Not Today, Santa: Alternatives to Holiday Programs
There are lots of reasons why a public library might avoid holiday-specific programming, and there are many people who explain those reasons better than I ever could.
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celebration
National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month celebrates poems and poets with annual events taking place nationwide in April. Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, the goal is to increase the visibility of the poetic form, as well as to increase access to it.
Here are some of our favorite resources and program ideas to get your library ready.
Heritage Makers
Heritage Makers is a series of makerspace workshops that highlight a "maker" from history. The workshops are planned in conjunction with heritage or awareness months for which our library already has celebrations and programming, such as Women's History Month, Disability Awareness Month and Native American Heritage Month.
The Gift of Reading
Birthdays are a big deal for just about every kid in America — anticipating the day, hoping for presents, making a wish and blowing out the candles. Why not prolong the excitement of the special day by inviting your students or patrons to celebrate a birthday with the library?
Yoga for Heart Ache: Building Inclusive Programs
At public libraries we spend an awful lot of time celebrating the holidays and happy parts of life (as we should): Halloween parties, Valentine's crafts, Thanksgiving story time, book launches, STEM programs. These are all exciting and essential services. But what about the needs of our patrons that are sometimes a bit messier, a bit more hidden from public view, a bit less Hallmark-card sweet and a bit more nitty-gritty reality?
Everything Jersey 2016
We created the yearlong Everything Jersey 2016 series to inform our community about New Jersey history, food, entertainment, wildlife and tourism. We presented a total of 11 programs, tying them to celebration months or other popular program themes while highlighting aspects of our state’s history and culture. This series could be easily adapted in other states.
Free Food: A Friendly Invitation
A common perception on campuses is that students will attend programs if free food is part of the deal. Well, that may be true. Instead of an afterthought, food can be the main focus and still not cost a fortune. Two recent food-focused events helped us invite students to come see Storytime Censored, a fall exhibition of challenged or banned children’s books.
Lunar New Year Delights
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Chinese New Year is a spring festival that follows the Chinese lunar calendar and traditionally falls between mid-January and mid-February each year. The celebrations usually last for two weeks and represent a fresh start, rejuvenating family love and hoping for happiness in the year to come.
