Getting from No to Yes in Waupaca

Thanks to Sue Abrahamson from Waupaca (and Past-Chair of YSS) for this guest post.

Our teen group, SLAG (Student Library Advisory Group) sells candy bars at the front circulation desk.  They do pretty well with it, too!

Often times when parents are checking out with small children, that candy basket can be problematic, as you can imagine.  Mom or Dad says, "No." and the kids are gearing up for a meltdown.  We, as a staff, talked about how to turn that "No" into a "Yes" and came up with this solution:  We asked the Friends of the Library to fund a roll of 1000 stickers, imprinted with "I visited the Waupaca Public Library today!"  Now when a pout starts, our circulation person breaks out a sticker for a smile.  

One circulation clerk said if you add the phrase "If mom or dad say it's okay" that make the parent the good guy again and everyone goes away happy.  One parent even said, "Thank you for noticing we were on the cusp of disaster!"

Sue says they set aside time at the end of every staff meeting to share information and ideas related to The Wakanheza Project--this time, brainstorming simple ways to change the environment have really made a difference, and the teens still get to sell their candy!