Program Help - Top Ten Resources

This is the first in a series of "top ten" lists. If you are looking for resources to make 2010 the best year ever for your library programs, look no further! The websites in this guide discuss several aspects of programming.

Event$ "on the cheap": Keeping the "bottom line" in mind is important in these budget-conscious times. Here are several websites with programming ideas that are inexpensive or free.

1. Hudson Valley Library E-Z Program Database

This is a searchable database of free and inexpensive program ideas, created by librarians in New York. Ideas are searchable by cost range, topic, audience, and/or program type.

2. What's Your Story? Find it at the library.

From the state library of Montana, this list of programming ideas for adults includes forty topics. Each is discussed in detail, with a catchy title, possible subtopics, approximate program time, suggested types of speakers, and more.

3. Calendar of Teen Programming Ideas

This wiki by YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, presents ideas for teen programming in a calendar format. Everything from national holidays to library-specific events like Teen Read Week gets its due in this resource with something for everyone.

Working the Crowd: Partnerships with other community organizations can benefit everyone involved. Look in your community for like-minded organizations, and approach them about working together.

4. Check your community's website for a list of organizations, like this one from Salisbury, MD.

Making Your Mark(er): Arts and crafts make-and-take events are great for children and teens. To cut down on costs, you can ask for donations of art supplies from community members (everyone needs to clean out their closets sometime!) or local stores.

5. Choose crafts that are inexpensive to make, like origami boxes. View the directions with pictures here.

Here are two great books with lots of inexpensive ideas for kids' crafts:

6. Kids' Crazy Concoctions: Different mixtures in this book include homemade Play-Doh and other recipes for art supplies that use inexpensive household ingredients.

7. EcoArt!: Earth-friendly art and craft experiences for 3 to 9 year olds: Suggestions for activities made with recycled or reusable materials turn one person's trash into another person's treasure.

Looking Ahead: Find out what made your program great, and what to do next. Use your most important resource to the fullest - your patrons! Here are some websites including ideas for questions to use in both planning and follow-up surveys.

8. For planning programs: Planning Programs Survey

9. To follow up after a program: http://www.slrc.info/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=42890

10. SurveyMonkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/

SurveyMonkey is free, easy to use, and compiles survey results for you. If you prefer, you can use paper surveys.

Use what you learned from your patrons' feedback to make your next program even better. Good luck and here's to a fun and exciting year of great programs in 2010!

How can I promote Banned Books Week at my library?

Banned Books Week is a national campaign that celebrates the freedom to read. It promotes Intellectual Freedom in schools and libraries throughout the United States. The Humanities Department created a How-to-Guide, Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, to raise awareness of censorship and to support the freedom of choice. The guide contains information on banned and challenged books and ways to get involved.

The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom is a great resource for display ideas, activities, free downloads, and links for other materials for Banned Books Week.

Another good resource is the Official Banned Books Week web site. Under the section titled, “What You Can Do”, you will find suggestions on contests, discussion forums, and films on books that are banned.

The How-to-Guide and websites will provide you with the tools necessary for a successful Banned Books Week at your library.

What are your top ten tips for putting together great adult programs?

1. Know your community.  You want to make sure that the program is relevant and is something that the community is interested in and wants.  Community demographics are a great way to start finding out who your customers are but also look at who’s coming into the library and what they are asking for.  Another way to find out about your customers is to conduct a survey.
   
   
2. Know the goal of the program.  Will you be focusing on highlighting library resources, disseminating information, providing entertainment or maybe all of the above!
   
   
3. Publicize, publicize, publicize.  You could have the best program ever, but if people don’t know about it they won’t come.  Send out press releases to the local media, be sure it’s included in your library newsletter, hang flyers in the library and around your community.  Make sure that local community groups and businesses know about your event and have flyers to post.
   
   
4. If you have a budget for programming, great! Consider spending it on refreshments, speaker fees or paid publicity.  A great program is not dependent on having money though.  Think creatively – try to get donations from the community!
   
   
5. Will you be using AV equipment such as a laptop/projector or a microphone?  Make sure you’re comfortable using it or know who to call if you run into problems.  If you’re able – it’s helpful to test out the equipment before the program to make sure it actually does work.
   
   
6. Participant introductions are very helpful and help to make everyone feel more comfortable in the room.  Ice breakers can also be fun, even for adults.
   
