The Library Adventure uses affiliate links, see our policies for more information.Kids ages 8 to 12 are often too busy with scheduled activities of their own to make it to library programs in the afternoons or evenings. For librarians who wish to increase attendance at programs for this age group, this can be very frustrating, […]
We are passionate supporters of public libraries here at Pages Unbound. But there are still awesome services and programs I would love to see libraries provide! Here are ten cool ideas that would g…
Next week marks the start of National Library Week!
Don't let a short schedule keep you from providing engaging library programming. These 30-minute library lessons are perfect for librarians!
April library lessons can bring a high level of engagement, active learning, inspiration and fun to your elementary school library classes!
Librarians: They're smarter than all of us.
Haven't tried a book tasting with your students yet? This fun reading activity is an awesome way to introduce genres in your elementary classroom or library!
More reasons to hide out in a library all day!
Whether it's solving the morning crossword puzzle, working out whodunit in a best-selling thriller, or participating in the library's mystery book club, everyone loves a mystery! In 'Hosting a Library Mystery', Elizabeth Karle capitalizes on our delight of the genre through this unique, interactive programming guide.
A monthly library book display is a great way to bring awareness to different topics, seasons, and celebrations. Check out these ideas!
Over the last several years, I've done at lot of change up our library space at Stewart. Here's some of my tips to help you rethink your library.
This week kicked off a brand new school year at Van Meter as we learned with our administrators, teachers and friends. On Wednesday, we were given some time to connect with the teachers to share information about the library program. As we prepared for this time together, I started thinking about all of the amazing ways that librarians on the Future Ready Librarian Facebook Page have shared. I especially love.... the menus Charles Scardina, Kelsey Erin and... James Allen created. Not only were they filled with wonderful information, they were all so cool too! Jessica and I started brainstorming and decided to put a little twist on ours. We made it like a movie or production by starting it out with... The Van Meter School Library Presents A Special New Feature During The 2018-19 School Year! We then split it into categories tying into thetheme.... Starring, Setting, Acts and Special Features. And of course included all of us as Friendmoji's too. It was such a good exercise to sit down and put all of these skills and thoughts onto paper. And of course, while I did this, I had the Future Ready Librarian framework sitting right next to me so I could reference and tie it into the work we will do with our school community. Then I thought.... After we give them this program, we should create something to get them even more engaged in these ideas. How could we get them thinking about how they will use the information and put it into action to help them in their classroom and throughout their work too? We got it! A ticket! What a perfect tie in to the theme! As you can see on the ticket, we tied in the same theme and lots of the same verbiage as the program. They will even find a little ticket at the bottom of their flyer to encourage them to look for a ticket that.... ..,,will encourage them to think about how we can help and write down their needs to give to us in our library...one more way to get them into the library too. To go along with the movie theme, we attached microwave popcorn... and the big boxes of movie popcorn with red and white yarn. It was so much fun to put these together with the tickets. We put all 70 of these little gifts into a big basket to bring with us. So, Wednesday was the day! The day that Jessica and I were going to kick off this awesome new partnership between us and with all of the teachers, students, administrators and families within our school community. The first impression we made on that day, will have a lasting impact all year long...and into the future. As we finished up meeting and talking with all of the secondary teachers, we made our way down to the elementary library where we had set up a special place for them to come in the afternoon. We put the little ticket packages and the What Your Teacher Librarian Can Do For You posters on each table where the teachers would be sitting. As they arrived at the library, we spoke about all of the special things we can do as their teacher librarian and how we can work together all year long. At the end of our time together, I was so happy to see our friend Amy give us this note. It worked! It was successful in bringing together communities in useful and special ways that will impact our students every single day.
As adults, we often walk into a bookstore with a certain genre we are ready to peruse the aisles for in order to find our next read. Would your students be able to do the
So this is a summer program we’ve been hosting for 5 years now. I’ve always saved this one for the week of 4th of July–the idea being I don’t put too much work into this on…
Applying for library grants is a great way to leverage your library and get more resources. Check out these 10 library grant suggestions!
There are resources for kids' book tastings, but what about the grown people? Here's a how-to for hosting a book tasting for adults at a public library.
