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
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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