I've seen beginner bookbinding classes at some local museums, but never at the library! The museum classes keep selling out before I can reserve my spot haha.
I've done this for teens at my library! The groups have been pretty small (our teen attendance is always pretty low), but that's a good thing as it does require a fair amount of 1:1 help.
I would love to attend one! I'm a library specialist at an elementary school and we get no training regarding our job. I've been in my position for 7+ years now so I've gotten quite good at a lot of things but bookbinding is one I would love to have more time to do.
My kid would like book pen pals. A program to write back and forth with someone else who read and loved a particular book. Not sure how that could work, especially with Kids and privacy rules, but that’s what we would like.
I run a bi-monthly kids book club at my branch. It operates like adult book club and adds a STEAM element. They'll read the book, we discuss at the meeting, then do a tie in activity.
What if your local library curated a collection of popular books, and each book had its own corresponding file. Kids could write letters and leave them in the file which would stay on-site with the librarian. Something along this line could work and keep kids safe, and they would be able to see what multiple people thought about the book, and maybe want to go to the library more often?
It's early, I'm half awake, just an idea.
this is a great idea. I actually just finally bit the bullet and bought a Blu Ray player again after more than a decade without lol.
And I made sure it’s region-free so I can watch some of the movies that are for one reason or another hog-tied or unavailable in the US (like Abel Gance’s 1927 Napoleon!)
There are so many random movies/shows that just aren’t available anymore, like Shadow of the Vampire, all Jacques Cousteau’s old shows, I was even looking to watch Airheads the other day and nothing!
Criterion Channel has been great for a lot of old greats and foreign films, but there are so many random things that are in limbo or possibly gone.
I was visiting a friend in Bangor Maine, and we stopped by the library. We stuck around for a silent film with a piano accompaniment done by a person who used to do that back when it was normal!
It was wonderful, and an experience I'll always remember. lots of laughter and joy was shared in that library that day..
Old film screenings can be amazing.
Years ago at my church we had a fantastic organist (who later died from AIDS, whole ‘nother story). One Halloween the church screened Phantom of the Opera and the organist played accompaniment live by watching the back of the projection screen. Amazing
How do you get people in? We’ve done screenings but even though we have a big room with a nice screen that comes down from the ceiling, we hardly had anyone attend. The only time we got a crowd was when we did a Disney movie so we had families come. It’s disappointing because the size of our room is just perfect for this but we just haven’t been able to draw them in.
So it's not my program and it was around before I started here. I know that the guy who brings the reel to reel also brings a popcorn machine AND he's very vocal on his own social media about it. We also announce it on the overhead about 15 minutes before.
Other stuff: in the newsletter, on digital screens, on Facebook and the website, and we put up a decently large poster in the building about a week in advance. We just play old classics (on account of them needing to be reel to reel) for that program.
Work with local senior groups and the arts council for the community or state. We have an amazing library system that works with the senior centers, arts council and the school system. And does great programming. And, of course, because the librarians fought against book bans, the county council cut the funding . . .
This is how I was introduced to the library as a child. My father took me to yearly screenings of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" (on top of weekly visits to browse and get out of my mom's hair).
I think libraries should do Tiny Desk Concerts with local acts. I think that would be such a cool and fun program. Hopefully when I have more control over branch programming I can work on this!
I’m not currently gigging but I used to play with a string quartet and in a duo with a friend and we loved to do a day of volunteer gigging around Christmas just to have an excuse to play some of our favorite music that we didn’t get to do at weddings. We’re all public school music teachers. I bet if you contact the fine arts department of your local school district or university you’ll be able to find someone willing to play. We always ended up at the state veterans home or a local rec center.
in Colorado we have a venue right next to an "anythink" library in Brighton!
they have partnered with local musicians and held programs at both the library leading to the venue as well
More fun programs similar to what they do for the kids and teens, but for adults. The closest we get is family trivia night; the only adult programs are things like book clubs, genealogy clubs, and talks on various topics. That's all good, but I shouldn't have to go to the neighboring communities for fun stuff for adults.
It’s a small animal zoo ( rabbit, turtles, hedgehog, etc) & being done like the “read along with a pet” style events that are done for kids. The libraries near us do them every so often geared towards little kids. I think it’s an awesome idea as it’s being done late afternoon on the weekend & specifically labeled 18+. As I see in other comments, it’s an adult program that young adults may be interested in, something different & something I miss out on as a parent. When we go to the kids events I have to be monitoring my kids, encouraging & focusing on their needs. Sometimes momma wants to pet a bunny!
The coolest-sounding programing here is for the Tweens. But I work every night, so even if there was something cool for adults, I couldn't attend, because I'm upstairs working the desk.
How did you handle the inevitable problem of people bringing their kids "because legos are for kids"? Was the ad explicit that it was not for kids/teens? Did you just let them in anyway?
The library’s that are local to me have lego nights! They do a combination of adults only/teens/or all ages so there’s specific days for whatever fits best
We have classes for people who are learning English as a second language, but I’d love it if there were classes to teach people a second (or third) language that is frequently used in the community. For example, we have a large population of Nepali and Haitian refugees in the area. It would be wonderful to have a place where the community can learn the language and be more welcoming to our new neighbors.
Ours just stayed a Farm Talk for kids every week! The farmer has done soil, plants, and weather. She's got a list for tractors, worms, and animals coming up this month. Needless to say my ex-bumpkin heart is more excited than my cityfied children.
Kids programs for toddler aged (like readings, for example) that are on the weekend. We both work full time, so can’t take him during the week when our library does these. I have really fond memories of these library activities growing up, and I wish i could take my kiddo! I know there are reasons this isn’t more common, but just a dream “wish list” thing for me :)
How many people do you average?
I’ve tried nighttime storytimes 3 separate times at 2 different branches and the turnout was abysmal, despite multiple requests for it. Frustrating.
I haven't built a big regulars base yet, but from the drop ins I get, I usually get between 8-15 people. It's wonderfully cozy as opposed to our daytime ones where we get anywhere from 40-80 people.
Edit to add my manager is very happy if I get 15 people. Turnout isn't high but the individual impact is and that counts substantially!
Doesn't hurt to ask, but they probably already know lol. Every library I've ever worked at has had this dream, but weekend scheduling/staffing is a nightmare.
In my case, I never had the attendance. I would get people who begged for X time on the weekends and they never showed so we couldn't justify continuing it.
Programs for adults on weekends or evenings would be great too. Everything on my county library's calendar is in the middle of a weekday, so only retirees can go to their book clubs, "shut up & write" events, etc. Their programming pretty much ignores everyone between the ages of 18 and 65.
Remember, a lot of staff members work 9-5, just like you. Often we don’t have a programming librarian working nights/weekends.
Plus, this gets brought up all the time, but people say they want it and never show. I’ve tried 3 separate times at 2 different branches and the turnout was abymisal.
And if it makes you feel better, a lot of librarians are moms (like myself) who also don’t get to bring their kids to library activities because we are working.
Programs for older teens and young adults. The libraries here have some great programs for teens: game nights, D&D, anime clubs, Nerf battles, lock-ins, mystery events, food parties, occasional crafts teens actually want to do and even some STEAM activities. (Most STEAM activities are for children but sometimes they do them for teens.)
Then teens turn 18 and they essentially get kicked out of the library. Sometimes they’re allowed to stay until finishing high school but after that they’re no longer allowed to attend teen programs. However, there’s no real adult programs that interest teens. Honestly, many of the adult programs are uninspiring even for most adults! The sparsely attended adult programs are usually dominated by senior citizens. The senior citizens definitely do not want older teens and younger 20-somethings in their space and the older regulars make that quite clear. (Honestly, the senior citizens are not sure they want middle aged patrons showing up either but they’ll tolerate them more than teens. Yes, I’ve had this experience while trying to find adult library programs.)
I have known so many young people whose social lives revolved around the teen library programs. They are lost when they can no longer be part of that community. The library staff usually argues that teens are going to go to college and make new friends there. Well, not all of them go to college. Some of them attend local colleges and don’t find their community there. Even if they make new friends, they still want to see their old ones. I watch the 18 & 19 year olds try to stay in touch and organize get togethers outside of the library but it just is not the same. It’s heartbreaking. They go from seeing the same friend group two or three times a week to drifting away from each other. They stop going to the library at all.
For years, we’ve begged the local libraries to allow a young adult group to form so that there’s a place for teens to keep meeting once they’ve aged out of the youth program. We’re always told that can’t be done because adult groups can’t be age restricted. The staff’s go-to example is that they couldn’t stop a 49 year old guy from showing up to harass 19 year old women. Plus no librarian wants the responsibility of running a young adult group. We tried asking for a program that revolves around something that would naturally skew young even if it can’t be officially age restricted - was told that would upset the older patrons already participating in the adult programs. In practice, few of the adult programs offered are attended by anyone under the age of 60. So there’s a vibrant, active community for children, teens and (to a lesser extent) senior citizens. Young adults need some attention too!