April library lessons can bring a high level of engagement, active learning, inspiration and fun to your elementary school library classes!
Amazing Race: Library Edition is a program that I’ve ran twice before. It always brings out a huge crowd – and for those of us who have a small budget – it’s a great program…
Next week marks the start of National Library Week!
Library musical chairs is a terrific game to promote reading and incorporate technology with Google Form surveys.
Or do you call them Cootie-Catchers? One and the same, my friend. The point is, here's an idea to help patrons figure out what to read next. Like so: I originally saw the idea on MLISsing in Action, which actually has all kinds of fun passive displays. But I decided to make my own version of the fortune teller idea: free printables included! Here's the sign and here's the cootie-catcher. There's four versions in the cootie catcher file: the first is what you see: I filled mine all in with actual titles (my favorite middle-grade fiction, as selected from my "What Books to Give a Middle-Grader" flowchart poster). The second version has fortunes, such as "Your next title will begin with the letter 'H'" and "Pick a yellow cover to ensure happiness". Fun stuff like that (which provides a good opportunity to display books that fulfill those fortunes!). The third has blank fortunes, so you could do your own. And fourth is...well, pretty much all blank. Do whatever your heart desires! Here's a brief pictorial representation of how to fold your cootie-catcher... cut out the square fold along the diagonals fold the corners in turn over and fold corners in again ta-da! Or this library has a nice instruction sheet seen here. The point is, it's a fun way to get patrons to try something new! See how your library likes it!
Free library games and resources, including printables, worksheets, and slideshow presentations designed to help kids build library skills.
The most successful displays I've done at my library have been passive readers advisory. For the last five years or so, I’ve done a monthly display of minature books based on the top YA titles checked out in my library system, with the top 10 books getting four readalikes. The Tiny Library is a collection of tiny books based on our most popular titles. Each tiny book contains reading suggestions based on our readalike list. There is a QR code that leads to a Google Form where teens can choose the books they want to pick up from the library.
Program Name: Around the World What: We haven’t offered this program yet, but if you had some willing patrons to talk about their trips both within the country and overseas, other patrons could attend who were interested in traveling. Sharing an itinerary, basic information about the area, accommodations, meals, etc. This would be so helpful for other travelers who are ready to make plans. Where: This is an easy program to offer in a small meeting space as I’m not sure how many people would be attending each presentation. When: This could be offered throughout the year depending on when people are traveling or returning from travel. I’d say to definitely offer something near the beginning of the year as people begin making summer travel plans around then. Who: I’d gear this program toward adults, but you could also offer a similar and more simple program for kids based on a local location many kids in your area visit or even a local landmark for people opting for a “staycation.” How: Ask patrons who enjoy traveling if they’d like to share about their trip – make a quick slideshow with some pictures of the trip and ask them to share anything that was particularly helpful for their travels. Alternatives: We’re currently offering a program called Passport Pals for kids in elementary school where they learn about a new country during every program with activities, games and snacks that correlate to that country. Promote online resources and print material that works well for travel – AtoZ World Travel or AtoZ U.S., plus we have TONS of travel books for countries and cities all over the world. During the month of April, I’ll be participating in the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For this year’s theme, I’ll be offering you a library program plan with everything you to need to re-create it at your own library. Most of these programs we’ve offered in the past, others are programs I’d like to try in the future. I’m always looking for new inspiration and I thought you might be too!
