Stephanie Anderson - Evolving library events: Programming in a digital age lyrics

Evolving library events: Programming in a digital age Great library events are difficult. But when done well, events are a wonderful way to get constituents excited and into the library. This paper catalogs some of the hurdles and solutions for creating dynamic programing. It's the first in a series that hopes to act as a resource for often overburdened programming librarians or anyone else looking for templated, easy-to-customize solutions for audience-grabbing events. We've spoken to libraries, authors, publishers, and readers across the country, and we've learned a lot about the creative ways event planners are using new tactics to engage audiences. From "pop-up" libraries at commuter train stations to locally-sponsored book festivals for foodies, libraries across the country remain relevant by creating memorable, sharable experiences for their communities. Our hope is to help libraries better leverage emerging technology to enhance their public programs, without requiring additional staff or resources. Great events are hard to do well, but crucial for engaging communities. Librarians face many of the same challenges as they work to create programs that draw crowds. Library and publisher budgets for author tours are shrinking, and others in the book world have less appetite for taking risks on empty rooms. Despite the decline in frequency of readings and book-related talks outside of major cities, 93% of Americans age 16 and up believe free cla**es, activities, and cultural events are an important service for libraries to offer. Traditional strategies for planning and promoting events aren't as effective as they once were, but the shift to digital provides unprecedented access to free tools and data for better marketing. As a result, many libraries are embracing online resources to test innovative tactics for attracting new patrons and engaging their communities. Reach new audiences by putting their interests first. Whether your town is large or small, waiting for people to walk through the door will never be as effective as seeking out the right prospects and offering them a program that speaks directly to their needs. By creating more targeted programming, libraries can use events as bait to lure in any local interest group. Below, we'll outline methods for community outreach that yield more predictable results. Find new audiences Identifying underserved populations in your area is a great place to start. Many industries use market segmentation, a process that combines demographic data and lifestyle information to better understand the needs of a community. While some libraries can access proprietary databases to learn more about the residents of their jurisdiction, it can be just as easy to conduct your own informal research online to see what matters most to your neighbors. Search for local groups, influencers, or popular venues on Facebook and Twitter and start following their posts to see what people are talking about. Meetup.com can be another helpful resource for finding small, engaged networks in and around your town -- from bookclubs and business owners to new moms and knitting circles. Don't be afraid to throw simple anecdotal evidence in the mix. If you heard about a busy dog park a few blocks away from your library, you've got all the proof you need to a**ume that there is an untapped audience of dog lovers just waiting around for an event that piques their curiosity. Knowing that their town is home to a large population of commuters, Darien Library in Darien, Connecticut set up a ”pop-up library” on the train station platform and lent copies of Sheryl Sandberg's popular book, Lean In, to professionals returning home from work. The borrowed copies were returned to the library during a book discussion that took place at a nearby bar. This creative stunt brought the library experience directly to attendees at a location that was more convenient for them than the library itself. Darien's Head of Adult Programming, Erin Shea, made sure that the event “catered to all commuters, whether or not they were necessarily women in the workforce” and noted that the event also “became a great networking opportunity” for those who attended. Collaborate with partners Once you have a sense of the audience you'd like to target, brainstorm some ideas for topics or themes that might appeal to them. Think beyond a basic reading event -- is there an angle for a talk, workshop, activity, discussion or demonstration that makes more sense? Partnering with local businesses and organizations can help spark creative new ideas, and also help your library reach a larger audience. Dog-lovers, for example, might be interested in an event co-hosted by a local pet store or shelter. Michael Muller, author of a children's series about his own dog, Mirabelle, knew he could reach more people by working with rescue shelters to plan adoption drives at his book readings. He and his pup have entertained packed rooms of excited readers, and helped great non-profit organizations along the way. Carroll County Public Library in Finksburg, MD will be hosting the duo for an unconventional event soon. Want to get people moving? Renee Hopper of Defiance Public Library in Ohio turned a book event for You Are a Lion and Other Fun Yoga Poses into fitness time by partnering with a local yoga studio. The company, Twist It, offered free yoga lessons to the 25 children who committed to reading and practicing moves from the book. Libraries in East Windsor, NJ, hosted similar events this year, combining a reading of The Three Ninja Pigs with an in-library ninja play session from CMB Karate. 