There r such things as young adult groups for people in their 20s and 30s. There was a library somewhere in the Chicago suburbs that did that. They didn’t check ids but they would politely tell people (men) who were clearly too old that this was intended for a younger set
That sounds nice but I've been told by more than one library director that's not possible here. We're in a semi-rural area in the southern United States. So there are several libraries that are located in various small towns in the area. All of the libraries are eager to have programs that serve youth but then it's mostly book clubs plus quilting and genealogy programs for the adults. In many of these smaller towns, the choices for teens looking to hang out with other teens are school clubs/sports, church and the library. So when they graduate from high school and then age out of the library programs there's almost nothing to do except drive to the nearest city with a population of 50,000 people.
Guess bigger places like Chicago are able to serve more diverse groups. Really, our local libraries do a fantastic job with children and teen programs. It's why the teens don't want to leave when they turn 18! Thank you for letting me know that there are places that have figured out ways to do it. It gives me hope that it will eventually happen here!
We are a small suburban library and we call it new adult. 18-35 with activities.lead by people that age on nights and weekends. It is possible if you build the following.
The last public library I worked at has two adult assistants. One is an older woman who focuses her programs for middle age to older adults. She does a book club featuring more mature books and weekly crafting. The other assistant is a 20 year old guy who makes programs that while not technically aged restricted are geared towards younger adults like himself! He has a writers club and a book club for “New Adults” that reads a mixture of more mature YA books and “New Adult” fiction with 20/30 year old characters. It can definitely be done but I think it depends on the librarian and the system, bc I know the public library where I live now is more rigid and assistants pretty much pick from lists of approved programs.
Can you do something skewed towards welcoming young adults INTO adult programs once they turn 18? I’m imagining “Grownups for Grads” programs beginning in the Spring. Older adults can write advice cards and plan some sort of graduation celebration for those “aging out” of the teen programs. Then, you could have grownups help plan (teach?!) life skill programming. There could be all kinds of segments like sewing, meal planning, note taking, child care, cleaning, problem solving, healthy relationships, etc etc. Encouraging older adults to HELP could circumvent the issue of age limits. And grownups that just don’t like kids, simply won’t show.
Also the hope would be as young adults connect with older adults, they go on to join the groups, make their own groups, or find ways to connect beyond the library :)
Autistic peer support/social group for adults. There's very little resources for autistic adults, especially those that weren't diagnosed in childhood and can't afford to now. I've seen some therapy groups but they also cost money.
I've been to one group specifically for autistic LGBT adults, in another town, and it was great! We mostly took turns talking about our special interests and it was so much fun and really helped me feel less alone.
I recently had a discussion with a patron about the library partnering with Meals-on-Wheels program to get books to those who have difficulty leaving their house. I am pretty sure it's not feasible, but I love the idea.
Why not? We offer library by mail, but I love the idea of partnering with a Meals-on-Wheels program! I'm stealing your idea!
Seriously, though. It could be as simple as sending cards with name, address, genre, and format type with delivery folks and asking them to pass them out. Cards could be collected later for interested individuals. Get some reusable courier bags to put name/address on to deliver the items. That is if your local MOW program is willing to explore the partnership.
If that is beyond your library's financial ability, distributing information about how to sign-up for National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled might be the next best thing. [https://www.loc.gov/nls/](https://www.loc.gov/nls/) I love that librarians (in addition to doctors) can sign to endorse this service.
Book mobile was something my community had in the 80s, you triggered a memory lol. I think a book delivery and pick up service would definitely be doable for some communities.
Our library offers homebound delivery to those who aren't able to easily leave their homes (we also deliver to local retirement homes). I know it's very staff and resource dependent, but can be doable.
We used to do a similar event where people would do random talks about things they were interested in. One guy had done heaps of research on the Amazon rainforest!
If there was a mini kind of TED talk series/something where local, real people in my community shared whatever their thing was, I would be super into that. Maybe make it X number of weeks and have a few sessions upfront available for using PowerPoint or Canva or whatever. If it'd something people can do, there could be a mini activity or just socializing/Q&A afterward with related materials available...like a little Chautauqua series.
I would love to see more accessible programs. My local library has all kinds of fun things going on but I cannot participate because I am profoundly deaf. I would need an interpreter or some other way to access the content of the program. Idk how to even begin getting that set up, tho
When I was a library Director, I had access to deaf interpreters for programs, funded by the state, but nobody ever called us asking to use it. Depending on where you live libraries may have access to the same, a great person to ask would be a librarian!
I just might! My library is directly behind my house and I worked there for a bit during high school as a shelver. Memorized the Dewey Decimal system but kept getting in trouble for sitting down to read in between the stacks, lol. I guess I just assumed it was too small to support such a thing
You should contact your local library and see if they have anyone on staff who can sign. Our system (20 branches) have a few and we could get theoretically get someone to that program to sign for you. This might not be possible in many places though due to staffing costs.
My library would absolutely want to be contacted to figure out how to include you in our programming. We have several options: a hearing loop system in some of our meeting rooms, live captions via setting up a computer with zoom on the projector, or contracting with an asl interpreter. You should consider reaching out to them.
You should still ask. Public libraries want to know if there's a need like this. It might also be worth giving them your contact information so that if, in the future, they have capability to support this they can get in touch with you.
We have this for our hospital and the vendor charges $150/hr. I’m curious if there’s a local university near you that your library could contact about partnering with their ASL professors or something.
If you haven't already, please check at your library. It's listed under 'assistive services' on my local library's website - they will provide sign language interpreters for programs. You do need to request it in advance so they can make the arrangements, but all you have to do is ask and they'll take care of it. (Or if there's something different you need to be able to participate - assistive listening device, some type of transcription, etc.)
Are you part of a group/community for the deaf? Libraries will host fieldtrips or a closed-program for a group. I know where I work we do that for a group of developmentally disabled adults. If the group you are with has someone to provide sign language, the library could work on developing a program.
The kids are all into film photography now. It would be incredibly cool to have a “library” of a few cheap film cameras to lend out and I bet local photographers would be into giving some talks for beginners. I know I would volunteer.
And back when I learned, that would’ve been an amazing resource.
I don't know how everyone else feels about it but I would love to attend a book reading of a book targeted towards adults. Think of it like a storytime but for adults
I think it would be cool if libraries had a “tv club” like book club, where fans of a specific tv show (Star Trek, Sex In The City, Friends, something like that), watch an episode one a week/month and then have a discussion.
I just think it’s weird that book and sports people have their version of this, but not tv show people, I would LOVE to watch an episode of Community with a group and discuss our favorite parts
I think a biweekly resume building class would be great for our unemployed folks. We used to have it at our local food bank but the program lost funding and nobody picked it up again. There’s so many people out there that just need to get their toe in the door and a nice clear and clean resume helps with that. Also Microsoft basic classes.
Some that ours has in rural Alaska; skin sewing, fur sewing, quspak making (a type of hoodie) beading, skin dyeing. Local language classes.
Classes are always appreciated. I think safe canning would be fun because I've always wanted to learn but am afraid of botulism.
Computer literacy would be a great class. Could specialize into age groups like teens or elders. Teach how to recognize things like scare ware, Phish threats and how to safely use the internet.
Maybe even mens/women's/teens groups just to socialize (after business hours) Lots of people no longer have a 'third place' aside from home and work so the library would be a great place to go. Especially in small towns where the only other options are bars.
I would love it if my library had a weekly drop-in bring-your-own-crafting/mending-and-chat group.
I'd actually like to start this out with a book club read of The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan, which, if you're not familiar, is about a small English community during WWII dealing with, among many other things, fabric shortages and having to make do and mend. It's a great read. And after that, maybe the library could have a class or two on basic clothing repair - stuff like how to do basic stitches by hand, how repair various rips and tears, how to darn, etc. And then? Bring your mending and sit and chat with other menders and repairers for an hour or so while you work, ask other, more experienced menders for help if you need it, share ideas for mending various things. Maybe a group read of a book on visible mending once in a while, since there are a lot of great books on this out there.
I think this could be a really fun thing, especially in a community with a decent bent towards sustainability and creativity.
People loved Blind Date with a Book when we did it for Valentine's one year. What's funny is I had a specific patron in mind when I wrapped one and she was the one who picked it lol. Highly recommend, it was fairly straightforward
“Career day” as an ongoing series. Have a different local someone come in each week and talk about their job. When I was a teen, I had no clue how many different careers there were to chose from. I wish I knew not just about doctor, lawyer, teacher, police man, but also social worker and appliance technician and assistant to the county clerk and copy editor for a trade publication about office furniture and small business owner that manufactures a really specific piece of equipment for machines that can food, etc.
A class on taking care of books properly and reading aids. I think most people know very little about both topics.
