In early 2023, an out-of-the-blue email sparked an ongoing international partnership between 10 Delawarean libraries and the 12 branches of Wellington City Libraries. Our ‘Dear Delaware’ pen pal program has now been running for ten months and has a total of around 600 participants who write letters that travel over 14,000 kms around the globe.
Our participants are really enthusiastic about the program, and it’s proved surprisingly popular among all age groups. Upon launching, we quickly discovered that many kids had never written a letter before and had no idea what a pen pal was. Parents are thrilled to see their children put so much effort into their letters. They love that it allows them to practice their writing skills and learn while making new friends- trading stories of kiwis and coyotes. Adults have really responded to the nostalgia of having a pen pal. Connecting with someone slowly without instant digital technology allows a unique way of getting to know someone. The patience required is sometimes a learning curve, but nothing beats the feeling of receiving mail!
PLANNING AND STRUCTURE
Working closely with my Delawarean counterpart Robin, we took the time to plan and exchange ideas, considering our population sizes and differing structures of library networks. Being very responsive and open-minded from the get-go helped facilitate a positive exchange as we set up the program. We agreed that while some elements we could figure out as we go, an important point to be aligned on from the beginning were the terms for children’s participation and our obligations around sharing participants’ details to match pen pals safely. We settled on a library-to-library format, where all participants pick up and drop off their letters at their local library, which are then centralised and sent in one bulk package. This ensures no personal addresses are shared and no cost is incurred for participants.
We allowed a month to promote the program to the public and register participants, offering paper forms in branches and an online version (for ages 16+ only). Lots of our libraries made fun, creative displays and crafted mailboxes for the desk. We never expected the initial uptake to be as successful as it ended up being! During this launch period, we regularly compared our registration numbers to ensure the demand for the program aligned and that neither side would end up on a long waitlist. We also closely watched the age ranges of children registering, as we agreed to only pair within a +/- 2-year age bracket. We set up a dedicated staff member at each branch with whom we could liaise directly – they play an integral role in ensuring everything runs smoothly at each branch.
PAIRING PEN PALS
For children, we focus on pairing by age first. For adults, we look at finding common interests. The initial round of pairing hundreds of pen pals was quite the undertaking and Robin put her hand up to take on the task. I still receive customer feedback saying how pleased they are with their pen pal, so safe to say she’s got the touch! We use a shared Google spreadsheet for the pairing and any changes. This is particularly useful given the substantial time zone differences. We keep independent spreadsheets of participants’ full information and contact emails, only sharing details for the pairing process (name, age, interests and home library).MAINTENANCE AND COSTS
We slightly underestimated how much time the program would need for ongoing administration work. It’s structured to be as simple as possible at the branch level, so Robin and I handle all the customer notifications. We also keep a detailed letter log of the mail coming and going each round, meaning we can check in with those who haven’t written in a while and re-pair their pen pal if need be.
We don’t set our deadline schedules in advance, as unexpected delays will inevitably occur. We take it round-by-round and only notify customers of the next deadline with their letter collection email. We find most letters are eagerly collected within the first few days, but we allow a two-week window for customers to pick up and write a reply.
The only real cost of the program is the international postage fees, which can’t be helped. A large box usually costs somewhere around $100-$150. I believe the ‘Friends of the Library’ community group covers this cost in Delaware.
FUN SUGGESTION
I’d recommend an additional ‘staff-only’ registration for a librarian-to-librarian exchange! Several staff members are connecting with fellow librarians and sharing ideas about programming, best practices, and the day-to-day differences of library life.
GET STARTED!
Due to the success we’ve had with our partnership Robin has setup a private Facebook group to help connect other librarians wanting to start pen pal programs! Please feel free to join ‘Worldwide Library Pen Pal Connections’ on Facebook to get started or email me directly at: tess.mehonoshen@wcc.govt.nz
Tess Mehonoshen is the non-fiction specialist at Wellington City Libraries. Tess coordinates ‘Dear Delaware’ and organises library events, new services, adult programming and social media.
