stand alone programming

dino yell

Dinosaurs @ Your Library!

Last summer we repeated one of our popular standalone programs – DINOS!  It had been a few years since we did this program and, as many of you know, I recycle these themed programs at least every 2-3 years.  (unless it’s something very pop culture-y that has dated.  But that’s a rarity.) Since last summer…

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rainbow cakes

Rainbow Fairy Magic @ Your Library

In a way, this event exemplifies everything I think these one day stand-alone programs can be: no matter what you might see, you don’t have to spend a TON of money and endless staff hours creating something that looks like it came out of a party planning book.  You don’t have to limit attendance just…

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puppet

Paperbag Theater @ Your Library

One of my co-workers called this “the perfect library program” and I have to agree!  It’s also SUPER SIMPLE and BASICALLY FREE and has a huge age range appeal.  What’s not to love!? We opened a new branch library after years and years of planning. (My library system only has two locations – our larger main location…

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nye crown

Noon Year’s Eve @ Your Library!

Last January, I first heard about libraries hosting Noon Year’s Eve parties for kids on New Year’s Eve, celebrating the new year at NOON instead of midnight.  My only regret was that I was going to have to wait a whole year to have the event at my library. I like to have at least…

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lyric books

FROZEN @ Your Library!

There’s no way to escape Frozen.  And hey, why would you want to?  Of all Disney products, it’s not the worst.  In fact, there’s some pretty great parts.  What’s not to love about a heroine with ice powers and another heroine who saves her? The idea for this program really started growing when I noticed a…

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poprocks

A Week of ScienceFest Programming

My town loves science!  Of course we do – we’re where the atomic bomb was built and, since that time, we’ve had a national science laboratory here in our town that fills up our community with scientists from all over the world. For the past few years, our town has celebrated a yearly Science Festival….

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staches

Spy Night @ Your Library

As many of you know, especially if you follow me on Twitter, one of my greatest fears in life is that all these cool and amazing programs we have – especially the ones during summer – miss out on working parents.  Everything we have starts at 2 PM? Well, what about if you don’t have…

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ponyreading

My Little Pony @ Your Library!

Summer is already in swing at my library.  We are having great return numbers on our reading logs, we had a HUGE crowd for our kick-off show (easily over 300 people), and even our regular programs have had an attendance surge.  We launched our Lego Club to FANTASTIC numbers of almost all boys aged 7-14…

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scaled

MINECRAFT IRL @ Your Library!

Why did I decide to host this event?   Oh, if you work in a library and with children and teens you know why.  You know that, for them, Minecraft rules their imaginations.  At my library, the kids will play Minecraft for hours at a time.  They play it together, they watch each other play…

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birdhead

ELEPHANT & PIGGIE @ Your Library!

Again, this is a program I chose to offer because of the sheer popularity of the books.  Perhaps you are noticing a trend! Perhaps this has helped get you started thinking about what series/characters are super popular at YOUR library that could be turned into a single day event/celebration!  (that’s what I hope anyway…) So…

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