Stealth Programming

WHAT IS STEALTH PROGRAMMING?

Passive programs

An interactive, non-formal ‘event’ that engages patrons with no specific time or

date, requiring little or no staff interaction

Sneak attacks

A more formal ‘event’ that may occur at a specific time or date but still requires

little or no staff interaction

Benefits

Promotes library and its materials

Patrons interact with library resources

Low cost, low prep

January: My Ideal Bookshelf

http://www.miopl.org/index.php/adult-section/adult-services

January: National Puzzle Month

January: Golden Globes

VOTE

Best Motion Picture

__________________________________

Best Director

__________________________________

Best Actress in a Motion Picture

__________________________________

Best Actor in a Motion Picture

__________________________________

Best Television Drama

__________________________________

Best Television Comedy

__________________________________

Name__________________ Ph: ________

January: Elvis’ Birthday!

Match the Elvis picture to the movie title

Show an Elvis movie

Talk like Elvis Day

©www.elvis.com

January: Chinese New Year • Display books by Chinese American authors (e.g. – Amy Tan, Gene Luen Yang)

• Hang a poster of the Chinese horoscope.

• Give an individually-wrapped fortune cookie for any patron who checks out a book

or answers Chinese trivia.

• Calligraphy – Using black ink and brushes, patrons can practice writing various

Chinese phrases

• Writing their names – Using black ink and brushes, patrons can write their names in

Chinese. You will need a teen volunteer to help.

• Chopsticks – Provide chopsticks and miniature marshmallows for patrons to

practice their dexterity with chopsticks.

©http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Passive_programming

January…

Movies – book/movie dinner date

National Papercrafting Month

Morse Code – January 11th

National Mail Order Gardening Month

Winter Reading Program for Adults

For Staff: Show and Tell at Work Day - January 8th

February: Sweet Treats

February: Romance

Blind Date with a Book

Speed Dating / Friending

Hunt for Hearts

Wear Red

February: Random Acts of Kindness Week

February 10-16, 2014

http://you–are-beautiful.com

February: Prom Dress Collection

http://hopecloset.com

Set up a clothes rack

Signage explaining why you’re collecting

Read to a Therapy Dog

March: March is Reading Month

Reading Incentive Programs

March: Teen Tech Week

March 9-15, 2014

March: National Craft Month

Crafternoon

Pi Day – March 14

National Women’s Month

Lucky Leprechauns

March: Other Celebrations

April: World Book Night

Drop Everything and Read – all month long (but esp. April 12th ) FLASH MOB!

April: National Library Week

April 13 – 19, 2014

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130412/NEWS0101/304120040/A-mob-readers-fills-Old-Town-Square

April: National Poetry Month

Copyright bookandlatte.com

Spine Poetry

Blackout Poetry

Poem in Your Pocket Day –

April 18

April: Tax Time

April: Jazz Appreciation Month

April: National Jelly Bean Day – April 22

Guess How Many Jelly Beans Are in the Jar and Win!

April… National Donate Life Month (Michigan Libraries for Life)

Community Spirit Days – All month long

Financial Literacy Month

National Humor Month

National Kite Month

Straw Hat Month

YoYo Weekend April 12th -14th

For staff : Laugh at Work Week April 1st – 7th

KEEPING TRACK

Tracking Numbers

Can be as simple as hashmarking

Counting items put out

Measures of Success

All about the numbers

Patron rate of return

Evaluation

Leave out short evaluation forms (Would you like more programming like this?)

Talk to patrons to see what worked and what didn’t

May… National Photography Month

Photo Contest

Photo Displays

May… Star Wars Day – May 4

http://www.501st.com/

May… Comic Extravaganza

May… National Inventors Month

Design and fly an

original paper airplane

May…

Cinco de Mayo

World Red Cross Day

Mother’s Day

Women’s Safety & Self Defense Awareness Month

June: Summer Reading

What do you Geek? What do you Dig? ………

June: Summer Reading Continued

Weekly Raffle Legos

Hot Wheels

Marbles

Foam Letters

Buttons

Put out supplies

Drop-in

Teen volunteers prepare

June: Art in a Box

Sneak Attack

Passersby get drawn into the

program

June: Storytime in the Park

Hide pictures of planets around the department

Kids find them and glue mini-picture in their diary

Older kids write a fact about each planet they find

June: Planet Pursuit

World Wide Knit in Public Day (Second Saturday in June) – knitting group

North American Euchre Showdown – Euchre tournament

Flag Day (June 14) – Color Flags

June…

July: Gummy Worm Day – July 15

July: National Scrabble Week 19th - 24th

July: National Grilling Month

July: Book Exchange Month

July: Take Your Library Card on Vacation

Patrons take photos of themselves on

vacation holding their library cards

Post on a world map

Post on Facebook page

July… Michigan Thumbs Up!

