Welcome to Season Ten of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you join us again! This is the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff. I’m Mary, the director. It’s so good to have you here also. In this podcast, we talk about the skills library staff need to be successful and to help them to serve their communities.
This season we are talking about library programs – giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.
This week we are looking at physical programs – those programs that make you get up and dance and move and do some fun things while in the library. Our usual programs involve people sitting still. Sure, those are fun too. But these programs do not speak out to everyone; and it’s important to host programs that other people will enjoy. Plus, getting up and zooming around the library, or outside, will always be fun!
Yoga
Hosting yoga programs in the library is an increasingly popular program in libraries. As more people are interested in yoga – for the flexibility and strength it brings – doing it in the library is a natural outcome. Yoga in fun new places brings an extra element of good things to a session. (I once did a yoga class in an art museum, and it was great too!)
The Yoga In the Library website gives information about getting your program set up. “Who can do yoga?
My first answer to that question is EVERYBODY. If you’ve got a body and you can move some of it, you can do yoga. I’ve seen yoga done with people in wheelchairs, babies, the elderly, pregnant women, big muscly gym guys with no flexibility, high schoolers and people with developmental or cognitive disabilities. Most poses can be modified to fit a person’s needs or limitations. And everyone can benefit from learning how to relax, being more mindful and feeling more grounded. With our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and rising obesity rates, anything we can do to get people moving is important.”
“Why offer yoga?
As libraries move away from being places strictly for storing and retrieving written materials and into being important cultural and community hubs, it only makes sense to offer programs that will appeal to a wider audience of existing patrons and attract a demographic who might not be regularly visiting our spaces. Offering free wellness sessions to people who might not otherwise be able to afford them also aligns with our mandate to provide outreach, access and support to everyone in our community.”
The Merrimack PL has a chair yoga class: Maintaining Joy with Amanda Bryan; Join us as we welcome therapist, Amanda Bryan, back to the library for chair yoga and meditation with a focus on Maintaining Joy after the holiday season. Amanda Bryan holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and is a trained Reiki Master, a 200-hour trained Yoga Teacher, and a National Board Certified Massage Therapist. This program is limited to 15 participants and will be held in our Klumpp Room. Patrons are asked to bring a water and a journal. Registration is required.
The Concord Public Library has a yoga program for kids: “Yoga with Your Stuffie! Let’s bend and stretch during this special story and yoga event for preschool children and their caregivers!” They offer a couple of other yoga classes: The Benefits of Yoga and Yoga for All.
The Metropolitan Library System hosts a variety of healthy living seminars, including some chair yoga. This is a great kind to consider in the library – it’s accessible to all kinds of people, and doesn’t sound too hard for people who are new to exercise or to yoga.
The Long Beach PL also has chair yoga classes. This popular virtual Chair Yoga class focuses on a full-body practice and will help strengthen your nervous system and reduce stress and stiffness. Kathleen Regan has been practicing yoga since 1993, and she has been practicing for even longer. Certified in Hatha/Raja Yoga, she is also a certified Kundalini instructor.
Please wear comfortable clothing and set up in a clean, clutter-free space. The instructor recommends eating only a light meal or practicing on an empty stomach. You’ll need a chair (without arms). Optional equipment includes: yoga block and a yoga strap (or a strap from a bathrobe or men’s belt).
The Taylor County Public Library in Campbellsville, Kentucky has a variety of yoga classes: teen yoga, chair yoga, and glow yoga: Join us for a relaxing “glow” yoga class led by Jessie Yates. We’ll provide glow in the dark bracelets and anklets to create a relaxing atmosphere as we decompress, stretch, and center.
MiniGolf in the library
There is a website for a company that will help you to turn your library into a mini-golf course, and do fundraising with it.
The Ramsey Library held a fundraising event with their mini-golf program. The library will be turned into a miniature golf course, with holes in the stacks and throughout the library. People of all ages can have fun playing mini-golf inside the library while helping to support our collections, events/classes and services.
We will have two days of mini-golf: a Friday evening for adults and a Saturday for families and people of all ages. Both days will feature other activities, a fun costume contest, decorations, and more! Details will be posted here with new items that will be added to the event.
The Stowe PL held a min-golf program: Ticket price includes mini golf, Good Day Oven Pizza and Tame’s Wild Soda food trucks
Crown Point Community Library was planning a minigolf event: The Library will transform into an 18-hole miniature golf course for the day. Players, of all ages, will enjoy putting through the library stacks, down the staircase and finishing at the 19th hole “Family Fun Zone,” located in the meeting rooms, to enjoy free refreshments, and fun activities. “A Hole Lot of Fun” is a dynamic event (held biennially) that raises funds utilized to finance two years of library programming for all ages. The event embraces the dual purpose of fundraising and providing an engaging way for community members to enjoy and explore the library space.
The Lakeville PL also hosted a minigolf event. Miniature golf is coming to the library again! We are happy to announce the 2nd Annual Friends of the Lakeville Library Mini-Golf Event. The library will become an 18-hole miniature golf course, with the course set up throughout the building. Players of all ages will putt their way through the library!
