Tag Archives: programs

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This Week In History, Library Style! Oct 27: Fences

barbwire fence on wheat field
Photo by JACK REDGATE on Pexels.com

Libraries are places where we connect people to information that may be useful or interesting to them. Looking at some history, and connecting it to the materials we may have in our libraries, can be a good way to convince patrons to use and enjoy all the things we provide!

This week we are looking at October 27. Of course a lot of things have happened on this date – news and the big stories are the unusual things that are going on around us. One interesting thing that has happened today in 1873: “Farmer Joseph F. Glidden applies for a patent on barbed wire. Glidden eventually received five patents and is generally considered the inventor of barbed wire.”

“Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, occasionally corrupted as bobbed wire or bob wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a major feature of the fortifications in trench warfare (as a wire obstacle).”

Bring this historical fact to your library! You can do this with a variety of program and display ideas. We will help you to get started with a few ideas: set up a display of inventions and inventors, work on an indoor container garden, draw pictures of fences and different things you could use for fences, write a story about putting fences up on the moon, use a variety of craft items to build a new invention.

Here are a few books you might add to your collection or share with your patrons – or just enjoy yourself!

Programs, Training

Training Tips: Doing a Great Program!

Programs are great! Programs are one of the three things libraries provide to their communities. (Books and services are the other two.)

There are many people in your community who do not want to read books, and are not looking for help with computers or tech  – but they will come to you for interesting programs. It is a good way to let people know about the value libraries bring to the community!

What kind of programs are right? It can be anything! There is no need to even make it loosely library-related (though, offering up books on your program topic is a nice touch).  Just find out a few interests in your community, and have a program. It can be you running it, it can be someone from the community, or it can be an outside expert. Anyone is fine, as long as they can hold the interest of an audience.

If you are new to programming, you may have a bunch of questions. No worries! We will walk through some basics here, and then you can improvise and build on these ideas to make things special for your group.

  • Figure out what to do. Ideally this will come from community interest – maybe your patrons mentioned something specific, or you read about a person doing a cool thing, or you heard about from a podcast about people like those in your community. Great! Do that.
    It’s also entirely fine to just do a program because it’s something you like. Do you knit? Change car tires? Do yoga? Awesome! Do that.
  • Plan it out. Okay, this is a step that gets skipped sometimes, especially when you are in a hurry. But ideally you will want to think through the program. I like to visualize things: what will the first minute look like? What happens half way through? What do I do when things start to go wrong? How do we wrap it up? How long is this going to be? Will I ever get the glitter out of the carpet? (Spoiler: Nope. Just live with it.) Thinking through everything can remind you of the parts you may have glossed over when it all seemed like a great idea that would just happen on its own.
  • Be creative! You don’t necessarily need to have artistic skills, but be ready to be flexible with the program. If the room you want is booked, can you meet outside? If it’s raining outside, where else would you go? How can you accommodate people with not only different abilities, but also different interest levels in your program? Can there be a side activity for kids, or for adults, or for teachers? Unless it was clearly a flop, try something a couple of times before you decide it is definitely not going to work. Part of good programming is being ready to bend and adjust it to fit the unexpected situations that will arise!
  • Advertise! You can be very formal, and for a semester-long program series, that would be a good idea. Or it can be a note on your website, on your parent organization’s page, flyers on the walls of the library, notes sent home with books checked out, or just you emailing everyone you think may be interested. Specifics are not so important, and you will get more ideas on this as you get more knowledgeable with your community. Just remember to do it, so you aren’t left sitting alone with 300 lime jello packets and a glue gun. (Unless you make that persona choice, and we are not judging if you do!)
  • Evaluate and Share: Again, this does not need to be very formal, though of course it can be. At least solicit some feedback and write up your own impressions of things that went well and that went not-so-well. Numbers are powerful, and can show interest in your work. Stories from your patrons, and from you, can be even more attention-getting. Try to include both types of ideas in your evaluation process for the best information to share with everyone else!

Still looking for some programming ideas? We have a whole series of suggestions right here!

Programs

Spotlight Program: Book Tastings in the Library

The everyday cook and recipe book - containing more than two thousand practical recipes for cooking every kind of meat, fish, poultry, game, soups, broths, vegetables and salads - also for making all (14595170380)

At CMLE, we so enjoy all our different types of libraries, archives, and other members! Seeing all the work you are doing is so inspiring; and we want to return the favor by helping you to find some of the great programming going on around the profession.

Each week we will share an interesting program we find. It may inspire you to do exactly the same thing; or to try something related; or just to try out some different programming ideas.