Book Tasting Menu
This week kicked off a brand new school year at Van Meter as we learned with our administrators, teachers and friends. On Wednesday, we were given some time to connect with the teachers to share information about the library program. As we prepared for this time together, I started thinking about all of the amazing ways that librarians on the Future Ready Librarian Facebook Page have shared. I especially love.... the menus Charles Scardina, Kelsey Erin and... James Allen created. Not only were they filled with wonderful information, they were all so cool too! Jessica and I started brainstorming and decided to put a little twist on ours. We made it like a movie or production by starting it out with... The Van Meter School Library Presents A Special New Feature During The 2018-19 School Year! We then split it into categories tying into thetheme.... Starring, Setting, Acts and Special Features. And of course included all of us as Friendmoji's too. It was such a good exercise to sit down and put all of these skills and thoughts onto paper. And of course, while I did this, I had the Future Ready Librarian framework sitting right next to me so I could reference and tie it into the work we will do with our school community. Then I thought.... After we give them this program, we should create something to get them even more engaged in these ideas. How could we get them thinking about how they will use the information and put it into action to help them in their classroom and throughout their work too? We got it! A ticket! What a perfect tie in to the theme! As you can see on the ticket, we tied in the same theme and lots of the same verbiage as the program. They will even find a little ticket at the bottom of their flyer to encourage them to look for a ticket that.... ..,,will encourage them to think about how we can help and write down their needs to give to us in our library...one more way to get them into the library too. To go along with the movie theme, we attached microwave popcorn... and the big boxes of movie popcorn with red and white yarn. It was so much fun to put these together with the tickets. We put all 70 of these little gifts into a big basket to bring with us. So, Wednesday was the day! The day that Jessica and I were going to kick off this awesome new partnership between us and with all of the teachers, students, administrators and families within our school community. The first impression we made on that day, will have a lasting impact all year long...and into the future. As we finished up meeting and talking with all of the secondary teachers, we made our way down to the elementary library where we had set up a special place for them to come in the afternoon. We put the little ticket packages and the What Your Teacher Librarian Can Do For You posters on each table where the teachers would be sitting. As they arrived at the library, we spoke about all of the special things we can do as their teacher librarian and how we can work together all year long. At the end of our time together, I was so happy to see our friend Amy give us this note. It worked! It was successful in bringing together communities in useful and special ways that will impact our students every single day.
Our students need to be proficient in 5 Essential Literacies and School Librarians can integrate a Library Literacy component into any class visit. In Part 3 we look at Information Literacy Skills:…
Pokemon Go was all the rage in 2016. Fortnite in 2017. You get where we are going with this! Getting back into the swing of things of a new school year can be tricky, but we can help! An easy way to connect with your students is to make your back-to-school lessons relevant and relatable. How can you do this? We have compiled a list of several ways that you can easily incorporate teen trends into your back-to-school lessons for the first few weeks (or anytime!) of the year. Most teens love music and connect with it on a personal level. You can bridge that connection by incorporating music into your daily routines. For example, play an upbeat song between bell work and discussion time to motivate your students. If you struggle to know what's popular with your students, just ask them! The beginning of the year is the perfect time to find out more about them and their music preferences. You can give them a writing prompt asking what their favorite songs are or be even more specific; ask them: Which song makes you want to get up and dance? Which song could you listen to over and over again and never grow tired of? Once you have compiled a list of their favorite songs, search the lyrics of a few. You can often find the best examples of figurative language in song lyrics. If the lyrics are appropriate, print them off and play the song in class and ask students to find examples of figurative devices. This activity can be done anytime, but it's for great back-to-school to review figurative language and to gauge your students' learning levels. Another way to incorporate music directly into learning is to compare popular music artists with writers or subjects you are reading. During poetry and Shakespeare units, I love challenging students to see if they can guess whether the line or phrase is from a song or a poem. I created an entire series with various poets and musicians that you can download here. I'll start out with a presentation and a student handout so the as whole can engage in the activity. It's so much fun to see their reactions when they swear there's no way the line came from an old poet, but it actually did! The next day, I'll display the bulletin board (below) so students can continue to interact with the lines of poetry and songs. One way to grab the attention of your students is to explore books that may have been released since school has been out and/or sharing some titles of books that will be released in the coming months! Talk about anticipation! :) Here are a few YA books that came out recently: Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi The Haunted by Danielle Vega We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fiedler Here are a few YA books that will be coming out soon: Frankly in Love by David Yoon The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh