Tag Archives: Spotlight Program Series

Programs

Spotlight Program: Reading Rocks

Rock texture

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. (On November 9, 2017, we will drop a podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here to check it out! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

This program would be so easy for any type of library do set up – and what a fun way to connect with your community!

“Reading Rocks

October 20, 2017

By Holly Browning, Children’s Library/Community Liaison, Nicholas P. Sims Library

Waxahachie has a social group called Rocks-a-Hachie, which paints and hides rocks all over town for others to find and re-hide. The 12-year-old founder of this group and her mother came to Nicholas P. Sims Library (NPSL) wanting to do a book-themed rock-hiding project that would get families excited about reading. Several group members painted all the rocks and wrote “return to library” on the back.

Once someone finds the rock, they come to the library to check out the book that matches the rock, and they receive a small prize. They can then check out another rock to hide, encouraging someone else to visit the library and keep the fun going.

Once the Rocks-a-Hachie group partnered with NSPL, a group administrator organized local artists and children to paint the rocks. The group was asked to paint rocks of authors/series/characters that they enjoy, and they chose book themes, scenes and characters to paint on smooth rocks. The majority of the artists chose children’s titles for their rocks’ inspiration, but some chose general fiction (C.S. Lewis) and popular YA fiction (The Hunger Games series). On the back, they listed their Facebook group name and wrote “Return to Library.” (View the finished rocks under Photo Slideshow at right.) They then brought the rocks – about 75 to start with –  to the library, and the library organized the program details, marketing and program implementation.

The main goal of the program is to get families excited about books, to discover new books, and to get them to explore places in town that they may not have visited. Other goals include reaching potential library users/families that otherwise have not known about the library and to get more families signed up for library cards and programs.

Our main concern is participants keeping the rocks instead of hiding them because they are so beautifully done! To keep rocks in circulation, we will also host rock painting programs for tweens and teens in conjunction with the Rocks-a-Hachie group continually providing book-themed rocks.”

Programs

Spotlight Program: ‘Stranger Things’ at the Library

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Stranger Things logo
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. (On November 9, 2017, we will drop a podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here to check it out! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

Stranger Things is a really popular TV show, and Season Two starts this week. Your library can connect to this trend with some fun programming! Check out this blog describing a craft program going on in the Mt Prospect library.

“The second season of the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things” will be released Friday, Oct. 27, and fans are pumped. One way to tap into the excitement is by hosting a library craft night leading up to the release.

Why crafting? Working on activities together creates a low-pressure environment that allows participants to connect with one another over the show. Plus, everyone gets to leave the event with their creations!”

They make buttons, magnets, canvas art, and coasters. Wouldn’t you like to try them?? If so – invite us over!

Programs

Spotlight Program: Blankets in the Library

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. (On November 9, 2017, we will drop a podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here to check it out! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)
Blankets 5

Library blankets for the win

by Ned Potter

I’ve had a number of emails recently asking after our blankets in the library at the University of York, so I thought I’d blog about them.

Getting blankets for the library is probably one of the best things I’ve ever done in libraryland, honestly.  It took almost no effort and very little money. The students LOVE them. Everyone’s a winner.

The quote in the title is from our feedback board where we asked students for tips for their peers…

We bought 30 blankets for each of our sites. We get them from a local laundry who also launder them for us – but you can also buy perfectly serviceable and cheap examples from for example IKEA if you have your own laundry service to hand. They’re laundered termly unless there’s a reason to bring that schedule forward…

They sit in a bucket near the entrance of each library, and people can help themselves to them as they come and go….

You’ll notice the blankets are a fairly drab grey – this is deliberate, to make them less tempting to abscond with…

Origins

Like all academic libraries, our number 1 complaint for users is about the temperature – and it’s equally split between too hot and too cold most of the time. We don’t actually control the temperature anyhow, so we adopted the UX mentality of ‘if you can’t fix the problem at least make the user experience better in any way you can’ and tried to improve things in what small ways we could…

The students involved were really pleased but the great thing is EVERYONE was really pleased.

