The clunky television sets:
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The original way to do a PowerPoint Presentation:
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| Projector, hair dryer, or toaster? |
8/15/13
Cutting Edge Technology (Not)
In preparation for moving into a new library building I have been charged with the task of identifying items in the youth services closets that need to be thrown out. Many of the items that I've come across make me feel like I am wandering through a museum exhibit on old technology:
The clunky television sets:
The original way to do a PowerPoint Presentation:
Hey everybody, let's watch a movie:
The clunky television sets:
The original way to do a PowerPoint Presentation:
8/13/13
I Survived The Summer Reading Program
I have mixed feelings this year about the summer program went at my library. It was great this year, but also very hard. My father was really ill while I was planning, and then died several days before summer programming began. It was hard for me to feel motivated in June, but after every program when I saw smiles on children and teens, I couldn't help but smile and be glad that I got up out of bed that morning. We had several great programs that were popular. The problem however majority of my children's programs had attendance limits, which effected my programming numbers. To add to that some of the advertising for my library's programs did not mention that you needed to preregister or the age ranges. Fortunately for only one program I had deny a couple of families; but I had several programs where the children were too young, but we made it work anyway.
Other than those hick-ups I do feel like I had learned from last year (Lessons Learned).
This year we registered families for programs with Google Drive Forms. I have mixed reactions to using Forms. I loved the fact that a staff member from any computer was able to register someone for a program. However, not everyone at my library has a Google Account so I was not able to share access to the spreadsheet that listed everyone that registered.
I made more copies of the entry forms this year, but for the teens I couldn't print enough! I am happy that teen participation increased this year. I think part of it was due to the fact that teens could turn in an entry form just for coming to a library program. However, we did have a lot of new tweens/teens that were participating and just reading.
This year it seems that the Internet and word of mouth were my best friends when it came to program attendance. I had a lot of parents spreading the word about my library programs through Facebook or just talking to other parents!
This year felt really hectic, because of what was going on with me personally. Honestly I'm glad it's over, and I'm glad to get a break. But I can't wait for whatever exciting new things I might plan for next summer.
9/25/12
Yes! I Finally Synced My Android Phone!
<p>I love my new phone, and one of the things I was looking forward to with having an Android phone was the ability to blog from my phone. However, since I don't have a Gmail account the process wasn't as straight forward as I thought it was going to be. I already can access my email account on my phone, I thought that all I had to do was sync my email account to Blogger. Instead I had "add" my Google account to Blogger. Argh! But now I am happy to create this post via my phone via swiping, instead of typing.
8/7/12
Summer Reading Program: Lessons Learned
I survived my 1st Summer Reading Program (SRP) at my library! Sometimes it was exhausting, but I had a great time doing programming for children and teens over the summer. Today I was comparing the Summer Reading statistics from 2011 vs. 2012, and I was impressed.
My library had more elementary school aged children sign-up for the summer reading program this year than last year. So, because of the high number of sign-ups more entries were returned for the grand prize drawing. Last year more people attended programs, but my library also offered more programs last year for children.
For the teens we also had an increase in sign-ups. We had fewer teen programs this year, but an increase in teen attendance!
Lessons Learned:
1. Talk to people (especially teens): No mater how many schools I visited, displays created, or flyers and PowerPoint slides I created, it seems like word of mouth was the best advertisement. As often as I could I would approach parents and kids about the SRP. Many times people would just walk by the displays, without asking about the program. It also helped when other children saw someone else picking a prize out of the treasure box, and then they wanted to sign-up too.
I believe reminding the teens what was happening in the library was also important. Most of my teen programs had higher attendance when I told them about an upcoming program, and what to expect days in advance everyday. It also helped when I started creating signs for each event and posting them where the teens hang-out most (by the computers).
2. Make a million copies of the entry forms before-hand: I was afraid of wasting paper so I photocopied some each week. However, some weeks more people would show up to get their game board stamped than expected.
3. Reservations: All throughout the summer people would call ahead to reserve a spot for a special program, and than not show up. This was always frustrating, because people who really wanted to come to a program were denied. Next year, I might create a reminder system; or stop denying people after we have reached the program quota.
4. Tricky Teens: Over the next couple of days I will try to figure out how to increase the amount of teens who return entry forms. Right now I'm not sure if they needed more incentives; if they returned their entry forms to another library; or they just forgot.
My library had more elementary school aged children sign-up for the summer reading program this year than last year. So, because of the high number of sign-ups more entries were returned for the grand prize drawing. Last year more people attended programs, but my library also offered more programs last year for children.
For the teens we also had an increase in sign-ups. We had fewer teen programs this year, but an increase in teen attendance!
Lessons Learned:
1. Talk to people (especially teens): No mater how many schools I visited, displays created, or flyers and PowerPoint slides I created, it seems like word of mouth was the best advertisement. As often as I could I would approach parents and kids about the SRP. Many times people would just walk by the displays, without asking about the program. It also helped when other children saw someone else picking a prize out of the treasure box, and then they wanted to sign-up too.
I believe reminding the teens what was happening in the library was also important. Most of my teen programs had higher attendance when I told them about an upcoming program, and what to expect days in advance everyday. It also helped when I started creating signs for each event and posting them where the teens hang-out most (by the computers).
2. Make a million copies of the entry forms before-hand: I was afraid of wasting paper so I photocopied some each week. However, some weeks more people would show up to get their game board stamped than expected.
3. Reservations: All throughout the summer people would call ahead to reserve a spot for a special program, and than not show up. This was always frustrating, because people who really wanted to come to a program were denied. Next year, I might create a reminder system; or stop denying people after we have reached the program quota.
4. Tricky Teens: Over the next couple of days I will try to figure out how to increase the amount of teens who return entry forms. Right now I'm not sure if they needed more incentives; if they returned their entry forms to another library; or they just forgot.
4/27/12
A Lesson Learned
At my new library I now do a story time with toddlers. During previous story times with older children I learned that it's important to have everything setup before hand in order to make transitioning from one activity to the next smooth. Well, I now know do not have everything set up for 2 year-olds and under, because their backs will be against you during story time, even if you're singing and dancing!
Everyone had fun though, especially when we played with Play-Do, and made letters and shapes with them.
Everyone had fun though, especially when we played with Play-Do, and made letters and shapes with them.
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