In order to make our church members more aware of the wonderful resources in our library, it has been suggested that we plan some special "events" to draw our members into the actual physical library.
Our focus would be on the young- and middle-adult age group. Many of this age group prefer to use digital technology for their reading and gaining of information, so we would like the opportunity to show them relevant books from current Christian authors addressing their daily walk. As they become more familiar with the library, they will discover there are many classics which will deepen their faith.
The person who suggested tthe "events" concept referenced the example of the public library having special events, such as "painting nights", yoga demonstrations, dance line lessons, etc. As the attendees enter and exit the public library, they pass book displays and have opportunities to check out books and other items.
Have any of you held special "events" along these lines which would be appropriate for the church library? These would be different from book clubs or reading challenges.
Please share some of your great ideas!
Replies
A good resource for ideas I like is the Programming Librarian Interest Group on Facebook. Of course. not all the ideas are appropriate for a church library. Some are more involved than others. I like the idea of having someone else lead them when possible. Saves you some time.
In the past we have had a month long "event" in our library. The first one we did was to gather military pictures of church members (deceased and living) and displayed them. We had patriot decorations including the American Flag. Also had person's name and branch of service on name tag in front of picture.
Another year we featured "cancer survivors" the deceased.
Another yearr we featured our senior adults - named it "the way we were" and senior adults in our church furnished pictures of themselves when they were young (6-18)
This year we featured bridal month in June - members of church loaned us pictures of when they married (did not have to be in a brides dress), could also be bride/groom picture. We borrowed a manikin from local dept store and dressed the manikin in a church members wedding dress from 45 years ago. We had everything white except for bridesmaid bouquets we used as centerpieces on tables.
At all these events (especially the Military one) we had lots and lots of people come through each week to view the pictures.
One time, we featured crochet items made by a local group of ladies that donates them ( hats, scarfs, baby items) to different organizations. We set up a box where people could donate crochet thread to help in their projects.
One month we had a lady that makes handmade quilts loan us a lot of her quilts for us to display.
One suggestion we haven't tried yet - if you have a person in your church that draws/paints pictures that would loan some to display one month.
This month, December, we are having "free cookies in the library" Sunday. We hope to get some new readers.
It was a lot of work but fun also.
Hope you can use one or more of these ideas.
I find several ideas on Facebook on the Programming Librarian Interest Group. Of course, not all ideas are appropriate for the church library. Hop on some public library websites for more ideas.
Does your church staff include ministers to these age groups? I suggest your team host the event in the library, but the appropriate age group minister for the event plan it with you and promote it as part of his or her ministry. Several years ago our team hosted, planned, and promoted an event for parents of young adults who are no longer involved in a church and another event for those dealing with grief. The only people who showed up were those of us who planned it. My experience with adult ministry of any age has taught me that adults need to know the people who are hosting an event.