You can also see what your students are interested in by displaying these Genre Reading Cards around a few tables in your classroom (or in the library). Simply, set out the different genre cards, select a few books that fit within each genre, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and let your students explore the various titles. Follow-up with a brief discussion on their favorite books they may have already read (or discovered) through the stations. This is a quick and easy way to see what genres they are interested in or may be interested in exploring this school year. Whether it's the World Cup or the Super Bowl, chances are many of your students are fans of sports or are familiar with at least one sport. Using this FREE survey at the beginning of the year, ask your students which sports or teams are their favorite. (Click HERE to get an editable digital copy of the survey ready for distance learning!) Once you have an idea about their favorites, you can incorporate them into your lessons. For example, if you are writing a sample sentence for a grammar lesson, name-drop a player from one of their favorite teams. My students are usually divided between being either a Chicago Cubs or a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, so a sample sentence may be: "Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler sat down together to have pizza after the Cubs defeated the Cardinals last night." Every two years, you can integrate the Olympics into your lessons. Re-word the titles of your activities or assignments by using Olympic-themed names. Instead of calling it a class discussion or a "think-pair-share," call it the "Opening Ceremony" or "Passing the torch of knowledge." A quiz can be called a bobsled competition or a vault competition for gymnastics. Award the top three scores with gold, silver and bronze medals. If you teach multiple sections of the same class, have your classes compete for the overall winner. Awards points for the class with the fewest tardies, the highest scores on quizzes or assignments, and/or the liveliest discussions. Better yet, have your students create the areas for competitions and what they'd like to call them. They can even pick which country they would like to represent (or create their own country). Some students may not like traditional sports, but love video and online gaming. The popularity of videos such as Minecraft and Fortnite paired with the rise of schools adopting eSports as official extracurricular activities indicate that our students still love gaming. Instead of fighting it, try to embrace it by giving students opportunities to utilize both the skills they learn through games with academic skills. For example, I asked my students to recreate a scene from Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. One group built Rome in Minecraft and reenacted one of the scenes live as the class watched. My head was swimming a bit, but it was pretty amazing to see what they created together and how they adapted it to the text. They learned more about the play from that one assignment and had so much fun doing it. This particular assignment may not work with other games, but if you allow your students the possibility of incorporating their favorite game into a project, you may be amazed at the ideas that they come up with. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things as a student was when we were able to follow-up a book with a movie. As a visual person, I always appreciated when I saw a book come to life after reading it (even though most people prefer the book over the movie). Watching the movie after reading the book can lead to a lot of fun class discussions. Here are a few fun prompts that you can use to follow-up after your are done reading and watching! What did you like better, the book or the movie? Why was the book better than the movie? Why was the movie better than the book? What did the book have that the movie didn't? What did the movie have that the book didn't? A great way to grab the attention of your students would be to plan a unit around an upcoming movie release based on a book. This might be an older book or perhaps, a newer one. Regardless, your students will think it's pretty cool that they are going to be able to watch a movie. I realize it's not possible for all classes to be able to watch a movie in a theatre, but it's a fun and quick field trip if you can make it work! Movie theatres usually give a discount on larger groups and I usually try to work in a price that includes popcorn and a drink for everyone, too. If you think money may be an issue for some students, it does not hurt to ask your administraton for some assistance. They will, almost always, find a way to make sure everyone in your class is able to participate. You can also plan a unit around a particular theme of a movie coming out (or already in stores), if you're looking to take a break from reading for a few weeks. Once students gain a better understanding or appreciation about a particular theme, you can show them a movie where they can explore that theme even more. This way, if taking your students to a movie theatre isn't an option, then show a movie in your classroom instead! Note: You can ask your students which movies they may be interested in watching at the start of the year, then surprise them with the themed unit based around that film! One of the easiest ways to incorporate both social media and pop culture all at once is incorporating current events into your classroom. You can do this on a local, national or international level. You can simply ask your students to start talking about what's happening in your town, in the world, or even more specifically, with their favorite movie actors, singers, bands, etc. What's the gossip with their favorite celebrities? Once your ideas have been shared and topics have been listed, you can use this list as a means for an impromptu writing activity, as an essay topic, etc. The possibilities are endless. If you're interested in checking out more ways on how you can incorporate pop culture into the classroom, click HERE. You might also be interested in: Soundtrack of my Life/Playlist of my Summer
If you use Facebook, #22 will make you laugh.