The Fairbanks PL is hosting mingolf, giving people the opportunity to enjoy some library time: Sessions are half-hour time slots for up to 4 players. If you have more than 4 players you may register 2 sessions at the same time for simultaneous play
The Scott PL hosts a fun minigolf during the summer: Family Mini-Golf at the Library at the Savage Library Best for ages 3&up with an adult. Pop in during library open hours and have a HOLE lot of fun at this self-directed mini-golf course based on some of your favorite books! No registration or appointments are required, just pick up the supplies at the librarian’s desk.
The DeKalb PL is hosting a fun minigolf event: Under The Sea
Do you love mini golf? Join us for an after-hours putt-putt extravaganza as we transform the library into a ocean-themed putt-putt course!
Bike Desks:
It’s easy to set up bike desks in your library; and once your patrons get the hang of pedaling while they work on the desk, it can be a nice way to get work done on a computer. We had bike desks in our offices at CMLE, and they were good to have – answer attention-catching when people came to visit! The bikes can be ordered from Amazon, and are surprisingly inexpensive.
- The Wright State University library “I think a lot of students are excited to try something new, something different,” said Wright State nursing student Krishel Stout. “I know there are a lot of students who are more kinetic learners so they like to move while they work.” The bikes feature a digital read-out that informs riders about their current heart-rate as well as the distance they’ve peddled. “Say you want to just do a couple miles,” said Stout, “you can keep track of that while you study. If you don’t; you want to put a book up, go for a couple hours, then take it off and see how far you went. It’s a nice little surprise to see how far you actually went studying.”
- UT Health San Antonio Libraries: has several floors of different study rooms; on their collaborative study fifth floor they have Exercise desks (3 stationary bike desks & 1 walking treadmill desk)
- University of California · Irvine their science library has bike desks. Take one of our new Bike Stations for a spin with a book or laptop. This alternative study space is available in the second floor Grand Reading Room of the Science Library in room 271.
- Texas A&M University Libraries The desks allow library visitors to study, write and type while also pedaling. “These bike desks demonstrate the new kind of place that the library is becoming and how we think about services,” explained David Carlson, dean of Texas A&M University Libraries. “We want to enable students to learn and there is much research that shows learning is improved with good health and exercise. We hope that students find the bikes both as an occasional welcome respite from studying but also a way to get re-energized physically.”
- Ohio State University – Health Sciences Library Each bike is equipped with a desk, making it easy for library visitors to get in some exercise while also completing their studying or other work. Research has shown that exercise bikes can improve mental health and help people maintain their fitness goals even when other priorities compete. Usage guidelines are posted near the bike desks. There are no advanced reservations for the desks, nor is there a time limit on desk usage. Please be considerate of other library visitors who may want to try a desk. So take a “spin” on a bike desk the next time you are at the library! Work your legs while you work your mind—it’s a win-win!
- Auburn University Libraries Through the generosity of Tiger Giving Day 2019 donors, over the summer Auburn University Libraries launched a pilot program placing treadmill and stationary bike desks in the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. These desks allow students to simultaneously study and engage in low-impact cardiovascular activity. The initial four exercise desks have been set up in the Learning Commons on the second floor. They are currently open to anyone wishing to try these new additions to the RBD Library’s study facilities.
Books Read
Now, let’s get to the part of every episode that is everyone’s favorite: sharing books! We will link to these books on our shownotes pages, and the link will take you to Amazon. You probably know this, but when you click one of our links and then buy anything at all from Amazon, they give us a small percentage of their profits. That support really helps us, and although it’s anonymous so we won’t know it was you – we appreciate you taking the time to help us!
- Cold Comfort: Life at the Top of the Map, by Barton Sutter Temperatures that dive to forty degrees below zero are only part of life in northern Minnesota, according to award-winning writer Barton Sutter. Cold Comfort is his temperamental tribute to the city of Duluth, Minnesota, where bears wander the streets and canoe racks are standard equipment.
- Even Though I Knew the End, by C.J. Pol A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago’s divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above. An exiled augur who sold her soul to save her brother’s life is offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell. When she turns it down, her client sweetens the pot by offering up the one payment she can’t resist―the chance to have a future where she grows old with the woman she loves. To succeed, she is given three days to track down the White City Vampire, Chicago’s most notorious serial killer. If she fails, only hell and heartbreak await.
Conclusion
This was a quick overview of a few ideas that you might want to use in your library. Be sure to check out the show notes for links to everything discussed today. We are looking forward to chatting with you all season! We will have more ideas to help you keep your library running well, and strategies to help you serve your community.
And if you want to hear more book suggestions, be sure you are also subscribed to our other podcast: Reading With Libraries. Short episodes drop every Tuesday, and we look at different aspects of Minnesota. This season we look at a different historic site across the state each week, and then suggest six books that reference the site. Join us each week!