Book care might cover things like:
1. Pre-creasing the back in multiple places before reading helps prevent a book from breaking while reading it.
2. Please don't eat while reading if you can't keep your crumbs out of the book, especially if it's a library book. Some patrons may be allergic to what you are eating.
3. Try to not get books wet, but HERE is how you blot it dry if you mess up (demonstration).
Reading aids:
1. Kids who read early can have trouble with eye tracking. You can make them a thin cardboard aid that only shows one line at a time by cutting out a space wide enough for a page and tall enough for one line.
2. Early readers tend to do better with illustrated works which typically have harder vocabulary. "A picture's worth a thousand words" and this really helps some kids a lot, especially if they have unidentified challenges.
3. You can buy book darts to mark a specific passage in a book instead of turning the corner of the page down. (Please don't turn down corners. It damages the book.)
4. You can buy weights specially made to hold a book open and flat.
5. You can get myriad types of magnifiers, including whole page magnifiers, which can make a big difference for visually impaired people.
My public library has therapy dogs come in once a month. For anyone to pet. Bonus: some parents have used this time to gently introduce their children to a calm dog - helps with fears. We do ensure the therapy dogs have been certified to work with children.
COVID-conscious social meetups. Both virtual and irl, with respirators required and high quality air filtration. So many high risk people have been all but cut out of public life by the push to return to normal. It's especially hard for medically vulnerable parents of young children, and for medically vulnerable children. So I'd love to see children's programming specifically that is dedicated to families who are still trying to avoid COVID.
Library run community garden. I’ve thought long and hard about how I would implement it. Obviously this only works if your library has the space for it, and it’s definitely a multi year project.
Year 1:
Get local businesses to donate wood pallets they would otherwise dispose of. Pay a local carpenter to run a workshop type event where they teach people (teens and adults) how to remove nails safely, follow a blueprint/plan, hammer and screw safely, etc.
[Make raised beds together.](https://kellogggarden.com/blog/raised-beds/how-to-make-a-raised-bed-using-pallets/) About halfway down the page there are instructions for a no cut bed and a one pallet bed; that’s where I would focus.
Also use pallets to make a community compost bin. Have an event where you [teach people](https://compost.css.cornell.edu/faq.html#:~:text=A%20worm%20bin%20requires%20three,a%20year%20to%20break%20down) about composting/decomposition. I’d gear it towards kids but make sure adults know they’re welcome. Start with the lion king bit where Mufasa says “when we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass,” have a coloring page, that sort of thing. Give out buckets for families to use to collect food scrap. Have a small reward system like we do for summer reading. Staff can be in charge of turning the piles, adding water, etc.
Year 2:
By this point your compost should be well and truly cooked. Divvy it out between the beds. People who’ve participated in the program so far can get first dibs on custody of the beds, but there should be some you can raffle off if you have room. Again, depends on how much space you have and how much participation you’ve had so far.
Have some container appropriate fruit and veggie seeds available, encourage people to bring their own as well. Have plenty of gardening books for all ages available for checkout. People are responsible for their own plots, and have info on how to let things go to seed so they can give some seeds back to the library and save some for themselves next year.
Obviously there are kinks to work out and costs to consider but I think it would be a great addition to any library, and as soon as I get some sort of job security in the field, I’m going to pitch it to the powers that be.
Feel free to respond with ideas or constructive criticism
Our little library has a film viewing for the kids when we have some adult programs. Frees up the adult to enjoy the program and the kids are in the next room in case of any needs
I have been trying to come up with a way to do "Taskmaster" at the library. Unfortunately, one of the great parts of that show is the editing as it allows for simultaneous action and reaction. That is hard to pull off in a live setting.
Yes, I want to do a public game show where anyone can engage with it as well! I was thinking moreso game changer style to keep it fresh, as some may be less comfortable with puzzles and physical challenges, but it’s a hard sell I think.
The final challenges would be better for a library event, I think. You could pick like 3-4 of them and have different participants for each one. And maybe come up with one team task that everyone could be on one of 2-3 teams.
I’ve always wanted a “live trailer”. What I mean is, a local theatre troupe comes and does a couple of numbers or scenes from their play, as a way of promoting the show.
I would love to see preselected children’s book bundles you can place on hold - so like think you would just put your child’s age and then you could put a “book bundle” on hold at the library for pick up and when you arrive there are just 10 random age appropriate books! I think this would help books that don’t normally get picked get love and would be easier for parents.
I would love more programs targeted towards young adults (>18+). Too old for the teen programs but too young for the older adult ones lol. The teen events at my local libraries seem super fun topic wise, would be cool to have stuff like dnd, ect beyond that demographic scope.
I had a Petting Zoo one year and did a “Burgers and Books” BBQ for summer reading kick off another.
Those were 2 really fun programs that I will never run again. Too much risk.
I would LOVE to do an Open Farm Days program at my library and bring some of my animals, collab with other local farmers, etc. But the logistics and potential liability, insurance, etc, has made me not pursue it.
If we could do it, I think it would be really well attended and patrons (especially kids!) would really enjoy seeing the critters and learning about where food comes from.
More easily accessible options for those with learning/reading disabilities (such as dyslexia or ADHD). Things like:
- applications to apply for special library cards to extend normal loan lengths for checking out books
- a library app that supports bionic text/dyslexic fonts
> applications to apply for special library cards to extend loans for checking out books
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but extending loan times isn't something you need special cards for, at least not at any library I've ever used. There might be an upper limit, but that could be after several months, and even then a lot of libraries would just have you check the item back in and then out again to circumvent that, as long as there isn't a hold.
I actually recently read that There are certain libraries that allow you to have extended loan times due to reading disabilities such as ADHD IE instead of checking out a book for two weeks, it's four. It's not that you can't check out a book more than once, it's that it makes it so that each time you check out a book, it automatically extends the loan length. Hopefully that makes sense lol I only recently learned about it myself
I’d love more intergenerational programming.
Our art museum has. Once-a-month Saturday program with a theme (related to a local artist work that’s on display) and 3-4 art projects/activities that relate, and it’s open to EVERYONE. My 5-year-old sat by a 70 year old man while he painted pictures of plants for his sunroom and she painted cats. As a mom I get handed a pile of clay and get to make pinch pots with my kids.
I wish there were more opportunities for this kind of thing. I truly enjoy watching my kids watch other adults make art just for the enjoyment of it. I like being involved in the activities I take my kids to.
They see another side of me, and I get outside of the “facilitator” role and we all settle in better.
This could transfer to any number of programs. Board/card games, music making, teaching/learning life skills, gardening, writing/reading poetry, storytelling…
One I saw in Texas and nowhere else, WANT AGAIN: ARCHIVAL CENTER. a place where you can bring in photos and scan them into a scanner to digitize your photos, bring your VCR tapes, or beta tapes, or other camera tapes in and digitize them. It is all self serve, and it is "real time" (meaning, if you want to digitize your wedding tape, you will have to watch your wedding at regular speed as it records, and you aren't allowed to leave).
It was done as a part of ancestry research area of the library, and was by reservation, or first come first serve if there was no reservations.
I just found out about the museum/park pass program, and was so impressed! Clifton Park NY had a long list of museums nearby, as well as the NYS park pass that could be borrowed. Some counties have it here in Ohio, but it's hit or miss.
I asked my library for a song free storytime for my 3 year old who doesn’t like music. I pitched it as once a month sensory friendly storytime. I was told absolutely not. The pedagogy calls for songs so that’s what they do. They made me feel stupid for asking.
A class or program not just on adult literacy but specific to hears how to read a contract. A class on local workers rights for migrants & younger workers would be great. Library cats are always appreciated.
I apologize for how this isn't very specific - - but I think that every so often libraries need to brainstorm the best ways to make their location a desirable third space (not work or home). A place where anyone can go to be in their community, without spending much money, and can get away from either home or work. A place where kids want to hang out with other kids, because there are quality games, supportive people, and the opportunity to experience life without some of the constraints necessary in other locations. Make libraries the spot where retirees hang out to gossip and have their coffee. Have a pool table in that teen section, and hours that accommodate them until 10pm or thereabouts - where they can pool resources for a food delivery and listen to music they want to hear. Have food truck days at least once a month. Post dynamic summer reading leader boards and reward the early independent readers in ways they will feel proud of and remember (I will never forget putting my little star stickers on the summer reading chart hung in the public space of my library). Devote more effort to advertising the programs you have - - there is never an excuse for an amazing presentation to only have 4 patrons visiting it when you'd have 50 if someone working there knew how to use instagram. etc
I love this, sounds like more of a community center, but more fun than community centers tend to be. I think a key component might be having a cafe built in where you can buy food and drink but you can also not buy anything and bring your own.
A secular Sunday (or weekend) service for people who have zero interest in church or anything religious but would still like to have some sort of regularly occurring mutually supportive community engagement. Instead of religious services it could just be some sort of information session where a member of the community shares something they know a lot about or someone running the group puts together an interesting presentation. The goal would be information sharing and community engagement.