   
7. Encourage participation.  Adults don’t always want to be lectured to and often times the participants have valuable information to add.  Tossing a small piece of chocolate to participant when they ask a question is a great and inexpensive way to get people involved.
   
   
8. Refreshments are not expected but are a nice way to make people feel more comfortable.  You don’t need anything elaborate, water and coffee will work just fine.
   
   
9. It’s ok to say, “I don’t know” when asked a question just be sure to follow up with “but I’ll be sure to find out and get back to you.”  We can’t be expected to know everything!
   
   
10. Lastly, have fun!!

What are some suggestions for putting together a great teen program?

• Assess the interests and needs of the audience that you are attempting to reach, and determine who the audience is that you’d like to attend the program. (Are you targeting tweens or older young adults, for example. Are they interested in gaming? Arts and crafts? Anime and manga?)
  
  
• Poll the young adults that you’re attempting to reach. If you have a teen advisory council or teen volunteers, use them.
  
  
• Determine the time of day and the day of the week that will work best for increasing the number of participants, as well as the length of the program. What location will work best for the program you’re planning?
  
  
• Will you need to limit the number of participants by number and/or age? Will they have to register in advance?
  
  
• Young adult programs are of two types: informational (a program on helping teenagers find summer jobs, for example) and recreational (a gaming program). Are you attempting to inform or to entertain?
  
  
• Compose a checklist of activities that you’ll need to complete in order to successfully deliver the program. Save the checklist and use it as a template for future program planning.
  
  
• Is there a budget/funding? What supplies will you need?
  
  
• Will you use a staff presenter or bring in an outside presenter? In-house presenters are inexpensive; outside presenters bring expertise in a particular area.
  
  
• Is the program you’re planning a stand alone, one-time event, or can it be packaged and used again at another time or in another location?
  
  
• Provide effective publicity to your target audience, using both internal publicity (e.g., library newsletter or Web site) and well as external publicity (e.g., local newspaper).
  
  
• Food is a draw, so be sure to provide it if you can. Giveaways are also crowd pleasers.
  
  
• Incorporate library materials into the program to promote the use of the collection.
  
  
• Use teens as presenters, program aides, or promoters. The more teen involvement in planning and implementation, the better.
  
  
• Use evaluations, even if they’re informal, to get feedback from program participants about their reactions to the program.

What are some suggestions for putting together programming for seniors?

Programming for older adults can be great fun for both the audience and the presenter as long as we think about their information needs and are aware of a few key differences in communication.  Outreach to senior groups can be easily facilitated in locations like assisted living homes, adult day care centers, senior centers or in the library.  We simply need to prepare properly for this audience. 

Sure, there are a myriad of topics that can be presented.  We can arrange to bring in experts from the community to speak about health issues, Medicare, elder law, consumer protection and fraud, life and death issues.  I could go on and on.  Truth is these are great.  They educate the audience and, most important, get seniors into the library.  Your job is to supplement the information that the speaker imparts and provide ideas on library resources related to the topic.  Look at the program schedule for almost any public library system and you’ll see presentations on these topics.  If this is your charge and you need ideas on what’s topical with seniors today you need look no further than AARP for suggestions.

But seniors want to be entertained too.  Preparing a program for them need not just be something oriented toward ‘old’ people.  Isn’t gaming for seniors among the hot topics in library programming today?  Some of the most useful programs in the entertainment category are those that challenge the audience, make them think and are interactive.  It’s no scoop that the grey generation has had more life experiences and wants to share what they have learned.  Give them that opportunity and you will have a winning program on your hands.  It is a misconception that older adults equal retired persons equal people who lack energy and, therefore need to be programmed with kid gloves! 

Allow participants to talk about what they were doing or what life was like in the past. Try programs about the way things used to be, such as: 

• Showing photos and images.
• Having a discussion centered on an old telephone book (its amazing how much you can do with it!)
• Talking about old television shows using a TV Guide from the past
• Using the front page of newspapers that shows a historic event to start a discussion.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Seniors like to share their expertise.  Allow them to interrupt so that they can speak - plan on it.
• Be patient.  It may take a little longer for a senior to make their point.
• Use a microphone.  A portable mic is great to that you can pass it those who have something to share.
• Be sure the program is held in a quiet room away from noise.  Seniors may not hear as well, so reducing the amount of outside chatter and environmental noise helps.
• Make sure anything visual is projected large enough for all to see.
• If you plan to introduce books be sure they are available in large print or audio formats.
• Allow a few extra minutes for the program.  It may take seniors a bit longer to enter and exit a room.
• Do not use lengthy video presentations.  Senior groups tend to get bored very quickly.  They appreciate that you have prepared something special for them.
• Interact with someone who participates.  Follow up their comment with a question-show you’re interested and that their thoughts matter.
• Plan on a flexible room setup and leave plenty of space for those with mobility issues. Persons who use wheelchairs, walkers and canes should not be relegated to the back of the room or a designated area.
• Expect movement from the group.  If someone has to get up to leave the room, take it in stride.