This week’s program just sounds so fun!! (Note: always be thoughtful of food allergies in library programs.) Even the title grabs you: You Can’t Taste a Book by Its Cover: Book Tastings in the Library

This article is by By Annie Ruefle, Lower School Librarian, Columbus School for Girls, Columbus, Ohio

“Are your students hungry for good books? Do your patrons eagerly devour the newest titles? Do you ever wish you had a recipe for increasing kids’ appetite for reading?

Then it’s time you hosted a Book Tasting — a deliciously easy way to increase your students’ (or other patrons’) taste for good books.

What is a Book Tasting?

A Book Tasting is a low-budget, high-impact event that engages students in a fun activity while introducing them to a wide array of books. Invite groups of young readers (third- through sixth-graders are a perfect audience) to come to the library at a designated time.

Students sit at library tables that have been transformed into café tables, and the librarian-waiter will “serve” a tray of books to each table. Invite students to look over the stack of books for five minutes or so, after which the librarian-waiter switches the tray of books so that everyone is looking at a new stack of books.

Repeat the process until each table has had a chance to “sample” each tray. After the Book Tasting is over, encourage students to select a few books to check out.

Setting the stage

Before your students or patrons arrive, transform your space into a café. Set the café mood as much as possible:

  • Place tablecloths or placemats on the tables, dim the lights, drape strands of holiday lights around the room, play soft jazz music. You can even find a burning fireplace video on YouTube to display on a computer or project on a whiteboard.
  • Set each table to create the proper atmosphere. At each place setting, provide a sharpened pencil, napkin and bookmark. Ask a local restaurant for a package of blank guest checks and use those as name place cards.
  • Create a blank menu that provides students a place to write down the titles that they find interesting so they can keep track of all the books they want to read.
  • Provide snacks (optional). You don’t have to provide food at a Book Tasting because books, of course, are the main course. But providing a simple snack, like pretzels or cookies, can extend the restaurant theme.
  • Transform your space into a café with tablecloths, music and a crackling (faux) fireplace. Be deliberate in selecting the books you highlight at the Book Tasting. Choose high-interest books that are in good condition, and seek out quality books that you think are often overlooked. It’s best to choose books that you have read so you can be a knowledgeable server, like the servers in the best restaurants: be prepared to answer patron questions, speak with confidence about the offerings and provide informed recommendations.

Make a day of it

Allot about 35 to 45 minutes for one Book Tasting. Schedule groups of students to come throughout the course of the day, being sure to give yourself time to clean up and refresh the tables between groups. If you have help, you can have other adults act as host/hostess or as additional waiters to “serve” the books.

At the conclusion of the Book Tasting, expect your students to clamor for more. They might even ask to make this a weekly event, but explain that a Book Tasting is a special occasion and a once-in-a-while event.

Happily, though, you can remind students that the library always offers a buffet of books worthy of a reading feast.”

Check out the original article here, including the excellent photos!

Children's services, Programs, Tech

Skype in the Classroom: Connect with Authors & Storytellers

Skype-for-BusinessYou may already be using Skype in the Classroom – and if not, please try it!! I’ve seen such fun programs using this tool, you will find some very cool things to try for your school.

You may not yet be using the tool allowing you to connect with authors!

“Invite an author in your classroom via Skype!

Literacy is the backbone of success and one of the most important educational initiatives. Every year, Skype in the Classroom celebrates literacy globally in honor of World Read Aloud Day (February 1st this year) and World Book Day (March 1st this year), working with hundreds of guest speakers, including authors, illustrators, and literacy partners. The goal is to inspire students to grow up as readers and become engaged citizens of the global world.

Watch how connecting your classroom with authors via Skype can help broaden students’ minds and imaginations and then browse the hundreds of authors available below.”

 

If you want to give this a try, CMLE can give you a mini-grant up to $300 to try out exciting new projects like this one!

Programs, Public, Research, Resources

Let’s Move! Libraries

1 Comment

International Space Station replica
“Hello everyone,

I am announcing a new project: “Let’s Move! Libraries.” At the project website you will find information on movement-based programs in public libraries throughout North America (think yoga/tai chi/Zumba in the library, StoryWalks, music and movement, walking groups, etc.). The overall goal of this project is to strengthen work already underway in public libraries that seeks to get our communities up and moving.

If you work in a public library in Minnesota, please consider taking a few minutes to fill out this short survey about any programs or services your library provides, has provided in the past, or is planning to provide in the future. The results from this survey will be shared on the project website in Fall 2017.

Please share this message with others you think may be interested in this project. Thank you for your time! I look forward to your feedback.

Noah Lenstra
Assistant Professor
Library and Information Studies
University of North Carolina Greensboro
njlenstr@uncg.edu
http://www.noahlenstra.com/“