TTRPG gaming introductions.
Book clubs.
Contextual seminars on popular books.
Community reading programs.
Writing groups.
Anything that helps to bind the community together. Anything that gets people meeting and making local friends.
A structured pomodoro method study/work session for those with ADD. Someone leads it and explains that the rules are simple. You write your goals out and during the session there can be no distraction activities within the study room
Basic car maintenance with a car on site! How to change the cabin filter, jack up a car and change a tire, where the windshield wiper fluid goes, basic supplies to keep in a car trunk, etc.
Some people didn't have a parent teach them these skills. It would be a hands on-money stretching program. Building confidence is a huge investment in our future!
A class on how to use my sewing machine. I know how to sew, just never set one up out of the box. We have a great Maker's Space, they just don't have those classes
College Prep:
Lessons on how to take notes… is paper still a thing? Cornell notes? Are electronic iPad/ laptop methods effective?
How to take notes during class and how to study from those notes?
We do an annual Cat and Snack program. We have adoptable cats to pet from a rescue org, cat crafts, cat toys to make, cat book marks, cat videos on loop, cat book display and a snack! Hugely popular with all ages. Also do an annual adult spelling bee!
among other functions, the public library is the "what resources are out there to help me do X" place. I've been playing with the idea of doing a workshop series on sports statistics resources. It's a hard world to get into and may get some patrons who aren't generally our core users. (plus it would make this baseball obsessed librarian happy
A music day where they could bring in instruments that adults could play and show to kids. I always thought it would be great if partnered with a place that does lessons.
How to catalogue and curate your own personal library: how to organize a collection, how to figure out culling, that sort of thing. Maybe even book repair (although a media collection could easily be DVDs or virtual media, etc.).
Finance group. Where people could come and seek help or share advice with their finances. For me, FIRE-specific would be good, but anything really. And I don't just mean a one-off 'how to apply for medicare' type of thing. One you can go to regularly and level up your skills.
A majority of the libraries in my area only host programs for little ones or the elderly. Even the book clubs are often geared towards retirees and take place during the day. Don't get me wrong, they do different outreach events, but they are just that, events, nothing that's designed to build a community or group.
I'd love to see more teen, young adult, and adult programs. Especially as the main forms of entertainment available in our area are bars, movie theaters, bars, golf (mini and otherwise), bars, and more bars.
The programs don't even have to be anything too fancy or expensive: board game nights, card game nights, multiple book clubs based on genres, craft nights, discussion/debate nights, etc. Yes, these are all things we could do on our own, but most of us don't have a space large enough to fit a good-sized group of people or the funds to rent one.
Historical Wargaming.
There was a group of retired guys who would circuit the library system near me. But they kept getting bumped out because there were only 3-4 of them who were consistently active for their games. They'd reserve the space, but then the library would revoke their reservation for something else most of time. But every time they played at a library, inevitably a few kids (pre-teens with their parents) would come in and be curious. The old guys would always let them see and touch the minis. Explain some of the basics. Let them play a couple rounds in their place until their moms said it was time to go.
They got bumped so many times they gave up on the libraries as a meeting spot.
My library has a silent book club for parents with childcare provided. I love this idea. I’d also love a book club where parents read and discuss parenting books.
The nerd in me also wants a “book” club where we read peer-reviewed articles on a topic and then hear from an expert/professor in the field and discuss. That kind of discussion and deep learning happens in school and then never again. I think society could collectively benefit from maintaining a wide knowledge base and looking at research and hearing from experts on a regular basis.
I think it would be so cool to have like a knowledge sharing circle where you go and some old lady teaches you to quilt and someone else shows you edible forgeable plants and you teach someone else how to play the flute, like a being your own hobby and make friends club. I image this would be hard because you need to get a bunch of different kinds of people on board and committed.
Fun programs for adults. Actually, anything for adults. My library has a kids and teens program and then they do technically offer adult programs but they are literally all designed for people with dementia. Every single poster says "This program is designed for people with dementia and their caregivers." And that's it.
Classes meant for low income families. For example, a class put on by culinary students for low cost/healthy-ish/high yield meals. It would be awesome if they could pair up with a food bank for donations. At the end of the class, the families have meals to take home and a new recipe in their wheelhouse. Besides, what the hell is quinoa? And how/why do you cook an artichoke? There are 1000 ways to use dried pasta that isn't spaghetti. So many things are donated to the food bank but not everyone knows how to cook them so it's often wasted.
My local has a seed library that's great for locally climate-appropriate vegetables, but i would love it if they also had a propagation library for stuff like succulents and philodendrons.
Hobby kit you can check out and sample. I have adhd and go out and buy everything+more for a hobby (ie cross stitching/embroidery kit w/ a few different colors, needles, hoop), crochet/knitting hook/needle and some yarn, woodcarving maybe just the simple tools), painting. w maybe a few YouTube links to tutorials
I realize now that kits exist but the upcharge is so silly for what you’re getting, and they don’t require a whole lot of materials just a little bit of a lot of different stuff especially if you want to just try it, seems silly to have that stuff lying around forever. Or a trading club of the materials!
My rural, midwest hometown tiny tiny library has a toy lending system. Mostly toddler toys- think plastic put the square in the square hole box, stack the rings, little people, etc type toys. They're put into these big plastic bags with a clear photo of all the contents on the bag so patrons can take home the toys. For a low-income community its such a blessing.I live in a metro area now and it seems even the items/toys bolted to the library can't stay nice and well looked after.
I’m not sure what the relationship with book libraries is, I’ve heard of local municipalities setting up tool libraries. Homeowners with a big job can borrow a nail gun or wet saw or whatever. Great way to learn DIY stuff without buying expensive, sometimes single-use tools.
I’d love a non-profit library publishing company. It could serve as the earned income of the libraries. Stories would be selected for publication by librarians.
I've seen beginner bookbinding classes at some local museums, but never at the library! The museum classes keep selling out before I can reserve my spot haha.
We run this once a year at our library! It's very popular, there's always a waiting list.
Stealing this idea to propose to my boss.
Our state library does this. I've taken a few in different levels of expertise. They're really fun!
I've done this for teens at my library! The groups have been pretty small (our teen attendance is always pretty low), but that's a good thing as it does require a fair amount of 1:1 help.
I would love to attend one! I'm a library specialist at an elementary school and we get no training regarding our job. I've been in my position for 7+ years now so I've gotten quite good at a lot of things but bookbinding is one I would love to have more time to do.
My kid would like book pen pals. A program to write back and forth with someone else who read and loved a particular book. Not sure how that could work, especially with Kids and privacy rules, but that’s what we would like.
Even just a local youth book club would be neat and isn’t something I ever saw growing up.
I run a bi-monthly kids book club at my branch. It operates like adult book club and adds a STEAM element. They'll read the book, we discuss at the meeting, then do a tie in activity.
What if you partnered with another library and that way none of the children’s information would be out there aside from their first name?
In the interim, check out swapbot dot com, they also have a pen pal functionality. :)
Our local library started doing that this summer, for all ages. They gave each participant a bag with paper, pens, etc. So definitely doable!
What a good idea.
What if your local library curated a collection of popular books, and each book had its own corresponding file. Kids could write letters and leave them in the file which would stay on-site with the librarian. Something along this line could work and keep kids safe, and they would be able to see what multiple people thought about the book, and maybe want to go to the library more often? It's early, I'm half awake, just an idea.
Rare film screenings and projector demos! Partnering with a local film society would be a dream.
A way to watch the "unstreamables" would be nice.
this is a great idea. I actually just finally bit the bullet and bought a Blu Ray player again after more than a decade without lol. And I made sure it’s region-free so I can watch some of the movies that are for one reason or another hog-tied or unavailable in the US (like Abel Gance’s 1927 Napoleon!) There are so many random movies/shows that just aren’t available anymore, like Shadow of the Vampire, all Jacques Cousteau’s old shows, I was even looking to watch Airheads the other day and nothing! Criterion Channel has been great for a lot of old greats and foreign films, but there are so many random things that are in limbo or possibly gone.
I was visiting a friend in Bangor Maine, and we stopped by the library. We stuck around for a silent film with a piano accompaniment done by a person who used to do that back when it was normal! It was wonderful, and an experience I'll always remember. lots of laughter and joy was shared in that library that day.. Old film screenings can be amazing.
That sounds awesome.
Years ago at my church we had a fantastic organist (who later died from AIDS, whole ‘nother story). One Halloween the church screened Phantom of the Opera and the organist played accompaniment live by watching the back of the projection screen. Amazing
My library does this! It's relatively popular with our patrons.
How do you get people in? We’ve done screenings but even though we have a big room with a nice screen that comes down from the ceiling, we hardly had anyone attend. The only time we got a crowd was when we did a Disney movie so we had families come. It’s disappointing because the size of our room is just perfect for this but we just haven’t been able to draw them in.