Just keep the simple differences in mind and you will find senior programming is among the most rewarding activities we can plan.  If we truly want libraries to become community centers we should include seniors in our plans - they make up one of our most reachable constituencies.

Top Ten Programming Tips for Children Age 8 - 12

We received this question from Jeannine Finton from Harford County Public Library who is an LATI participants:

"I read the SLRC “programming tips for children” and realized that these were tips for story times for young children (2 yrs to 7 yrs) But libraries also program to older children. What differences in approach are recognized?"

In response, we've come up with a list of top ten programming tips for children ages 8-12.

1. Be friendly, warm, and welcoming. If you remember children by name, greet them accordingly. Engage positive emotions such as happiness, excitement, suspense, and surprise. Make sure everyone HAS FUN.
   
   
2. Encourage participation; ask for volunteers to do something, such as trying tongue twisters or brain teasers. Create an environment that fully immerses participants in the program experience. Include movement if possible.
   
   
3. Combine activities so that more than one sense is used. Utilizing many different venues recognizes that each child learns differently. Book reading, booktalking, storytelling, music, movement, and puppetry, are all effective with school-age children.
   
   
4. Find a way to help children build a personal connection with topics; if you are booktalking, choose a subject that has some relevance to them. Give the children a realistic problem to solve or ask for their opinion by voting on something."
   
   
5. Assess the interests and needs of the audience. Children who are 8 and children who are 12 have different interests. Keep spare books aside in case you attract an audience that is much younger or older than you expected.
   
   
6. Provide enrichment through your programs. Add unique experiences that the children might not get elsewhere. For instance, try an activity with colored scarves (using them to be a pirate, an old lady, a Canadian Mountie). Sparks the imagination of your program participants.
   
   
7. Schedule public programs for times when school-age children are in the library!
   
   
8. Always mention library resources, including free online homework help.
   
   
9. Have your supplies ready ahead of time. Books for booktalking should be set aside at least one week in advance to make sure they are still available on the day of the program. Preparing craft programs a week in advance ensures that there will be enough materials and that your supplies are in good condition.
   
   
10. As long as you don’t think it is babyish, they won’t think it is babyish. For instance, if you want to use picture books, just add an introductory sentence such as: “Some picture books are meant for older children and adults. They have sophisticated humor and more complicated story lines, but because they have lots of pictures, older children don’t usually read them. Today I am going to read you some pictures books that I would never read to preschoolers, but I know you’ll enjoy them because you are the intended audience.”

Top 10 Tips for Putting Together Excellent Children's Programs

1. Keep in mind that the main goal of library program is to build positive connections with the library, with books, and with you – the librarian. You are not a teacher and your job is not to prepare lessons. Your job is to give your audience such a wonderful literacy-based experience that they will want to come back to the library over and over, that they will want to read books, and that they will feel comfortable speaking with their librarian.
   
   
2. Plan for your program to last 30 minutes as that is a typical length of a children's program. Know what age group you will be working with and plan accordingly.
   
   
3. Always welcome people warmly as they enter into the programming room.
   
   
4. Always introduce yourself.
   
   
5. Start every program with a song, rhyme, or fingerplay.
   
   
6. It is good practice to always start with the same song, rhyme, or fingerplay and end with the same song, rhyme or fingerplay. This helps define the space of the program and gives the children a sense of recognition and consistency.
   
   
7. Read the longest book first.
   
   
8. Plan some standing up activities in the middle of the program so the children have time to get some exercise. They will then be able to sit for the rest of the program.
   
   
9. Only use books that you like. If you plan your programs based on themes but the books on that theme are not ones you particularly like, use books that you know are great instead and don't worry about the theme for that program.
   
   
10. Don't rush away when the program is over! Take time to speak informally with parents and children.