So as we head into the colder months, see if you can do this for your library. Or even better, get your students SLANKETS so their arms are still free for reading. 🙂 ”

(Read the entire article here!)

Programs

Spotlight Program: How to Have a Haunted Halloween

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. (On November 9, 2017, we will drop a podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here to check it out! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

Halloween is approaching, and we are going to look at some holiday programs you may want to try in your library.

How to Have a Haunted Halloween

By Kimberli Buckley, Library Manager, Concord Library, Contra Costa County (Calif.) Library

About five years ago, I created a program called Haunted Library. Our Teen Advisory Group (TAG) really looked forward to this program every year. They absolutely loved planning this event, making up different themes each year and going all out from the beginning of the school year until Halloween. It was so awesome because they were fully invested.

TAG’s main goal was to create a haunted house for the younger children in the community. The parks and recreation department in San Pablo used to put on a great haunted house, but after they discontinued their program, my TAG felt that it was up to them to put on a great program for the kids. We did the Haunted Halloween program every year for four years, and the teens outdid themselves and did an amazing job.

This year, I am at a different library, but I am carrying on the tradition of the Haunted Library program. My staff and I are planning a Halloween event for tweens and teens and are very excited to share our ideas. We now have an even bigger room to create a haunted house, and we have recruited a brand new TAG to help plan and coordinate. After meeting and discussing ideas for our Halloween event, we came up with a long list of fun things to do. Here are some of our ideas:

Hauntingly Terrific Crafts

Spooky Candy Hands: These candy hands are creepy looking, but they’re a super yummy treat for teens.

Faux Horror Chains: These faux chains are inexpensive to make and great for indoor or outdoor decorating.

Creepy Spell Book: Put those weeded books to good use. These creepy spell books look complicated, but they’re actually easy to make.

Witch’s Potion Bottles: It’s amazing that these started as plain plastic pill bottles.

Spooktacularly Tasty Morsels

Candy Corn Punch: Sweet, colorful and fun. Drink up, my pretties!

Halloween Spaghetti: Here’s a horrible-looking twist on your grandma’s spaghetti recipe.

Poison Apples: This poison apple recipe was inspired by Evie from Disney’s “Descendants.”

Pumpkin Patch Dirt Cups: These would be fun to serve at a Halloween-themed party.

(Read the rest of this great blog here!)

Programs

Spotlight Program: Trivia Masters

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. (On November 9, 2017, we will drop a podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here to check it out! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

Trivia 1

Making Trivia Masters: Using Trivia to Turn Students into Explorers

By Kate Lewallen, Middle and Upper School Librarian, Webb School of Knoxville, Knoxville, Tenn.

“A few months ago on Programming Librarian, I talked about asking a trivia question as part of your passive programming. Now, I’ve taken it a step further to create a Trivia Master Challenge that encourages students to search the library’s catalog, explore our nonfiction section, and learn how to search successfully within a book.

Trivia challenge is a clever way to get library users to explore resources they may be unfamiliar with.

The problem: Wait, there’s more?

A few years ago, my school library underwent a renovation that resulted in the majority of our physical collection being hidden around a corner. As a result, I often got surprised reactions out of students who didn’t know that there was an entire other section of the library that they couldn’t immediately see. I needed a way to get students behind the wall and into the nonfiction section more regularly than they were being brought in for classes.

The solution: The Trivia Master Challenge

When I watched this webinar about using trivia to increase ebook use, I knew this could help me solve the problem with my physical collection, so I adapted it to my needs.

Each week, I publicize a new question. Students have to come to the library, search the catalog for a book about that subject, then find the answer in a book. They submit their answer online, including the title, author and page number where they found it. This way, they still have to use the library’s resources, even if they already know the answer.

I take all the correct answers each week and do a drawing for our Trivia Masters, who then get a prize.”

Read the rest of her article here!