So, you're planning programming for the adults in your library and you're looking to change it up? From time to time, this question is posed on the awesome Programming Librarian Interest Group and librarians respond with lots of great possibilities. I thought I'd compile a list and share. Perhaps some of these ideas might work for your library? Local 1. Local History Talks/Presentations 2. Local History Walk 3. Genealogy DIY Crafts 1. Paper Making 2. Stab Binding Books 3. Christmas Ornaments 4. Shibori Scarves 5. Water Color Scarves 6. Soy Candles 7. Glycerin Soap 8. Beading 9. Altered Books Technology 1. Digital Photography Classes 2. How to Use Facebook/Pinterest/Instagram/Snapchat, etc. 3. iPhoneography (taking and editing pics with iPhone) 4. Intro to Windows 10 Food 1. Cookbook Club 2. Cooking Classes 3. Soup Night / Pie Night (patrons bring in food to share) 4. Rose Hip Jelly Making 5. Downton Abbey Tea 6. Wine Tasting 7. Edible Book Contest Presenters 1. Paranormal/Haunted Presentations 2. Pet Psychic 3. Professional Headshots for Facebook Profiles 4. Discovering New England Stone Walls 5. Falconry 6. Beekeeping and Honey Tasting 7. Yoga 8. Meditation 9. Veteran Author Talks 10. Living History Performances and Re-enacting Educational 1. Car Seat Safety Program 2. Business Networking/Speed Networking 3. Job Prep (Resume writing, Mock interviews) 4. DIY Home Repair 5. Pearl Harbor (75th anniversary in December) 6. Show Great Courses Lectures 7. Interior Design 8. Travel on a Budget 9. Identity Theft 10. Etsy/eBay 11. DIY Bike Repair Gardening 1. Gardening Presentations 2. Plant Swap 3. DIY Terrarium Writing 1. Publishing Your Writing 2. Writing Memoirs 3. Open Mic Nights Fun / Entertainment 1. Family Movie Nights 2. Star Trek Program (50th Anniversary is coming soon) 3. Introduction to Drones 4. Bridge 5. Collectibles & Antiques 6. Plan the Perfect Staycation 7. Mah Jongg 8. Couponning 9. Coloring Books 10. Chinese New Year Places for Partnerships If you are looking to increase your attendance numbers, partnerships are a great way to do so: America Red Cross (for blood drives hosted at libraries) Local Senior Center Local Historical Society Local University (The outreach office may have someone willing to do social media programs) Local Stores (Drones, DIY Home Repairs/Renovations) Additional Reading Want more ideas? Check out: "Adult Programs in the Library" by Brett W. Lear was highly recommended. You can also access PLIG's Program Speed Dating Packet for more great info and ideas. List Source The list above was pulled from these discussions: Discussion #1 and Discussion #2. You need to be a member of the Programming Facebook Group to be able to read them. Thanks to all of the librarians who shared their wisdom!
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School library events can help you make your library the center of your school. Read these five reasons for planning events for your school library.
Kids love going to the library, so many – if not all – of the words in this puzzle will be familiar to them. When you want a nice, quiet activity for the classroom or at home, our In the Library Word…
22 free printable library activities for kids, including answer keys.
The official game board for the Concord Public Library's Bookopoly. TIM GOODWIN / Insider staff
Print This CraftKids will have fun as they explore the library with our latest addition to the scavenger hunt printables. ... Read More
Lester Public Library, Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Library Word Search
More reasons to hide out in a library all day!
Last weekend at Gibson my awesome coworker friend Nicole and I did a library mini golf after hours program for teens and tweens and it was a HIT. We got the idea from this pin but couldn’t fi…
Today let’s talk about how and why I started a low-tech makerspace at our high school library! When I started at this library 5 years ago it was completely different than it is now. Circulati…
Libraries can be some of the most visually stunning meccas of architecture, but even if you aren't fortunate enough to live near one of the most beautiful libraries in the world - your local libraries can still contain some pretty creative designs. The following list is a collection of photos from everyday libraries that have been spiced up with hilarious and creative twists from the funny librarians who run them.
Our library scavenger hunt is a brilliant way to get the kids involved at the library and help them discover everything that's on offer. Print a page for each child, give them a pencil, and off they go!