30 children received karate outfits and basic instruction from the author, who was able to sell and autograph her books at the event. [Birmingham Public Library] Forming great partnerships: Eat Drink Read Write Festival Birmingham, AL The Birmingham Public Library hosted an “Eat Drink Read Write Festival” to raise awareness of food-related issues in the community. Librarian and event organizer Haruyo Miyagawa said, “Food is such a vital part of our lives. We wanted to create a variety of food-related programs that would appeal to a large audience.” She noted that partnering with local businesses who could donate food and other resources was crucial in creating these successful events. Nearly 500 people participated in a variety of creative programs planned with local groups and sponsors like Whole Foods, such as food documentary screenings, cooking demonstrations, and a “Bards & Brews” poetry performance and beer tasting. As part of the week-long festival, the Birmingham Foodie Book Club invited authors Paul and Angela Knipple to talk about their book The World in a Sk**et. A local chinese restaurant that was featured in the book provided food for the event. Create small incentives Offering a reward for reading or attending a library event is a common way to get children and teens excited about books. But what about adults? They are arguably the ones in need of the most encouragement. Incentives can be a big motivator to promote event attendance, and can be creatively executed without needing to get another line item approved in your budget. Giveaways are a common way to boost participation, but pre-event receptions for a limited number of guests can also elevate the experience and become an incentive to boost attendance. The Peninsula Friends of the Library in Palos Verdes, for example, recently hosted an event with Steve Lopez, author of The Soloist. Though they didn't charge for the public talk, they sold tickets to an earlier co*ktail party that included appetizers, wine, and a chance to mingle with Steve. Development a**istant Charlie Trujillo felt that “because the it was held in someone's home and only a select group received an invitation, the event was very intimate and guests were happy to have gotten the chance to speak directly with the author.” While creating tiered access to events may be controversial for some libraries, marketers and advertisers commonly use this strategy to appeal to consumers' growing desires for exclusivity. [Maryville Public Library] Offering incentive programs: Murder, Mystery, and Magic in the Library Maryville, MO Maryville Public Library used prizes as a clever way to attract participants for their “Murder, Mystery and Magic in the Library” series, a winter reading program that gave readers a chance to earn tickets for each book they read during a three-month period. Readers could cash in their tickets for various gifts or enter into a drawing to win a larger prize basket at the end of the program. By the end of their successful series, 114 adult readers earned nearly $1,000 worth of giveaways. All of the incentives -- items such as t-shirts, restaurant coupons, oil changes and haircuts--were donated by 30 local businesses. One of the more popular events held during the course of the series was the library's Murder Mystery Night. $10 tickets were sold for all 50 seats, and librarian Stephanie Patterson found that charging even a small amount for a limited number of tickets to an event can also increase a patron's desire to attend. Since she is “constantly doing needs a**essment and getting feedback to know what people will respond to,” Stephanie says that “the $10 admission fee was something new” that she would “definitely repeat in the future” to encourage event attendance. Market through outreach Understanding behaviors and motivations of past event attendees can help libraries better determine the types of events they might be interested in attending in the future. Using this information to build segmented lists for email marketing campaigns can help target smaller audiences. Sending event invitations that feel personal can also yield a better response rate than an email blast to all patrons. Facebook and Twitter can be invaluable resources for building buzz about events and showing potential attendees what they're missing. In addition to advertising upcoming events, libraries can post photos and quotes from past events, and even invite guests to share their own snapshots or stories. Tagging photos and encouraging others to post their own is a great way to extend your reach to friends of Facebook users who may not yet “like” your page. In a recent article from Library Journal, Nancy Dowd of LibraryAware suggested posting five quick or interesting facts about each topic you promote, adding, “experiment; if something works, keep it. If not, let it go.” Interspersing informational content with more entertaining images and quotes is a good way to keep followers engaged, rather than overwhelmed. Writing short posts on successful past events is helpful when marketing to new groups to show them how they can get involved at the library. Looking through sites like Meetup.com, blogs, and various social media sites can help you identify existing interest groups that would be likely to attend your event. Writing groups are a good audience for debut authors, and teaming up with local high schools to offer extra credit for students who attend events might help to engage the younger demographic in your area. Bergenfield Public Library joined with Bergenfield Public Schools to offer extra credit and an end-of-summer pizza party for students that read at least 500 pages as part of their summer reading program. Small prizes were even offered as encouragement for achieving reading milestones along the way. Students should also be encouraged to host their own events, whether for parents or their fellow students, to promote student involvement and give them the chance to grow their leadership sk**s. Create cultural experiences that go beyond just book readings. Once you've identified a group you'd like to market to, you can start asking a few questions. What matters most to this group? Are they young entrepreneurs looking for business tips? Parents looking for activities to do with the kids? Find out what they care about and use this information to produce events catered specifically to those likes and dislikes. Along with highlighting a theme or subject that excites them, consider creating multi-faceted events that will appeal to groups with overlapping interests. Next, think about what groups will get out of attending your event: will attendees learn a new sk** or gain networking opportunities? Though it's important that guests leave with a sense of having learned or accomplished something, it's equally important to show them a good time -- something they just can't stop talking about. Brainstorm ways to make events more exciting so that attendees will invite friends and share their experiences. Be sure to create a compelling hook and let your audience know why they won't want to miss your event. Programming should be used to create shared experiences, like learning a new