Children

Glow Golf

Jan 31, 2024

Byline

Adrienne De Luna, Youth Services Librarian, Whiting (Ind.) Public Library

Glow Golf is an 8-hole mini-golf course set up throughout the library's children's department. The course was designed and put on by our Teen Advisory Board (TAB) group and was open to all ages. Scorecards were provided and attendees voted on their favorite hole.

Advanced Planning

Teen Advisory Board (TAB) is a new program in our library. We used the first meeting to get to know each other and plan our first event as an ice-breaker. During the first meeting, we planned the glow golf course in pairs. Each pair was tasked with designing a hole.

Pairs designed holes on a poster board with the incentive to win a prize if their hole won "most popular".

Marketing

Part of the assignment for TAB members was to take one poster and hang it somewhere in town or in school to promote the event. They also received a digital advertisement to post on their social media of choice.

We also promoted the program on our monthly event calendar and the library's social media. Marketing was successful, but we also regularly host one larger family event on the first Saturday of each month.

Budgeting

The black lights, mini-golf greens, clubs and holes were something we already had from previous events.

For this program, we purchased UV reactive tape, temporary tattoos, golf balls and paint and glow bracelets to enhance the program. The cost of those items was around $75 and everything was purchased from Amazon, where we have a business account. See the full list of materials purchased.

Day-of-event Activity

The day before the event, the teens came in and set up their holes. We changed overhead light bulbs to black light bulbs, printed scorecards and set up the event check-in with the clubs, tattoos, bracelets, etc. so that on the day of the program we were ready to go.

Teens signed up to work the event in shifts and helped clean up at the end of the event.

Program Execution

The program played out wonderfully. We had just under 100 attendees but the weather was bad and that played a part in the turnout. The feedback from patrons was all great, with some asking when we would hold it again. Many families ran through the course more than once.

Already having many of the larger items makes repeats of this event relatively inexpensive and gets many people into the library that may not come otherwise. Family events are very popular and we ended up making new library cards as a result.

Advice

If you can, purchase overhead blacklight bulbs to temporarily replace existing LEDs. Or, use free-standing black lights. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to light up the course in some spots where overhead lighting was not an option. Other than that, have fun with it, and the more neon you can incorporate, the better!