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Executive Function Skills: A Better Approach to Library Behavior Management
November 5, 2025| Joannie Lauria
As I’m sure many of us have experienced, managing behavior can often be a challenge in the library. It can sometimes feel like an uphill battle to encourage positive behavior in our spaces and programs. I recently attended a workshop on Executive Function skills focused on reframing behavior management and strategies to support today’s children. While I myself am not an expert in this topic, I found it to be very useful and a worthwhile share. Let’s dive in!
In the workshop, we discussed how society has changed in a number of ways. These changes have deeply impacted children today, leading them to be different from previous generations. Broadly speaking, just some of these societal changes include:
-Increase in type, proximity, and usage of new technologies
-Social media usage
-Academic pressure from a young age
-Shifts in parenting styles
-Changing family structures
While these changes have certainly affected the growth and development of children’s brains in a myriad of ways, they are mostly out of our direct control as librarians. We have to start meeting kids where they are at because things are, simply, different. We can view these societal shifts as opportunities to grow and change in our strategies to best support children. One way we can do this is by looking at behavior management through the lens of Executive Function skills.
Executive Function Basics
Executive Function is like the air traffic controller of your brain. These skills are the cognitive processes that help to regulate behavior, make decisions, and set and achieve goals. Dr. Peg Dawson and Dr. Richard Guare list 11 mental capacaties, which include:
-Metacognition
-Planning/Prioritizing
-Organization
-Time Management
-Task Initiation
-Sustained Attention
-Working Memory
-Goal-Directed Persistence
-Response Inhibition
-Emotional Control
-Flexibility
These Executive Function skills grow and change over time and not everyone’s skills develop at the same rate. For example, children who are struggling in the Executive Function areas of sustained attention and inhibitory control may look like kids who aren’t paying attention/following the rules, however it truly is a skill deficit that they need to learn. A takeaway quote to emphasize this was “brains are built not born”.
So what can we do?
The workshop suggested starting in the area of Metacognition: thinking about our thinking.
This skill is the base for most of the other Executive Function skills. When working with children, we can model our thinking out loud and prompt them with opportunities to reflect on their experiences. One way to try this is by reflecting and questioning during programs. You could ask children reflective questions, such as “what worked well?”, “what didn’t work for you?”, “how could things have been handled differently?”, “what was your strength during this program?”. It’s also important for children to hear us modeling our own reflective thinking. For this younger age group, it’s all about growing awareness.
I am new to the world of Executive Functioning but am intrigued to continue learning more. Have you heard of EF in the library? Let me know in the comments below!
Joannie Lauria is the Youth Services Consultant at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York.
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