sk**, participating in a thoughtful debate, or taking part in a fun activity. For example, if you're hosting an author who has just released their latest Italian cookbook, offer recipes from the book to attendees before the event so that they can make and bring the food to the event and share their cooking experience with the author. Librarians around the country are testing out new ways to use their open spaces and demonstrate that libraries aren't just for reading and research -- we rounded up some of our favorite case studies for three popular audience segments below. Connecting with teens To take advantage of the growing interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, many libraries are obtaining craft supplies, electronics workbenches, filmmaking equipment and even 3D printers to enable teens to work on physical and digital DIY projects in their space. Incorporating technology to create MakerSpaces is a trend at library branches around the country, and will likely becoming increasingly prevalent as the focus on STEM education grows. Last year, The Johnson County Library unveiled their new MakerSpace, a destination that gives users access to emerging interactive technologies otherwise unattainable for most of the population. Teens that use the MakerSpace can make a range of products from costumes and music recordings to circuit board kits and chess sets. Inviting makers and DIY authors from the community to come and speak could prompt more engaging discussions, as teens can learn first-hand from the pros. And at the Chattanooga Public Library, teens can learn more about STEM fields through programs like “DEV DEV: ,” the new four-week code camp where teens are taught the basics of HTML, CSS, Python, and Robotics. Chattanooga librarian Justin Hoenke urges that when planning teen programs, one of the most important things to remember is to “make it about having fun.” Once you've gotten teens engaged in something that interests them, they'll be more likely to stick around to learn about what else the library has to offer them. Even with fewer resources, an empty space is still a hugely valuable resource for hosting programs that keep teens motivated and interested in libraries. The Teen Creative Writing Program at the Somerville Library in NJ hosts local authors to help teens improve their writing sk**s through a variety of writing exercises centered around teens favorite genres -- from science fiction to lyric poetry. Connecting with families Adults visit libraries much more frequently with children than they do by themselves. Libraries that have created intergenerational programming, such as activities with teens and their parents, report that when parents go to the library with their children, they often end up patronizing the libraries themselves. In addition to offering workshops and readings for families, some libraries develop events specifically for grandparents and their grandchildren. A recent event at the Madison Public Library held a tea party, complete with simple lessons in teatime etiquette, storytime with an author, and craft time, for young children and their grandparents. 20 guests attended the party, and librarian Leslie Kircher stressed that it was important to market events like this not only to boys or girls, but to all grandparents and grandchildren and to encourage older siblings to join too. Still, the majority of intergenerational programming focuses on parents and their children. The Pew Research Center found that 97% of parents believe it's important for libraries to offer programs and cla**es for children and teens. The St. Louis County Library recently hosted a series of financial workshops for parents and teenagers. Teens learned the importance of budgeting and investing, and were equipped to start savings accounts so they could begin to apply their new sk**s with the a**istance of their parents, who participated in a concurrent course that taught them how to put their kids on the path to financial responsibility. Connecting with professionals In today's economy, this traditional function of the library is more important than ever, and workshops can be a great way to pool community knowledge and enable networking. Many libraries provide resources for job seekers, but they also cater to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. Last year, the Seattle Public Library hosted an event with author Kirsten Grind to discuss her book The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual. Though the event attracted people of all ages and professions, a large number of guests were business professionals who got the chance to ask pointed questions about the financial crisis and its effects on business and the financial industry. Librarian Jay Lyman feels that “people don't always know what libraries have to offer” and says he “wants to show that libraries have more resources than people are aware of.” Programs like the event with Kirsten Grind are not only great experiences, they can also be an opportunity to tell guests about other library services like access to powerful databases for research or business lecture series. Libraries like the New York `Public Library offer resume and cover letter writing cla**es, in addition to providing a database for job searching. The NYPL hosts a number of business-related events each month, that cover topics from using social media to build your network to workshops on “marketing yourself with confidence.” Last year, nearly 45,000 participants took part in over 1,000 programs at the Mid-Manhattan Library alone. Libraries are amazing hubs for culture and discussion. Let's keep it that way. Libraries have the power to become the go-to spot for enriching, entertaining and educational events in their communities -- evolving the way events are planned and promoted is the first step in the right direction. By creating and hosting more engaging programs, libraries have an opportunity to re-establish their purpose in our world and fill an existing need. If you're a librarian with commentary, ideas, suggestions or additional case studies to contribute, please let us know by adding your notes to our online version of this paper or by contacting us directly at info@togather.com. Visit togather.com/libraries to access more resources for budget-conscious library programming and subscribe to receive future whitepapers in this series, including our upcoming look at how libraries use events for fundraising.