and my co-worker, then that just means we are doing an excellent job.

They love the library. They are making new friends and getting to know kids they didn't know before. They enjoy our company and trust the two adults in the program.

I can't help but be proud of them, and our library program.