The entire article is about 3,000 words.
Summary of the content of this article:
1. The process of establishing a children’s library
2. The establishment of a children’s library Preparation
3. The mentality of starting a children’s library
I am a mother of two children born in the 1990s. I started preparing for a children’s library in October 2020. During the process, I invited my close friend Fen Xue to work together and named it Mili Children's Library (our two names combined). Together we created our children's library with the sentiment of "children, my children and people's children". .
Actually, I didn’t know why I could open such a “mini” children’s library at the beginning. Maybe it happened that my mother bought a house in the summer of 2010 and opened a stationery store for my younger siblings, but the inside was empty. I had a small space, so with the support of my family, I used this small space as a classroom for picture book classes.
Looking back on November 2018, I began to find my own position - becoming a children's reading promoter. At that time, I was still confused and didn’t know how to promote children’s reading. At what age do you want to promote reading to children?
In March 2019, I participated in the "Homeland Education" activity in my daughter's kindergarten and went to school to give picture book classes to the children. This is the first time in my life that I have promoted reading in a more "formal" way.
In May 2019, I held my first online reading club and recruited nearly 30 paying students. This was a small milestone in my children's reading promotion activities. Because of this organization and sharing, self-efficacy also increased.
In July and November 2019, I went to Shenzhen alone to take the nationally certified picture book instructor's junior and intermediate level exams. After returning, I practiced the "Street Stall Story Meeting", "Kindergarten Charity Picture Book Class", "Institutional "Public Welfare Picture Book Class" has nearly a hundred sessions.
In the first half of 2020, I didn’t do much. In addition to selling breakfast, studying, and taking care of children, I also made short videos for Douyin and video accounts, and the content of the short videos was positioned as picture book recommendations. The second half of 2020 was quite fulfilling. In addition to the things mentioned above, my best friend and I also participated in offline picture book mind mapping instructor training, kindergarten charity picture book classes, children's library paid courses and charity courses, and went to Lintao, Gansu Province to learn about the countryside. Reading promotion.
Maybe I have always had such a "meme" in mind for reading promotion, and with the above experiences, I came across this opportunity. That’s why the current Militong Library came into being.
If I were given a picture book class in a classroom in 2018, I probably wouldn’t dare because I have no knowledge reserves and no experience accumulation. But...no ifs, cherish the moment.
What do you need to do to open a children’s library?
1) Arrange the environment.
We made a list of the activity materials and hardware equipment needed by Militong Library. Since the space in the library is relatively small (probably about 50 square meters), we only pre- The hardware equipment needed for a classroom has been reserved.
At that time we purchased:
The total cost of these did not exceed 15,000. As for picture books, my close friends and I have less than 2,000 books in total. Since we don’t have a lending service, the cost of buying new picture books is only about 1,000 per month.
2) Name and logo design
In the beginning, it took several days just to name and design the logo. time.
The name is named after me and my close friend.
The logo of Militong Library was inspired by the process of drawing a picture book mind map and seeing a child reading with a book. Since we are promoting reading, is it possible to draw a portrait of the two of us, holding a book in each hand and reading together? So the logo came out. After drawing it, I asked the graphic designer in Shanghai how to export png, and finally used Medibang to export black and white png.
(This was completed in early October 2020)
3) Sorting out the original intention
After the Militong Bookstore logo came out, it was reorganized Let’s take a look at our original intention of setting up a children’s library:
1) To stimulate interest in reading
2) To cultivate reading habits
3) Improve diversified abilities
After the "original aspirations" are listed, design the course according to the "original aspirations". You may have doubts, why should we sort out our original intentions?
Because people will change, in this era of materialistic desires, if you don’t have the original intention, you may deviate from the "original intention" while doing it.
4) Develop picture book courses
Picture book courses are hard core, and a good picture book course can not only inspire children It not only improves reading motivation, but also educates and entertains through the plots in picture book stories.
At the beginning, I divided the picture book courses into picture book mathematics class, picture book financial management class, picture book creative painting class, picture book food education class, picture book expression class, picture book creative class, picture book Emotional intelligence classes, picture book reading classes, and such diverse picture book classes, if the courses are developed, will definitely not be systematic. Unsystematic courses may cause two problems. First, parents cannot build trust, and second, they cannot improve children's emotional intelligence. A certain ability (such as emotional management ability).