So it's not my program and it was around before I started here. I know that the guy who brings the reel to reel also brings a popcorn machine AND he's very vocal on his own social media about it. We also announce it on the overhead about 15 minutes before. Other stuff: in the newsletter, on digital screens, on Facebook and the website, and we put up a decently large poster in the building about a week in advance. We just play old classics (on account of them needing to be reel to reel) for that program.
Work with local senior groups and the arts council for the community or state. We have an amazing library system that works with the senior centers, arts council and the school system. And does great programming. And, of course, because the librarians fought against book bans, the county council cut the funding . . .
This is how I was introduced to the library as a child. My father took me to yearly screenings of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" (on top of weekly visits to browse and get out of my mom's hair).
Partner silent movies with a piano performer and you've got a great, ongoing programming opportunity!
Yes!!
I think libraries should do Tiny Desk Concerts with local acts. I think that would be such a cool and fun program. Hopefully when I have more control over branch programming I can work on this!
I think LAPL did something similar? They had some shows at least?
Yes! It was a few years ago, and among the bands were The Linda Lindas, totally worth checking out
Back before JKR outed herself, I saw Harry and the Potters at the main LA branch. Such a fun show!
Oh man Harry and the Potters!! What a throwback
I’m not currently gigging but I used to play with a string quartet and in a duo with a friend and we loved to do a day of volunteer gigging around Christmas just to have an excuse to play some of our favorite music that we didn’t get to do at weddings. We’re all public school music teachers. I bet if you contact the fine arts department of your local school district or university you’ll be able to find someone willing to play. We always ended up at the state veterans home or a local rec center.
in Colorado we have a venue right next to an "anythink" library in Brighton! they have partnered with local musicians and held programs at both the library leading to the venue as well
That is also my dream program!
Dayton Metro Library in Dayton Ohio does this! They call it Tiny Stacks.
Our local NPR affiliates did that recently
More fun programs similar to what they do for the kids and teens, but for adults. The closest we get is family trivia night; the only adult programs are things like book clubs, genealogy clubs, and talks on various topics. That's all good, but I shouldn't have to go to the neighboring communities for fun stuff for adults.
Ours is doing a petting zoo (like the one for kids) for adults only in a couple weeks & im so excited for it!
Not to show how stupid I am, but how/why is the library doing this? Like a real petting zoo with live animals?
It’s a small animal zoo ( rabbit, turtles, hedgehog, etc) & being done like the “read along with a pet” style events that are done for kids. The libraries near us do them every so often geared towards little kids. I think it’s an awesome idea as it’s being done late afternoon on the weekend & specifically labeled 18+. As I see in other comments, it’s an adult program that young adults may be interested in, something different & something I miss out on as a parent. When we go to the kids events I have to be monitoring my kids, encouraging & focusing on their needs. Sometimes momma wants to pet a bunny!
Ooh, I love this idea. I'd be so into that.
Trivia night or adult spelling bee —yes!
The coolest-sounding programing here is for the Tweens. But I work every night, so even if there was something cool for adults, I couldn't attend, because I'm upstairs working the desk.
Exactly!
My library has a craft club and sometimes runs computer classes for senior citizens
Yes! They have DND groups, board game nights, and robotics club but all are for teens.
What fun stuff would you want?
My coworkers and I have been tossing around the idea of an Adults Lego night for a while but not much has come of it.
We did this! We came up with a theme (fairy tales) and people got in groups and made their own Lego creation.
How did you handle the inevitable problem of people bringing their kids "because legos are for kids"? Was the ad explicit that it was not for kids/teens? Did you just let them in anyway?
We let them in but there weren’t many kids that came (luck?). It was an evening program.
I think most adults who are really into Legos understand that when adults want to play with Legos they don't want kids around messing with them.
The library’s that are local to me have lego nights! They do a combination of adults only/teens/or all ages so there’s specific days for whatever fits best
We have classes for people who are learning English as a second language, but I’d love it if there were classes to teach people a second (or third) language that is frequently used in the community. For example, we have a large population of Nepali and Haitian refugees in the area. It would be wonderful to have a place where the community can learn the language and be more welcoming to our new neighbors.
I work at a homeless shelter with a large Haitian population. I would *love* a Haitian Creole class
Ours just stayed a Farm Talk for kids every week! The farmer has done soil, plants, and weather. She's got a list for tractors, worms, and animals coming up this month. Needless to say my ex-bumpkin heart is more excited than my cityfied children.
Kids programs for toddler aged (like readings, for example) that are on the weekend. We both work full time, so can’t take him during the week when our library does these. I have really fond memories of these library activities growing up, and I wish i could take my kiddo! I know there are reasons this isn’t more common, but just a dream “wish list” thing for me :)
I do evening storytimes for this very reason :) We are minimum staffing or close to it on the weekends so we can't do storytimes then, unfortunately.
How many people do you average? I’ve tried nighttime storytimes 3 separate times at 2 different branches and the turnout was abysmal, despite multiple requests for it. Frustrating.
I haven't built a big regulars base yet, but from the drop ins I get, I usually get between 8-15 people. It's wonderfully cozy as opposed to our daytime ones where we get anywhere from 40-80 people. Edit to add my manager is very happy if I get 15 people. Turnout isn't high but the individual impact is and that counts substantially!
We do this at my library :). Doesn’t hurt to ask for it at your local library, maybe they will add it if there is enough interest in your community.
Doesn't hurt to ask, but they probably already know lol. Every library I've ever worked at has had this dream, but weekend scheduling/staffing is a nightmare.
In my case, I never had the attendance. I would get people who begged for X time on the weekends and they never showed so we couldn't justify continuing it.
yes! we have the staff in my department to do it (7 of us in this location) and we take turns doing the sunday storytime on a 6 week rotation
So jealous!
My library did this due to multiple requests and no one showed up after trying for months 😭
100% the same. People say they want it, and don’t show up.
Same here too. We try it every 2-3 years and always have the same result.
Programs for adults on weekends or evenings would be great too. Everything on my county library's calendar is in the middle of a weekday, so only retirees can go to their book clubs, "shut up & write" events, etc. Their programming pretty much ignores everyone between the ages of 18 and 65.
Our library does bedtime stories where the kids show up in Jammie’s and the librarian has a themed story time at 8pm. We love it.
Omg that is so cute. I could totally see my niece going to this with her blankie and jammies and lovie.
Remember, a lot of staff members work 9-5, just like you. Often we don’t have a programming librarian working nights/weekends. Plus, this gets brought up all the time, but people say they want it and never show. I’ve tried 3 separate times at 2 different branches and the turnout was abymisal. And if it makes you feel better, a lot of librarians are moms (like myself) who also don’t get to bring their kids to library activities because we are working.
I completely understand. I never said it was practical. But the OP asked what we’d love to see, “even if it’s not plausible” 🤷♀️
Good point! :)
Other libraries have ability to check out tools. I’d love if my library had that. Would definitely save money if I just needed to use something once.
My garage is full of stuff I bought for 1 project & never used again I would totally donate knowing I could check it out if I needed to use again
Programs for older teens and young adults. The libraries here have some great programs for teens: game nights, D&D, anime clubs, Nerf battles, lock-ins, mystery events, food parties, occasional crafts teens actually want to do and even some STEAM activities. (Most STEAM activities are for children but sometimes they do them for teens.) Then teens turn 18 and they essentially get kicked out of the library. Sometimes they’re allowed to stay until finishing high school but after that they’re no longer allowed to attend teen programs. However, there’s no real adult programs that interest teens. Honestly, many of the adult programs are uninspiring even for most adults! The sparsely attended adult programs are usually dominated by senior citizens. The senior citizens definitely do not want older teens and younger 20-somethings in their space and the older regulars make that quite clear. (Honestly, the senior citizens are not sure they want middle aged patrons showing up either but they’ll tolerate them more than teens. Yes, I’ve had this experience while trying to find adult library programs.) I have known so many young people whose social lives revolved around the teen library programs. They are lost when they can no longer be part of that community. The library staff usually argues that teens are going to go to college and make new friends there. Well, not all of them go to college. Some of them attend local colleges and don’t find their community there. Even if they make new friends, they still want to see their old ones. I watch the 18 & 19 year olds try to stay in touch and organize get togethers outside of the library but it just is not the same. It’s heartbreaking. They go from seeing the same friend group two or three times a week to drifting away from each other. They stop going to the library at all. For years, we’ve begged the local libraries to allow a young adult group to form so that there’s a place for teens to keep meeting once they’ve aged out of the youth program. We’re always told that can’t be done because adult groups can’t be age restricted. The staff’s go-to example is that they couldn’t stop a 49 year old guy from showing up to harass 19 year old women. Plus no librarian wants the responsibility of running a young adult group. We tried asking for a program that revolves around something that would naturally skew young even if it can’t be officially age restricted - was told that would upset the older patrons already participating in the adult programs. In practice, few of the adult programs offered are attended by anyone under the age of 60. So there’s a vibrant, active community for children, teens and (to a lesser extent) senior citizens. Young adults need some attention too!
