When to Say Goodbye

I love programming. I love creating programs, whether they’re outreach storytimes, in-house events, or even teacher in-services. The new ideas. The creativity. The planning. The implementation. All of it makes me so happy. But what happens at the other end…when it’s time to say goodbye to a program?

My colleague and I have been running a quarterly STEM program at the library for…hold, please, while I look it up…12 years! We have covered topics from the grand (oceans, space) to the miniscule (nanotechnology, seeds) and just about everything in between. For a few years, the program was so popular, we offered a second version for the younger crowd as well.

Our programs were usually full and had waitlists. For each event, we would read a book or two, discuss the topic, and disperse to stations to engage with each other and the theme. Caregivers often stayed: sometimes we asked them to; other times they just wanted to be part of the fun. Robots robot-ed. Paper airplanes flew. Buildings were built; sounds were made; hot-air balloons were designed and floated. We even ran this program virtually during the height of the pandemic, through kits we left outside the Library and videos to walk families through the projects.

And then our numbers started dwindling. It seems as if we have experienced every iteration of attendance: from full with a waitlist… to not even full… to only a few showing up… to outright cancelling due to low registration numbers. Occasionally, we would still hit a home run, so to speak….the program’s topic or timing would click, and all was well. But then that would be followed up by a ground ball back to the mound for an easy out. (Sorry for the baseball metaphors…I’m a huge sports fan!)

And so we begin to ask ourselves hard questions. Is it time to say goodbye? If we aren’t meeting the needs of our patrons with this program anymore, despite occasional positive attendance, then it’s time to move on. How do you know when it’s time to say goodbye? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

This ALSC blog post addresses the following core competencies: I. Commitment to Client Group and III. Programming Skills.

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 I love programming. I love creating programs, whether they’re outreach storytimes, in-house events, or even teacher in-services. The new ideas. The creativity. The planning. The implementation. All of it makes me so happy. But what happens at the other end…when it’s time to say goodbye to a program? My colleague and I have been running a quarterly STEM program at the library for…hold, please, while I look it up…12 years! We have covered topics from the grand (oceans, space) to the miniscule (nanotechnology, seeds) and just about everything in between. For a few years, the program was so popular, we offered a second version for the younger crowd as well. Our programs were usually full and had waitlists. For each event, we would read a book or two, discuss the topic, and disperse to stations to engage with each other and the theme. Caregivers often stayed: sometimes we asked them…
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