Reading Program On the Cheap

Last week our library began the I <3 Books reading program. While the main goal of the program is promoting literacy, we were also hoping to encourage patrons to use our resources and borrow library material. Our circulation has been somewhat low since the holiday season and starting a reading program seemed like an obvious choice to boost circulation. Of course, with a limited budget, we had to find resourceful and creative ways to implement this program. With the help of our teens and financial support from our Friends group, we not only started our reading program but we were also able to have a successful kickoff event where many patrons registered to participate in the reading contest.

Here are 5 tips that worked for us in implementing a low cost reading program:

1) Use your leftovers. We used our of leftover material such as books, pencils and bags from previous programs to offer as part of our incentives.

2) Find an inexpensive incentive that is appropriate for most ages. Silly Bandz did the trick for us! Both children and teens in our community can't get enough silly bandz and the price was just right. Of course we did not forget about the little ones and adults, but the cost for these incentives was minimal, given that we had several leftover items from our summer reading program that were appropriate for both of these age groups.

3) Solicit financial support or donations for grand prizes. This was our big cost item. We were fortunate to obtain our financial support from our Friends of the Library group. If you don't have a Friends group though, try local businesses, community partners or generous patrons who are often willing to help.

4) Go green and keep the printing of reading logs and promotional material to a minimum. Our reading logs were printed as half sheets in black and white. We told patrons if they loose their reading log to write it on any piece of scratch paper. Our printed fliers were limited and our promotional information was distributed electronically to the schools and local partners. Teen Council created a couple of large visible posters with the program information and placed them in the areas of the library that receive the most traffic.

5) Recruit volunteers and FREE local talent to host a kickoff event. Our teens did it all! Teen council volunteered to run the event and register patrons for the program. Our teen music group joined forces with local teen dancing crews to provide the entertainment and promote the event.



Check out more pictures of the I Heart Books Kickoff Event.

Lego Club, Part Deux

We have all heard that presentation is everything, and this saying holds true when setting up library programs. The kids can tell how much effort we put into our programming and, if the presentation is a mess, you may lose them before they even get in the door. I read about a number of different ways that librarians set up their Lego Clubs but none appealed to me. They all just mentioned that they either dumped the pieces into a pile or had bins full of pieces set out on tables. There was no talk of sorting the pieces. Maybe I’ve just been around Legos too long, but Lego pieces come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. I decided that I would invent a way to sort the pieces to make them more accessible to the builders.

When Lego pieces are all jumbled together, it’s difficult to find that one piece you really need. And forget about trying to find any small pieces, they inevitably make their way to the bottom of the pile to be lost forever. Here’s a basic strategy for sorting Legos that will definitely make it easier for the kids to find what they need. I use only three categories: bricks, plates, and small/specialty pieces.

Bricks look exactly the way they sound, like bricks. These are the tall, regular Lego pieces. They may not all be perfect rectangles like bricks, but any of the big, thicker pieces would fall into this category.

Plates got their name because these are the flat pieces. They are not always smooth (most will have studs on top) but you can recognize these pieces because they are 1/3 of the height of a brick.

The small/specialty pieces would include all of those little, single stud pieces. Special pieces that swivel or bend and chairs and steering wheels should be grouped together.




I set up tables with one small bin of each of the 3 types of pieces.

I found that this system really works for the kids. If they need a certain type of piece, they know exactly where to look. I also let them know that each table might have different pieces so they can move from table to table to find what they need. I think that the kids appreciate the effort of sorting the pieces rather than just having them dig through large bins or piles. I was initially worried about keeping the pieces sorted but after each building session we do some sorting and when we break down the models after 2 weeks we make sure to sort those pieces. After 4 months, we still have a well sorted collection and very happy Lego builders.

Summer Reading Themes Needed!

I serve on the California Library Association's Summer Reading Advisory Council, and am often asked for input on themes, graphics, and content for the Collaborative Summer Library Program. But we'd like to hear from you as well!

1. The theme for 2013 is Underground. What would you like to see as the slogan for the different age groups (ex. this year's children's slogan for the theme Travel and World Cultures is "One World, Many Stories").

• 2013 Underground Children's slogan

• 2013 Underground Teen slogan

• 2013 Underground Adult slogan

2. What would you like to see as the general theme for 2014?

So far librarians have suggested robots, archaeology, dinosaurs, rain forest, space, fairies, and ice age.

Open Letter to New Librarians in Library Journal

Posted today on LibraryJournal.com is a letter from Roy Tennant to new (and new-ish) librarians, in response to a blog post by my friend Patrick (pcsweeney). It's a must-read for all librarians who are fired up but frustrated: Open-letter-to-new-librarians