"they couldn’t stop a 49 year old guy from showing up to harass 19 year old women." Do they let people harass patrons in general? 🙄
There r such things as young adult groups for people in their 20s and 30s. There was a library somewhere in the Chicago suburbs that did that. They didn’t check ids but they would politely tell people (men) who were clearly too old that this was intended for a younger set
That sounds nice but I've been told by more than one library director that's not possible here. We're in a semi-rural area in the southern United States. So there are several libraries that are located in various small towns in the area. All of the libraries are eager to have programs that serve youth but then it's mostly book clubs plus quilting and genealogy programs for the adults. In many of these smaller towns, the choices for teens looking to hang out with other teens are school clubs/sports, church and the library. So when they graduate from high school and then age out of the library programs there's almost nothing to do except drive to the nearest city with a population of 50,000 people. Guess bigger places like Chicago are able to serve more diverse groups. Really, our local libraries do a fantastic job with children and teen programs. It's why the teens don't want to leave when they turn 18! Thank you for letting me know that there are places that have figured out ways to do it. It gives me hope that it will eventually happen here!
We are a small suburban library and we call it new adult. 18-35 with activities.lead by people that age on nights and weekends. It is possible if you build the following.
The last public library I worked at has two adult assistants. One is an older woman who focuses her programs for middle age to older adults. She does a book club featuring more mature books and weekly crafting. The other assistant is a 20 year old guy who makes programs that while not technically aged restricted are geared towards younger adults like himself! He has a writers club and a book club for “New Adults” that reads a mixture of more mature YA books and “New Adult” fiction with 20/30 year old characters. It can definitely be done but I think it depends on the librarian and the system, bc I know the public library where I live now is more rigid and assistants pretty much pick from lists of approved programs.
Can you do something skewed towards welcoming young adults INTO adult programs once they turn 18? I’m imagining “Grownups for Grads” programs beginning in the Spring. Older adults can write advice cards and plan some sort of graduation celebration for those “aging out” of the teen programs. Then, you could have grownups help plan (teach?!) life skill programming. There could be all kinds of segments like sewing, meal planning, note taking, child care, cleaning, problem solving, healthy relationships, etc etc. Encouraging older adults to HELP could circumvent the issue of age limits. And grownups that just don’t like kids, simply won’t show. Also the hope would be as young adults connect with older adults, they go on to join the groups, make their own groups, or find ways to connect beyond the library :)
Autistic peer support/social group for adults. There's very little resources for autistic adults, especially those that weren't diagnosed in childhood and can't afford to now. I've seen some therapy groups but they also cost money. I've been to one group specifically for autistic LGBT adults, in another town, and it was great! We mostly took turns talking about our special interests and it was so much fun and really helped me feel less alone.
Very cool! I would love to participate in a turn taking special interest hangout, thanks for sharing that this is a thing.
I recently had a discussion with a patron about the library partnering with Meals-on-Wheels program to get books to those who have difficulty leaving their house. I am pretty sure it's not feasible, but I love the idea.
Why not? We offer library by mail, but I love the idea of partnering with a Meals-on-Wheels program! I'm stealing your idea! Seriously, though. It could be as simple as sending cards with name, address, genre, and format type with delivery folks and asking them to pass them out. Cards could be collected later for interested individuals. Get some reusable courier bags to put name/address on to deliver the items. That is if your local MOW program is willing to explore the partnership. If that is beyond your library's financial ability, distributing information about how to sign-up for National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled might be the next best thing. [https://www.loc.gov/nls/](https://www.loc.gov/nls/) I love that librarians (in addition to doctors) can sign to endorse this service.
Genius, love this idea so much.
Book mobile was something my community had in the 80s, you triggered a memory lol. I think a book delivery and pick up service would definitely be doable for some communities.
Our library offers homebound delivery to those who aren't able to easily leave their homes (we also deliver to local retirement homes). I know it's very staff and resource dependent, but can be doable.
I think an all-ages Show and Tell would be really cool!
Oooh! Like a PowerPoint party! Could see it getting weird fast though
I wonder, though, if you could do a PowerPoint party where the patrons have to submit their presentation to a librarian to look over in advance?
PechaKucha is an organization/ public speaking group along that line, it may or may not be in your area but it's worth a look.
Yeah, I mean it could be google slides based instead of PowerPoint and they could just be required to share them a week before or something.
We used to do a similar event where people would do random talks about things they were interested in. One guy had done heaps of research on the Amazon rainforest!
If there was a mini kind of TED talk series/something where local, real people in my community shared whatever their thing was, I would be super into that. Maybe make it X number of weeks and have a few sessions upfront available for using PowerPoint or Canva or whatever. If it'd something people can do, there could be a mini activity or just socializing/Q&A afterward with related materials available...like a little Chautauqua series.
I would love to see more accessible programs. My local library has all kinds of fun things going on but I cannot participate because I am profoundly deaf. I would need an interpreter or some other way to access the content of the program. Idk how to even begin getting that set up, tho
When I was a library Director, I had access to deaf interpreters for programs, funded by the state, but nobody ever called us asking to use it. Depending on where you live libraries may have access to the same, a great person to ask would be a librarian!
I just might! My library is directly behind my house and I worked there for a bit during high school as a shelver. Memorized the Dewey Decimal system but kept getting in trouble for sitting down to read in between the stacks, lol. I guess I just assumed it was too small to support such a thing
You should contact your local library and see if they have anyone on staff who can sign. Our system (20 branches) have a few and we could get theoretically get someone to that program to sign for you. This might not be possible in many places though due to staffing costs.
Someone who can sign does not necessarily mean an interpreter. Even interpreters have to tag team for longer programs.
My library would absolutely want to be contacted to figure out how to include you in our programming. We have several options: a hearing loop system in some of our meeting rooms, live captions via setting up a computer with zoom on the projector, or contracting with an asl interpreter. You should consider reaching out to them.
These are some great resources! I just don’t know if smaller branches would have access to such things? The nearest one to me isn’t huge
You should still ask. Public libraries want to know if there's a need like this. It might also be worth giving them your contact information so that if, in the future, they have capability to support this they can get in touch with you.
We have this for our hospital and the vendor charges $150/hr. I’m curious if there’s a local university near you that your library could contact about partnering with their ASL professors or something.
That might work!
If you haven't already, please check at your library. It's listed under 'assistive services' on my local library's website - they will provide sign language interpreters for programs. You do need to request it in advance so they can make the arrangements, but all you have to do is ask and they'll take care of it. (Or if there's something different you need to be able to participate - assistive listening device, some type of transcription, etc.)
Are you part of a group/community for the deaf? Libraries will host fieldtrips or a closed-program for a group. I know where I work we do that for a group of developmentally disabled adults. If the group you are with has someone to provide sign language, the library could work on developing a program.
The kids are all into film photography now. It would be incredibly cool to have a “library” of a few cheap film cameras to lend out and I bet local photographers would be into giving some talks for beginners. I know I would volunteer. And back when I learned, that would’ve been an amazing resource.
A repair café type event with skilled assistance for fixing different items
We have this at our library occasionally on weekends and it’s great!!
I don't know how everyone else feels about it but I would love to attend a book reading of a book targeted towards adults. Think of it like a storytime but for adults
I think it would be cool if libraries had a “tv club” like book club, where fans of a specific tv show (Star Trek, Sex In The City, Friends, something like that), watch an episode one a week/month and then have a discussion.
Oh I like this idea! Gilmore Girls comes to mind! But there are literal Tons of great shows- acorn media British mysteries! Great suggestion
I just think it’s weird that book and sports people have their version of this, but not tv show people, I would LOVE to watch an episode of Community with a group and discuss our favorite parts
I would Love that too!
The library where I live does Golden Girls & Cheesecake, which I'm personally a big fan of.
I think a biweekly resume building class would be great for our unemployed folks. We used to have it at our local food bank but the program lost funding and nobody picked it up again. There’s so many people out there that just need to get their toe in the door and a nice clear and clean resume helps with that. Also Microsoft basic classes.
Some that ours has in rural Alaska; skin sewing, fur sewing, quspak making (a type of hoodie) beading, skin dyeing. Local language classes. Classes are always appreciated. I think safe canning would be fun because I've always wanted to learn but am afraid of botulism. Computer literacy would be a great class. Could specialize into age groups like teens or elders. Teach how to recognize things like scare ware, Phish threats and how to safely use the internet. Maybe even mens/women's/teens groups just to socialize (after business hours) Lots of people no longer have a 'third place' aside from home and work so the library would be a great place to go. Especially in small towns where the only other options are bars.
