Featuring: Blank Page at Suffolk Libraries
Engaging youth through hands-on, artist-led experiences
Hello, everyone! I’m pleased to share this interview with Katie Puls, Youth Activities Producer for Suffolk Libraries in the UK. Katie answered some questions about the Blank Page Programme coordinated by Suffolk Libraries for young people, coinciding with local no-school days. The former youth librarian in me is always interested in hearing about these types of offerings from a conceptual and from a logistical, operations-focused perspective. Katie’s responses do not disappoint! Enjoy this deep dive into a creative + community-oriented library program.
These activities run on vacation/holidays when there is no school, and run for several hours. Can you share an overview of what a typical Blank Page “day” looks like for participants?
Our workshops run from 10-3pm most days in the school holidays across our libraries in Suffolk.
Young people are welcomed into the space and registered, often sat down with a drink and a morning snack and asked to write their own name lanyard (including their preferred pronouns and self portrait on the reverse).
We will always make the teens feel comfortable with an ice breaker activity, and within half an hour they are usually making friends, in fact over seventy percent of our participants said that making new friends was one of their favorite parts of the day.
The young people then get stuck into their creative activity with the teaching artist, ranging from photography, to screenwriting, clay and mixed media art, always at their own pace with respect for their own developing creative ideas. Young people, the teaching artist and library support staff have lunch together midway through the day, all provided and included in the free workshop.
At the end of the day, young people are often given the opportunity to showcase or present their work in the library space, and always take their creations home to engage with family too!
Following the workshops, ninety-one percent of participants said they would recommend them to a friend, and so many of our participants come back in future holidays for more!
Tell us about the process for determining what topics or kinds of workshops are offered. Are workshop participants or other community members consulted about what kinds of skills they would like to learn or practice?
We like to offer a variety of creative activities for the young people to engage in and express themselves through. Workshop participants and staff are consulted in this process, and many of our facilitators are freelance local practitioners through recommendation. The workshops deliver more than a free activity on a no-school day: sixty percent of participants said that the workshop gave them a new interest, and eighty-four percent of parents of participants said that their children gained confidence from taking part.
How are teaching artists/educators identified and recruited? Is there an onboarding, training, or other process to help them prepare for the workshops?
Many facilitators are artists that we have worked with on previous projects. Some are local freelance practitioners through recommendation. We have various training programmes designed bespoke for our programme including Safeguarding, Behaviour, SEND, booking system, neurodivergency and wellbeing training.
The onboarding process also includes frequent meetings with myself as the programme producer, and also the library staff supporting the workshop on the ground to ensure that we are all prepped and prepared well ahead of the day. We have also designed a comprehensive project handbook to ensure that everyone has all the information that they need at their fingertips!
What is the library staff’s responsibility or involvement with the Blank Page Programme? Are they involved in the lead-up, during the actual workshops, and in follow-up/post-workshop? If so, what is their role at these different stages?
Library staff on the ground are there to support the project delivery. Prior to the day, the Library Manager and the staff supporting have meetings and coordinate with the artist delivering the project. This ensures everything is prepped ready for the day.
On the workshop day, they allow the artist to facilitate the workshop whilst they support young people to engage and learn, coordinate food and snacks, take the register and ensure everyone is safe and happy. We see this role as part of the success of the project and part of our development of reengaging this teenage audience back into libraries. This starts with this simple relationship between the library staff and the young person. A staff member commented: “The young people who did not want to enter the library at first, by the end did not want to leave.”
Ninety-six percent of young people attending the workshops said they would definitely return to the library again, and many have gone on to become young volunteers for their local library having not set foot in the space prior to these workshops.
Do you have any anecdotes, moments, or stories from the Blank Page programme that you would like to share?
So many! Since Easter when the project was born, it’s had a phenomenal impact on everyone involved. In 2023 over 1,000 young people took part in at least one of the 100 creative workshops in our libraries.
Parents have commented:
My son has worked hard to fit into the prescribed school curriculum so giving him an opportunity like this to be himself was fantastic.
I can’t thank the library enough for this great experience for my son. With the cost of living the way it is, we need more opportunities like this where children can learn, play and grow into themselves, in a safe environment
One staff member commented:
The highlight for me was obtaining the trust of a pretty much non-verbal user, starting with a little British Sign Language (BSL) signing then having verbal conversation and eye contact
And another:
The young people's engagement in the session and their politeness and support of each other [were] a joy to witness.
For me, changing the way we view young people in our communities has been a real highlight. This was clearly seen at our workshop in Lowestoft, where artist Joel Millerchip led young people to paint a huge art mural on the top floor of the library. This generated huge interest amongst the public. One community member commented, “I just happened to pop in today and saw these lovely children all working together. It’s a beautiful work of art. Thank you.”
How is the programme funded? Do you anticipate that this is something the libraries will continue to offer?
Suffolk Libraries were chosen as a Holiday Activity Fund (HAF) provider by Suffolk County Council. We have secured funding to continue the project until March 2025, and funding is yet to be decided beyond that date. However, we are hopeful that the project’s impact will speak for itself, and despite the funding outcome, the important work we are doing with young people will undoubtedly continue.
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