Afterschool Providers and Libraries Work Towards Future Growth

An Afterschool Alliance survey of afterschool providers offers a broader glimpse into the many types of partnerships happening with public libraries, as well as ideas for future growth. According to the survey, three-quarters of the 365 afterschool programs surveyed say they’ve partnered with their public library. These partnerships take many forms, with the most popular interactions being summer reading or learning initiatives and taking afterschool school students to the library for a visit. The majority of respondents worked with their local public library in multiple ways. A subset of these afterschool programs are “super partners”— partnering in more than seven ways! Among those who are or have partnered with a public library, a large majority indicated that their library partner had a staff member focused on children and youth. Recommendations for growing partnerships are offered, including reaching out, changing perception and creating understanding, thinking beyond bringing afterschool students to the library, generating and sharing partnership ideas, and knowing that funding remains a concern.  

Afterschool Alliance. (2017). Library and afterschool partnerships: How afterschool providers are working together with public libraries. Author: Washington, D.C. http://afterschoolalliance.org/documents/STEM/Library-and-afterschool-partnerships.pdf