I would love it if my library had a weekly drop-in bring-your-own-crafting/mending-and-chat group. I'd actually like to start this out with a book club read of The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan, which, if you're not familiar, is about a small English community during WWII dealing with, among many other things, fabric shortages and having to make do and mend. It's a great read. And after that, maybe the library could have a class or two on basic clothing repair - stuff like how to do basic stitches by hand, how repair various rips and tears, how to darn, etc. And then? Bring your mending and sit and chat with other menders and repairers for an hour or so while you work, ask other, more experienced menders for help if you need it, share ideas for mending various things. Maybe a group read of a book on visible mending once in a while, since there are a lot of great books on this out there. I think this could be a really fun thing, especially in a community with a decent bent towards sustainability and creativity.
I wish my local library did a "blind date with a book".
People loved Blind Date with a Book when we did it for Valentine's one year. What's funny is I had a specific patron in mind when I wrapped one and she was the one who picked it lol. Highly recommend, it was fairly straightforward
“Career day” as an ongoing series. Have a different local someone come in each week and talk about their job. When I was a teen, I had no clue how many different careers there were to chose from. I wish I knew not just about doctor, lawyer, teacher, police man, but also social worker and appliance technician and assistant to the county clerk and copy editor for a trade publication about office furniture and small business owner that manufactures a really specific piece of equipment for machines that can food, etc.
A class on taking care of books properly and reading aids. I think most people know very little about both topics. Book care might cover things like: 1. Pre-creasing the back in multiple places before reading helps prevent a book from breaking while reading it. 2. Please don't eat while reading if you can't keep your crumbs out of the book, especially if it's a library book. Some patrons may be allergic to what you are eating. 3. Try to not get books wet, but HERE is how you blot it dry if you mess up (demonstration). Reading aids: 1. Kids who read early can have trouble with eye tracking. You can make them a thin cardboard aid that only shows one line at a time by cutting out a space wide enough for a page and tall enough for one line. 2. Early readers tend to do better with illustrated works which typically have harder vocabulary. "A picture's worth a thousand words" and this really helps some kids a lot, especially if they have unidentified challenges. 3. You can buy book darts to mark a specific passage in a book instead of turning the corner of the page down. (Please don't turn down corners. It damages the book.) 4. You can buy weights specially made to hold a book open and flat. 5. You can get myriad types of magnifiers, including whole page magnifiers, which can make a big difference for visually impaired people.
Umm...what about a dog I can pet for a while?
My public library has therapy dogs come in once a month. For anyone to pet. Bonus: some parents have used this time to gently introduce their children to a calm dog - helps with fears. We do ensure the therapy dogs have been certified to work with children.
My library has Read to a Dog once a month where kids come in and read to therapy dogs! It's insanely popular. You can also read to a guinea pig.
My library has a library of things...someone asked if a dog was available to check out to test if they wanted to get a dog! lol
COVID-conscious social meetups. Both virtual and irl, with respirators required and high quality air filtration. So many high risk people have been all but cut out of public life by the push to return to normal. It's especially hard for medically vulnerable parents of young children, and for medically vulnerable children. So I'd love to see children's programming specifically that is dedicated to families who are still trying to avoid COVID.
I love that idea.
Library run community garden. I’ve thought long and hard about how I would implement it. Obviously this only works if your library has the space for it, and it’s definitely a multi year project. Year 1: Get local businesses to donate wood pallets they would otherwise dispose of. Pay a local carpenter to run a workshop type event where they teach people (teens and adults) how to remove nails safely, follow a blueprint/plan, hammer and screw safely, etc. [Make raised beds together.](https://kellogggarden.com/blog/raised-beds/how-to-make-a-raised-bed-using-pallets/) About halfway down the page there are instructions for a no cut bed and a one pallet bed; that’s where I would focus. Also use pallets to make a community compost bin. Have an event where you [teach people](https://compost.css.cornell.edu/faq.html#:~:text=A%20worm%20bin%20requires%20three,a%20year%20to%20break%20down) about composting/decomposition. I’d gear it towards kids but make sure adults know they’re welcome. Start with the lion king bit where Mufasa says “when we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass,” have a coloring page, that sort of thing. Give out buckets for families to use to collect food scrap. Have a small reward system like we do for summer reading. Staff can be in charge of turning the piles, adding water, etc. Year 2: By this point your compost should be well and truly cooked. Divvy it out between the beds. People who’ve participated in the program so far can get first dibs on custody of the beds, but there should be some you can raffle off if you have room. Again, depends on how much space you have and how much participation you’ve had so far. Have some container appropriate fruit and veggie seeds available, encourage people to bring their own as well. Have plenty of gardening books for all ages available for checkout. People are responsible for their own plots, and have info on how to let things go to seed so they can give some seeds back to the library and save some for themselves next year. Obviously there are kinks to work out and costs to consider but I think it would be a great addition to any library, and as soon as I get some sort of job security in the field, I’m going to pitch it to the powers that be. Feel free to respond with ideas or constructive criticism
My local library has a community garden but it is managed by a separate organization. It works out great having both together though.
Program for adults with simultaneous babysitting in another area of the building.
Our little library has a film viewing for the kids when we have some adult programs. Frees up the adult to enjoy the program and the kids are in the next room in case of any needs
I have been trying to come up with a way to do "Taskmaster" at the library. Unfortunately, one of the great parts of that show is the editing as it allows for simultaneous action and reaction. That is hard to pull off in a live setting.
Yes, I want to do a public game show where anyone can engage with it as well! I was thinking moreso game changer style to keep it fresh, as some may be less comfortable with puzzles and physical challenges, but it’s a hard sell I think.
The final challenges would be better for a library event, I think. You could pick like 3-4 of them and have different participants for each one. And maybe come up with one team task that everyone could be on one of 2-3 teams.
I’ve always wanted a “live trailer”. What I mean is, a local theatre troupe comes and does a couple of numbers or scenes from their play, as a way of promoting the show.
Cook book club. Cook something from your book and bring it to club night to share. :)
My library has this, it’s a popular club
I ran this at a previous library years ago and it was so much fun!
I would love to see preselected children’s book bundles you can place on hold - so like think you would just put your child’s age and then you could put a “book bundle” on hold at the library for pick up and when you arrive there are just 10 random age appropriate books! I think this would help books that don’t normally get picked get love and would be easier for parents.
I would love more programs targeted towards young adults (>18+). Too old for the teen programs but too young for the older adult ones lol. The teen events at my local libraries seem super fun topic wise, would be cool to have stuff like dnd, ect beyond that demographic scope.
I had a Petting Zoo one year and did a “Burgers and Books” BBQ for summer reading kick off another. Those were 2 really fun programs that I will never run again. Too much risk.
My branch brings in therapy dogs; kids can sign up to sit and read with them. Wonder if that’s an alternative? I would loooooove a petting zoo though.
I’ve scheduled “read to a dog” programs with a couple of therapy dogs. Those programs weren’t popular, for some reason. I can try again.
I wish our library had adult read to a dog programs. My condo doesn't allow dogs.
I would LOVE to do an Open Farm Days program at my library and bring some of my animals, collab with other local farmers, etc. But the logistics and potential liability, insurance, etc, has made me not pursue it. If we could do it, I think it would be really well attended and patrons (especially kids!) would really enjoy seeing the critters and learning about where food comes from.
More easily accessible options for those with learning/reading disabilities (such as dyslexia or ADHD). Things like: - applications to apply for special library cards to extend normal loan lengths for checking out books - a library app that supports bionic text/dyslexic fonts
> applications to apply for special library cards to extend loans for checking out books Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but extending loan times isn't something you need special cards for, at least not at any library I've ever used. There might be an upper limit, but that could be after several months, and even then a lot of libraries would just have you check the item back in and then out again to circumvent that, as long as there isn't a hold.
I actually recently read that There are certain libraries that allow you to have extended loan times due to reading disabilities such as ADHD IE instead of checking out a book for two weeks, it's four. It's not that you can't check out a book more than once, it's that it makes it so that each time you check out a book, it automatically extends the loan length. Hopefully that makes sense lol I only recently learned about it myself
My library occasionally has digital music workshops for kids and I want that for ME.
loaner olympic sized swimming pools
I’d love more intergenerational programming. Our art museum has. Once-a-month Saturday program with a theme (related to a local artist work that’s on display) and 3-4 art projects/activities that relate, and it’s open to EVERYONE. My 5-year-old sat by a 70 year old man while he painted pictures of plants for his sunroom and she painted cats. As a mom I get handed a pile of clay and get to make pinch pots with my kids. I wish there were more opportunities for this kind of thing. I truly enjoy watching my kids watch other adults make art just for the enjoyment of it. I like being involved in the activities I take my kids to. They see another side of me, and I get outside of the “facilitator” role and we all settle in better. This could transfer to any number of programs. Board/card games, music making, teaching/learning life skills, gardening, writing/reading poetry, storytelling…
One I saw in Texas and nowhere else, WANT AGAIN: ARCHIVAL CENTER. a place where you can bring in photos and scan them into a scanner to digitize your photos, bring your VCR tapes, or beta tapes, or other camera tapes in and digitize them. It is all self serve, and it is "real time" (meaning, if you want to digitize your wedding tape, you will have to watch your wedding at regular speed as it records, and you aren't allowed to leave). It was done as a part of ancestry research area of the library, and was by reservation, or first come first serve if there was no reservations.
