Human Battleship
The L.P. Fisher Public Library is well-known in our community (Woodstock, N.B., Canada) for our board game programs, like Connect Four Tournaments, Family Game Nights or our (competitive!) Chess Club.
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12 (More!) Tabletop Games Your Library Should Have (Part 2: New & Obscure)
Sure, we can all enjoy the rush of nostalgia when we dump out the contents of a Jenga box or hear the crash of Connect Four. But there is a whole new world of games out there, and we're libraries — we won't be left behind!
14 Budget-Friendly Tabletop Games Your Library Should Have (Part 1: The Classics)
Ever think about starting a tabletop game collection at your library? If you're a game enthusiast, you could probably come up with a whole list of ideas that would blow your patrons' minds — and your library's budget. Board games, after all, can be both exciting and pricey.
But if you can solicit donations of gently used games — or find them for cheap — you might be able to amass a larger collection that you thought possible.
Legos with YMCA
The Keokuk Public Library conducts a Lego Club at the library one Wednesday and one Saturday each month.
After meeting with the CEO of the local YMCA to discuss ways our organizations could collaborate and connect our audiences, we decided to replicate our Lego Club at the YMCA.Â
Stress ReDUCKtion
Inserting a bit of whimsy into the academic library, staff hid 20 rubber ducks throughout Kathryn A. Martin Library’s four floors throughout the month of March. If found, the finders were able to redeem their duck for a de-stress kit, which included candy, stressballs, pencils, lanyard and stress-reduction tips.
Game and Activity Day
Created in 2016, our library's Game and Activity Day is a monthly afterschool program where we set up a variety of games and activities in the library for kids and their families to use.
We incorporate a mix of single and multi-user games and activities, ranging from basic board games to more physical activities, like ping-pong and mini-golf.
Outdoor Water Party
At the height of Summer Reading Club (SRC) or during an autumn back-to-school heat wave, sometimes the best thing to do is take the kids outside and hose them down — that will get the fidgets out! (Kidding!)
But seriously, throwing water balloons at people or targets is extremely therapeutic. I asked my SRC leader, Ebony Scott, to come up with a program called Water Games. My only stipulations were (1) that it not wet any of the books and (2) that it have a reasonable budget. (If only we could afford giant Nerf Super Soakers for everyone.)
Celebrate International Game Week
Whether you’ve always been a proponent of gaming in the library or were late to the party, games have found their place in adult and teen programming. According to ALA’s Games and Gaming Round Table’s (GameRT) 2016 International Games Week (IGW) report, about 82 percent of public libraries participating already had a collection of either tabletop or console games. Some libraries loan games while others focus on game events.
A Beginner’s Guide to Hosting a Board Game Night
Interested in starting a game night at your library? You've come to the right place. This basic primer will help you plan and host a successful game night for any target group or age. Whether your focus is on adults, seniors, families or school-aged children, these tips will guide your event to success.
Video Game Club
Video Game Club (VGC) is a club that meets biweekly in the library, with 60 members who show up at various times. We let the students pick the games they play, as long as they are pre-approved by myself or the other librarian.
Zombie Attack
Imagine our surprise when we found out a rogue scientist had set up a lab right here in the library ... and, you guessed it, things have gone awry. The tests have gotten out of control, and we’re now overrun with zombies!
In this fun after-hours program, young adult patrons came to the library ready to battle the hordes. Their challenge: use their smarts to decode clues ... or become one of the infected.
Book Emojis
The University of Dayton Libraries wanted to find a fun way to introduce incoming first-year students to our leisure reading collection, a rotating collection of current popular fiction and non-fiction titles. We developed a quick and easy game that had students guessing popular book titles based on sequences of emojis. (View a sampling of Book Emoji puzzles under Attachments at right.)
Pokéthon
Our library has created a PokĂ©mon marathon event, called a PokĂ©thon, based on the popular PokĂ©mon Go game.Â
Summer Fun with Adorable Tape and Dancing
How is your summer so far? We’re enjoying the hot weather here in California and celebrating summer with cool refreshments and creative crafts. This week, we’re focusing on washi tape crafts and illuminating projects to complement Wii dance parties for teens.
Scottish Heritage Fair
One look around Fayetteville and its Scottish heritage is evident. We have the Highland Country Club, McPherson Church Road and McArthur Landing, to name only a few of our Scottish-inspired streets and places.
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School's Back In Session: Let's Play!
It's September! Do you know what that means? It means that fall is approaching faster than we think. Back-to-school brings an edgy and playful vibe, but it won't last long because teens are already getting their reading assignments and loading up their textbooks, and teachers are piling on sky-high homework, too.
Summer Music Programs for Teens and Tweens
I can't believe its June already; the last few months have really flown by fast. I always love June because all of the libraries are gearing up for summer reading. This summer, our theme is "Read to the Rhythm," and we have all kinds of fun music-related programs happening across all of the Contra Costa County Libraries.Â
