Proposal for Lego ClubLinda Julien, Allegany CountyACLS MissionThe Allegany County Library System enriches our community by providing information resources, services, and programs to promote reading, lifelong learning and opportunity.

PurposeLegos are not just fun, they can be beneficial to learning! Building with Lego bricks fosters spatial reasoning and awareness of proportions and patterns. Children develop reading skills by following directions, math skills by recognizing patterns, science skills by seeing spatial relationships. They also use fine motor skills and expand their creativity. Neighborhood children of all ages would be welcome to create and play with no pressure. Completed creations could be displayed in the building. The club would help fulfill our library’s mission because it promotes lifelong learning. Legos are fun and beneficial for all ages!

DescriptionI would open up the club to all ages. Younger children can use Duplos, and play with their parents; older children can use regular Legos. Club meetings would be held every other week in the evenings, probably on Wednesdays when we have enough coverage on the desk. The meetings would be an hour to an hour and a half long. Everyone would help with cleaning up. Works in progress would be saved so they can be worked on at the following meeting. I would display some of our Lego books to encourage people to check them out. This might get some reluctant readers to read on their own because it is a topic they are interested in. Our collection includes Lego themed books for all age groups.

Potential PartnershipsI would ask for donations from public (many people have Legos in the toybox gathering dust), Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and other stores. I would ask for not only Legos, but bins of all sizes for sorting the pieces. I have researched how other library systems have set up Lego clubs, and once the word got out donations poured in. Hopefully there would be little or no cost to begin the program.

Set-upThe club will meet in our meeting room where there are tables and chairs. I will have bins of Legos available for use. Any donations I receive will be cleaned prior to use. I will have the children who come help organize the bricks either by color, size or how they decide they want the bricks organized. I will set up guidelines (Respect others’ creations, Use the bricks for the intended purpose), and see if the club members have anything to add to the guidelines. At the end of every club meeting, we will put the Legos away in a organized manner so they will be easy to use next time.

EvaluationGet feedback from kids, parents and patrons. The club members will let us know what is working and what needs to be changed.

PRESS RELEASE:The South Cumberland Library at 100 Seymour Street will be starting a Lego Millennium Club for children of all ages. The first meeting will be held on February 30, 2013 at 6 pm in the meeting room. Activities include using your imagination to create robots and buildings out of Legos. We are also currently accepting donations of Legos. For further information please contact Linda J at 301-724-1607.

Our system uses Twitter and Facebook social networks to promote events. They are usually announced a day or two before the event. This press release would also be published in the local newspaper and our online newsletter.

There is a possibility we may start a Lego club at South Cumberland Library.