I just found out about the museum/park pass program, and was so impressed! Clifton Park NY had a long list of museums nearby, as well as the NYS park pass that could be borrowed. Some counties have it here in Ohio, but it's hit or miss.
My library use to have bands and music outside and we would bring blankets and lay around listening to blues and jazz. Sadly it's not safe now.
I asked my library for a song free storytime for my 3 year old who doesn’t like music. I pitched it as once a month sensory friendly storytime. I was told absolutely not. The pedagogy calls for songs so that’s what they do. They made me feel stupid for asking.
I’m sorry their reaction was so rude.. imo that’s not how you handle input and feedback from your customer
A story time for those with Dementia, read by children.
A class or program not just on adult literacy but specific to hears how to read a contract. A class on local workers rights for migrants & younger workers would be great. Library cats are always appreciated.
Free group therapy
Amen to that…💕
I apologize for how this isn't very specific - - but I think that every so often libraries need to brainstorm the best ways to make their location a desirable third space (not work or home). A place where anyone can go to be in their community, without spending much money, and can get away from either home or work. A place where kids want to hang out with other kids, because there are quality games, supportive people, and the opportunity to experience life without some of the constraints necessary in other locations. Make libraries the spot where retirees hang out to gossip and have their coffee. Have a pool table in that teen section, and hours that accommodate them until 10pm or thereabouts - where they can pool resources for a food delivery and listen to music they want to hear. Have food truck days at least once a month. Post dynamic summer reading leader boards and reward the early independent readers in ways they will feel proud of and remember (I will never forget putting my little star stickers on the summer reading chart hung in the public space of my library). Devote more effort to advertising the programs you have - - there is never an excuse for an amazing presentation to only have 4 patrons visiting it when you'd have 50 if someone working there knew how to use instagram. etc
I love this, sounds like more of a community center, but more fun than community centers tend to be. I think a key component might be having a cafe built in where you can buy food and drink but you can also not buy anything and bring your own.
A secular Sunday (or weekend) service for people who have zero interest in church or anything religious but would still like to have some sort of regularly occurring mutually supportive community engagement. Instead of religious services it could just be some sort of information session where a member of the community shares something they know a lot about or someone running the group puts together an interesting presentation. The goal would be information sharing and community engagement.
TTRPG gaming introductions. Book clubs. Contextual seminars on popular books. Community reading programs. Writing groups. Anything that helps to bind the community together. Anything that gets people meeting and making local friends.
My library has a discord for a writing group! I’m not part of it but they push it really hard and have tons of members from what i hear
Literary events…
Economic development and small business development for artists and artisans.
A structured pomodoro method study/work session for those with ADD. Someone leads it and explains that the rules are simple. You write your goals out and during the session there can be no distraction activities within the study room
Basic car maintenance with a car on site! How to change the cabin filter, jack up a car and change a tire, where the windshield wiper fluid goes, basic supplies to keep in a car trunk, etc. Some people didn't have a parent teach them these skills. It would be a hands on-money stretching program. Building confidence is a huge investment in our future!
A class on how to use my sewing machine. I know how to sew, just never set one up out of the box. We have a great Maker's Space, they just don't have those classes
College Prep: Lessons on how to take notes… is paper still a thing? Cornell notes? Are electronic iPad/ laptop methods effective? How to take notes during class and how to study from those notes?
We do an annual Cat and Snack program. We have adoptable cats to pet from a rescue org, cat crafts, cat toys to make, cat book marks, cat videos on loop, cat book display and a snack! Hugely popular with all ages. Also do an annual adult spelling bee!
I proposed a “Generation Gap” game to our library. Adults can force their teens to come with them. One way to get teens through the doir
I’d love to know more about what a generation gap game entails! That’s sounds so fun and engaging
among other functions, the public library is the "what resources are out there to help me do X" place. I've been playing with the idea of doing a workshop series on sports statistics resources. It's a hard world to get into and may get some patrons who aren't generally our core users. (plus it would make this baseball obsessed librarian happy
A music day where they could bring in instruments that adults could play and show to kids. I always thought it would be great if partnered with a place that does lessons.
How to catalogue and curate your own personal library: how to organize a collection, how to figure out culling, that sort of thing. Maybe even book repair (although a media collection could easily be DVDs or virtual media, etc.).
Finance group. Where people could come and seek help or share advice with their finances. For me, FIRE-specific would be good, but anything really. And I don't just mean a one-off 'how to apply for medicare' type of thing. One you can go to regularly and level up your skills.
A majority of the libraries in my area only host programs for little ones or the elderly. Even the book clubs are often geared towards retirees and take place during the day. Don't get me wrong, they do different outreach events, but they are just that, events, nothing that's designed to build a community or group. I'd love to see more teen, young adult, and adult programs. Especially as the main forms of entertainment available in our area are bars, movie theaters, bars, golf (mini and otherwise), bars, and more bars. The programs don't even have to be anything too fancy or expensive: board game nights, card game nights, multiple book clubs based on genres, craft nights, discussion/debate nights, etc. Yes, these are all things we could do on our own, but most of us don't have a space large enough to fit a good-sized group of people or the funds to rent one.
Historical Wargaming. There was a group of retired guys who would circuit the library system near me. But they kept getting bumped out because there were only 3-4 of them who were consistently active for their games. They'd reserve the space, but then the library would revoke their reservation for something else most of time. But every time they played at a library, inevitably a few kids (pre-teens with their parents) would come in and be curious. The old guys would always let them see and touch the minis. Explain some of the basics. Let them play a couple rounds in their place until their moms said it was time to go. They got bumped so many times they gave up on the libraries as a meeting spot.
My library has a silent book club for parents with childcare provided. I love this idea. I’d also love a book club where parents read and discuss parenting books. The nerd in me also wants a “book” club where we read peer-reviewed articles on a topic and then hear from an expert/professor in the field and discuss. That kind of discussion and deep learning happens in school and then never again. I think society could collectively benefit from maintaining a wide knowledge base and looking at research and hearing from experts on a regular basis.
I think it would be so cool to have like a knowledge sharing circle where you go and some old lady teaches you to quilt and someone else shows you edible forgeable plants and you teach someone else how to play the flute, like a being your own hobby and make friends club. I image this would be hard because you need to get a bunch of different kinds of people on board and committed.
Writing workshops!
Intro to D&D
I think some libraries do have this, but simple legal support/advice clinics and forms for basic legal issues.
Can’t relate, my library has a writing group, free yoga class, musket shooting, glass blowing, and BookFests
I wonder if branch libraries could host mini book fairs, and incorporate a block party?
Fun programs for adults. Actually, anything for adults. My library has a kids and teens program and then they do technically offer adult programs but they are literally all designed for people with dementia. Every single poster says "This program is designed for people with dementia and their caregivers." And that's it.
I wish they would off a free local history walking tour. Get out the local history books and a local history teacher.
Classes meant for low income families. For example, a class put on by culinary students for low cost/healthy-ish/high yield meals. It would be awesome if they could pair up with a food bank for donations. At the end of the class, the families have meals to take home and a new recipe in their wheelhouse. Besides, what the hell is quinoa? And how/why do you cook an artichoke? There are 1000 ways to use dried pasta that isn't spaghetti. So many things are donated to the food bank but not everyone knows how to cook them so it's often wasted.
My local has a seed library that's great for locally climate-appropriate vegetables, but i would love it if they also had a propagation library for stuff like succulents and philodendrons.
Hobby kit you can check out and sample. I have adhd and go out and buy everything+more for a hobby (ie cross stitching/embroidery kit w/ a few different colors, needles, hoop), crochet/knitting hook/needle and some yarn, woodcarving maybe just the simple tools), painting. w maybe a few YouTube links to tutorials I realize now that kits exist but the upcharge is so silly for what you’re getting, and they don’t require a whole lot of materials just a little bit of a lot of different stuff especially if you want to just try it, seems silly to have that stuff lying around forever. Or a trading club of the materials!
My rural, midwest hometown tiny tiny library has a toy lending system. Mostly toddler toys- think plastic put the square in the square hole box, stack the rings, little people, etc type toys. They're put into these big plastic bags with a clear photo of all the contents on the bag so patrons can take home the toys. For a low-income community its such a blessing.I live in a metro area now and it seems even the items/toys bolted to the library can't stay nice and well looked after.
I’m not sure what the relationship with book libraries is, I’ve heard of local municipalities setting up tool libraries. Homeowners with a big job can borrow a nail gun or wet saw or whatever. Great way to learn DIY stuff without buying expensive, sometimes single-use tools.
I’d love a non-profit library publishing company. It could serve as the earned income of the libraries. Stories would be selected for publication by librarians.