Paperback Book Day

Tour de France

Father Daughter Take a Walk Together Day – July 7th

Teddy Bears’ Picnic Day – July 10th

Comic Con July 18th – 21st

Tell an Old Joke Day – July 24th

For staff – Chocolate Day July 7th

August: Teens Top Ten

Find hidden masks

Show movie

Have script available

August: Lone Ranger

Colored pencils

Markers

Crayons

August: Coloring Sheets

http://www.doverpublications.com

Put out chalk

Designate an area

August: Sidewalk Chalk

Hide a geocache

Put a clue on your

Facebook

Collaborate with other

community resources

August: National Geocaching Day

August 20

How Often/Duration of Programs?

How Often

No magic rule of thumb

Often enough that people look forward to what you’ll

have next

Duration

Depending on the theme, anywhere from one day to

several months

Raffles can go on from a week to a month

Reading incentives 2-3 months

Hunting for objects – 1 month

Partner with local businesses

to offer discounts for people

who show their library card

during the month of

September.

Hand out library card holders

to children who get their first

library card.

September: Library Card Sign-up Month

Display book

Put up poster to sign

Read in storytimes

Hand out stickers/bookmarks

September: Michigan Reads

September: Lego Club/Contest

Banned Books Week

Healthy Aging Month

Resumes – Resume review w/local headhunter

International Literacy Day – September 8

Citizenship/Constitution Day – September 17

Talk Like a Pirate Day – September 19

September…

Different theme every year

Customize for your community

October: Teen Read Week

October: National Reading Group Month

http://www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.org/

Provide space Have book club kits Big Library Read for

e-books

October: Make & Take Crafts

October: Caption Contest

October: Dictionary Day - October 16

Define a word & win

October: National Coupon Month

October: Vote for Pumpkins

Bi-monthly

Drop-in

Ages 7 and up

Beginners and experienced players welcome

Volunteer facilitates

November: Chess Club

November: Stuffed Animal Sleepover

Children drop off stuffed animals to the library.

Staff or Teen Volunteers pose animals around the library

and take photos.

Children pick up their animals the next day.

Post the photos on Facebook/e-mail to the patrons

Bingo Sheet

Raffle ticket for each Bingo

Hide symbols around the department

Put a sticker on U.S. map

November: Read Around America

Leave cards out for people to sign

Make cards in Youth programs

Drop off to Red Cross

November: Holiday Mail for Heroes

November…

Picture Book Month

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) - Six Word Essay/Story Notebook

America Recycles Day (November 15) – Repurposed make & take crafts

International Games Day (November 16)

Wii Bowling for Seniors

Put out board games around the library

Veteran’s Day – War movie festival

December: Learn a Foreign Language Month

December: Bingo’s Birthday Month Book Bingo

December: Holiday Concert

December… Recipe Greetings for the Holiday – December 1st – 7th

National Dice Day – December 4th

Nobel Prize Day – December 10th

Dewey Decimal System Day – December 10th

International Shareware Day – Second Saturday of the Month

Crossword Puzzle Day – December 21st

For Staff : Hour of Peace Day – December 31st

Brownielocks' Holidays & Fun For Everyone! - http://brownielocks.com/month2.html

Chase’s Calendar of Events - http://www.westglen.com/news/1/ChaseCalendar.pdf

Earth Calendar - http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php

Programming Librarian - http://www.programminglibrarian.org/home.html

Wikipedia List of US Observances -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_observances_in_the_United_States

Websites…

Specific Holidays/Occasions 501st Legion – http://www.501st.com http://www.greatlakesgarrison.com/

America Recycles - http://americarecyclesday.org/

Banned Books Week - http://www.ala.org/bbooks/

Children’s Day/El dia de los ninos - http://dia.ala.org/

Citizenship/Constitution Day - http://constitutionday.cpms.osd.mil/

Dover Publications - http://store.doverpublications.com/

Drop Everything and Read - http://www.dropeverythingandread.com/NationalDEARday.html

Free Comic Book Day - http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/992

Geocaching - http://www.geocaching.com/

Holiday Mail for Heroes - http://www.redcross.org/support/get-involved/holiday-mail-for-heroes

Hope Closet – http://www.hopecloset.com/

Jazz Foundation of America - http://jazzfoundation.org/

Library Card Sign Up Month - http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card

National Library Week - http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek

National Literacy Month -

http://www.reading.org/General/Conferences/InternationalLiteracyDay.aspx

National Novel Writing Month - http://nanowrimo.org/

National Photography Month - http://www.apa360.org/

National Reading Group Month - http://www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.com/index.html

Random Acts of Kindness – http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/frequently-asked-questions

Pi Day - http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/index.html

Picture Book Month - http://picturebookmonth.com/

Random Acts of Kindness - http://www.randomactsofkindness.org

Teen Literature Day - http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Celebrate_Teen_Literature_Day

Teen Read Week - http://teenreadweek.ning.com/

Teen Tech Week - http://teentechweek.ning.com/

Teens Top Ten - http://www.ala.org/yalsa/teenstopten

Thumbs Up! Award - http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/awards/thumbsup

World Book Night - http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/

World Red Cross Day - http://www.redcross.org/news/event/2013-World-Red-Cross-Day

World Wide Knit In Public - http://youtu.be/rPxfQeP8nZ0

You Are Beautiful – http://www.you-are-beautiful.com

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