After deliberation and reflection, we finally divided the course into a picture book reading class and a picture book creative expression class. Each period (12 classes) contains a theme.
When developing courses, you can first select picture books, then design lesson plans, then give trial lessons, and finally start trial classes.
5) Promotion
At that time, I designed the posters and copywriting of Militong Library myself, and posted them in the circle of friends publicity.
The contents of the poster design include:
1. The definition of picture book
2. The significance and benefits of picture books
3. Introduction to picture book teachers
4. Course activities
After sorting out these contents, find a professional designer to design posters, then print them out for publicity and distribution. (I don’t have time to distribute leaflets, so I occasionally distribute a few to mother groups at the breakfast shop)
6) No expectations
Before opening the children’s library , because this is a rural area, no one offers picture book courses, and most parents have almost zero knowledge of picture books. My close friends and I did not have high expectations. We did not expect how many students we could enroll once the library opened, but we tried our best. The result of designing the course with all our heart and without any expectations is that there are twelve children who came to our trial class, seven children signed up for the class, and the conversion rate is over 50%. This was done without the need to distribute leaflets, so it was particularly fulfilling.
The above has shared with you what you need to do to open a children's library, including hardware equipment and software equipment (courses).
Next, let’s talk about the mentality of starting a children’s library.
As we all know, those who work in the picture book library and children’s library industry do so with full love for children and children. , I think I provide parent-child reading to my children, and found that parent-child reading can really improve children's reading ability and many other abilities. Picture books are also a kind of quiet and beautiful books, and the beautiful pictures in them make people unable to extricate themselves. . This is one of the reasons why picture book libraries and children’s libraries have increased in number in recent years.
Another reason is that the capital investment to set up a picture book library is relatively low, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands can be opened.
My close friend Fen Xue and I have been running the children's bookstore for three months, and it is not full-time. We both have children and jobs, and the children's bookstore is only part-time.
In the past three months, apart from sleeping, working and taking care of the children, we have been writing lesson plans and taking picture book classes at other times (most picture book classes are at 7:30 pm -9:10).
You may ask: "Are you tired?"
So tired! I often stay up late writing lesson plans and making materials for picture book classes. When I first started, it took several days to write a lesson plan and materials for a class. If my child had a fever or cold, I had to hold my child while doing it. .
Without our love for children and picture books, we would not be able to persevere.
This is one of the mentality: love, only love can support the passion for doing this.
The second is mission.
Our mission is to inspire children's reading motivation
and interest in reading through picture book reading.
How important is reading? This requires starting from its meaning and taking a look at several representative views in the academic world:
1. Reading is to understand pictures and texts, interpret meanings, and produce *** A complex mental activity that evokes or inspires thoughts;
2. Reading is a psychological process of obtaining meaning from written language;
3. Reading is a social phenomenon that exists as a special way of communication, using written materials as the intermediary of social communication. Author-text-reader are the three basic elements that constitute a complete written communication process. ①
After listening, are you surprised in your heart that you have been reading for half your life, but there are too many omissions and blind spots in the behavior and method of reading? I'm the same as you.
In the process of designing picture book courses, I pay more attention to the selection of picture books. The second is how to guide children to feel the thoughts of the text author and the painting author during the picture book reading process. To put it in a down-to-earth way, it allows children to appreciate the beauty of words and pictures in picture books and explore the relationship between pictures and texts. This is a very difficult challenge. It should be entertaining and educational, and it should also develop children's reading ability. Our mission has a long way to go.
The third is lifelong learning
Opening a children's library does not mean that you can open a children's library just by taking a picture book class. You have to learn marketing, planning, operations, and management. In order to find differentiation, you have to constantly improve your capabilities.
The fourth is an optimistic attitude
When I opened a children’s library, I encountered many problems, such as the amount of picture books. Not enough, no one to take care of the children, curriculum design issues, etc. These problems cannot be solved all at once, and of course we cannot escape reality like an ostrich. I would like to use the words of teacher Li Xiaolai to look at these problems: "Whatever is useful, whatever is useful is good."
To sum up, the entrepreneurial mentality determines whether you can succeed on this path. Go as far as you want: first, love, which creates passion; second, mission, which is the original intention, and also gives this matter a great meaning; third, lifelong learning; fourth, optimism.
Of course, there are more details that have not been mentioned, such as designing point cards to exchange for gifts, how to design an interesting picture book course, etc. I will sort these out and share them with you when I have time in the future.