Tag Archives: Spotlight Program Series

Programs

Spotlight Program: Creating Engagement Through Questions

Quizz transparent
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 we have a “program” that I have seen in some of our member libraries, and it is something that any library could try! Check out the excerpt of the article below, and you can get all the details at the Programming Librarian website.

“Everyone loves to share their opinions — you just have to ask them. And what better way to get to know your student community than to ask them about their thoughts, feelings and lives?

Your method of polling doesn’t have to be high-tech. A simple question or prompt on a well-placed whiteboard is enough to engage students.

From high-tech polling through websites and social media, to simple solutions that need only a whiteboard, a weekly question can provide insight into the thoughts and feelings of your students. With questions ranging from serious to silly, it also helps students to engage with the library in a new way.

How to poll

Whiteboard questions: While I send a formal survey to students at the end of each year, a whiteboard is how I most often poll my students. Each week, I jot a question on the top of a small whiteboard that sits between our circulation desk and front door. I leave out a few markers, and students add their answers throughout the week. At the end of the week, I snap a picture of the entire board and then erase for the next week’s question.

Social media polls: Facebook and Twitter have polling functions built into their posting options, and Instagram allows you to post polls in your Instagram Stories, though these will disappear after 24 hours.

Google forms: Google Forms are free and can be embedded just about anywhere. They also give you tons of options, such as adding images, allowing respondents to select multiple options, and showing results once people have voted.

What to ask

Poll the audience: Trying to decide which movie to show for a movie night? Looking at a few options for new furniture? Ask your students! Not only will you get help with decision making but creating opportunities for students to voice their preferences on library issues helps students feel empowered and engaged in your library.

Prepare for guest speakers: Have students submit questions for guest speakers and authors ahead of time. Students who might not feel comfortable asking a question in front of a large group can still have their questions answered at the event, and it helps you know that students are thinking ahead.

Book talk: Have students talk about the books they love or the books they’re reading. What would they recommend to a classmate? Who is their favorite author? What are they reading right now? What Hogwarts house or Divergent faction or Middle Earth species do they belong to?

Just for fun: Get silly and ask some questions that have nothing to do with the library. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Who inspires you? What teacher do you want to say thanks to, and why? Ask students to leave their favorite quote. Ask them to draw something. Ask them about their plans for school breaks. You could even have students suggest future questions — the possibilities are endless.

If you need inspiration, DePauw University Library has a LibGuide where they show tons of questions and responses from their whiteboard Question of the Week.

Other considerations

I teach high schoolers; sometimes they get inappropriate, especially since my library also serves middle schoolers. I always keep this in mind when I choose what questions to ask. I also know that if I get something inappropriate, I’ll erase the entire board rather than just the offensive comment. Make sure you know your audience and have a plan in place if you think this might happen to you.

If you’re using a whiteboard, provide plenty of dry erase markers to minimize the chance of students writing with permanent marker.”

You can find the rest of this article, and the nice photos, here!

Services

Spotlight Program: Library Falcon Cam

Peregrine falcon (Australia)

This week we have a library program I just love, though it’s not one most of us can do.

The Evanston Public Library has had a few pairs of peregrine falcons nesting at the library! And, because they are extra cool, you can watch a livecam of the falcons right here!

This is the second year with the long-time male (Squawker) and his newest companion, F.A.Y.  Fay is a very young mom, and last year they did not end up with any babies. But this year she’s more experienced, and she has laid three eggs (so far!). Many baby falcons have come from the nesting pairs at the library, and it’s just an excellent way to connect with a different group of people to show off the coolness possible in libraries!!

There is a group of falcon fans in the community: the Evanston Peregrine Falcon Watch group. They pay close attention to the falcons, and help them out when they are in their dangerous time learning to fly. You can follow all their good stuff on a Yahoo discussion board.

The Chicago Tribune recently published a very nice article about the falcons, including an update on the former library fledgling, Gigi, named after an EPL employee. He turned out to be a male, and is happily sitting on a nest of his own now, helping to raise the next generation of falcons!

You may not be able to have falcons at your library, but a library is a great place for small animals, fish, insects. It can be a fun way to connect your patrons, who may not be able to have animals at home, with the fun of having pets!! (And know that we would love to come visit assorted pets in your libraries!)

Programs

Spotlight Program: What Skills Make for Good Library Programming?

Interior view of Stockholm Public Library

This week we shift slightly from looking at a specific program, to looking at the results of a study about programming itself.

This article is from the National Impact of Library Public Programming Assessment organization.

““What skills or abilities do you think are necessary to successfully run public programs at libraries?”

More than 1,200 library professionals from all around the country and from all types of libraries weighed in on this question last fall as part of the NILPPA research. As we read their responses, we found nine categories of skills that came up time and again.

Top Nine Skills for Programming

  1. To do public programs, library workers need communication skills, including customer service, networking, public speaking, facilitation, and “people skills.” Running programs requires talking to all kinds of people in all kinds of contexts.
  2. Staff working in public programs also need organizational skills. We included two frequent keywords, “project management” and “time management,” in this category.
  3. Perhaps obviously, event planning skills came up time and again.
  4. To run programs at libraries, it’s important to have knowledge of the community. That means everything from listening skills and open-mindedness to intercultural and diversity skills. It also includes group-specific competencies like second language skills or knowledge of child development.
  5. There’s no point in running a program if nobody comes. Outreach and marketing also made the list.
  6. It’s also important to be creative. Unexpected challenges come up with programs all the time, and quite a few people mentioned “flexibility” and “problem-solving” as essential.
  7. This job function also requires financial skills: budgeting, grants, and fundraising, depending on how the library functions.
  8. Many of the library staffers who answered the survey emphasized evaluation skills. To assess the value of programs, library programming staff need to understand statistics, benchmarking, and how to assess a community’s needs and resources.
  9. Finally, we received many responses pinpointing content knowledge. For example, it’s nearly impossible to run a coding class if you don’t know how to use a computer.

A quantitative analysis generally corroborated the popularity of these categories among the responses.”

Check out the rest of their article for more information!

Programs, Training

Spotlight Program: Money Smart Week®, April 21 – 28, 2018

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.

Financial planning programs are always popular in libraries – all of us would like to be better with handling  money! Try out some of the suggestions given in this press release from ALA, or adapt other ideas to your own community’s interests!

Libraries offer a wealth of personal finance programs during Money Smart Week®, April 21 – 28, 2018

Earning a living can be hard. But knowing how to spend, save and invest your money wisely can be even more of a challenge. And with the recent changes in the tax code, being financially savvy is imperative.

Libraries help by providing the resources that can help you make the right choices. Our nation’s librarians and library workers are trained in offering unbiased sources of information that guide us in making sound fiscal choices.

From April 21-28, 2018, more than 1,000 of our nation’s libraries will be participating in Money Smart Week®. Library events will focus on such diverse financial issues as first-time home buying, obtaining renovation loans, preparing a personal spending plan, the property tax appeal process, evaluating financial aid packages, choosing the proper Medicare plan and the basics of wills and trusts. Libraries are also offering programs that week on options for tax-free savings and charitable tax strategies.

In addition, libraries in Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin will be offering Money Smart Week® Kids Read programs aimed at children aged 5-8 and their parents and/or guardians. Children will be choosing from two free books, “Those Shoes” and “Planet Zeee and the Money Tree,” and then participating in adult-led presentations on key money management messages in the book.

Created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002, Money Smart Week® is a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. The American Library Association (ALA) is among several partnering organizations.

For more information, visit www.moneysmartweek.org, which contains an interactive map that will guide you to events across the nation.

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!