A Day at the Library

Today felt really good. I took two groups of teachers to the library. I had them look around for about 15 minutes, and then I set the brainstorming topics for groups of 5: What would we like to see in this library? and What can we do about it? I was really nervous that the list was going to be "We don't have, We don't have, We don't have..." and "The government should..." but we actually came up with a very positive and proactive list. The very first suggestion was "We should become members!" And there were suggestions about getting people in the community to contribute books, and to hold events like story times and debates there to encourage people to come. One group suggested showing educational films there to raise some money. Several groups suggested forming a committee of "support and supervision" for the library.

I was excited to see teachers excited. I try not to get my hopes up too high, though, because the early talk is much easier than the later follow-through. But, if nothing else, I'm excited about the fact that the teachers seem to feel empowered and motivated to create the changes they want to see.