FREMANTLE Library early childhood program officer John Geijsman strives to keep the tradition of a library alive while introducing the technology of the future.
Fremantle Gazette spent the afternoon with Mr Geijsman learning about what a day in the life is like him.
The officer said no day is ever the same working in the library.
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READ NOW“I work with kids from birth to 15 years so it’s quite a big age group,” he said.
“I do school visits to the local area, run library programs such as ‘CoderDojo’ as well the classic story and rhyme time.
“During the holidays I have been running a Lego stock animation where kids can create whatever they want.
“It is a very big job but it is the best fun; I am constantly doing research to see what programs we can implement.
“I love the fact it’s a community and a meeting place, we see our regulars everyday so you really get to know them.”
As a parent Mr Geijsman wants to encourage parents to be with their kids and participate in activities.
“When we have activities we want to see the parents having fun with their kids,” he said.
“During our story time we want to make sure they know its ok to make mistakes but the kids don’t mind, they just want to have fun with the grownups in their life.
“In our coding programs we encourage parents to be mentors even if they don’t know anything about coding because they can learn with the kids.”
Mr Geijsman said it is important to find a balance with technology based activities.
“Story time and rhyme time are programs which don’t need technology,” he said.
“The kids are learning early literacy messages and we explain to parents that technology is not always needed.
“We do have coding program where they create their own games to match and support current school curriculum.
“During that we also encourage troubleshooting skills and public speaking by sharing their process.”
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