lamantia and vinci: building great programs for patrons in their 20s and 30s workshop
TRANSCRIPT
Building Great Programs
for Patrons in Their
20s and 30s
Presented by Katie LaMantia & Emily Vinci
January 15, 2015
Let’s start with a
question...
Does your library currently have programs that cater
specifically to the 20s-30s demographic?
Who are Millennials/New Adults?
❖ Wide range of life experiences and current situations:
graduations, establishing careers, marriages, births,
relocations, etc.
❖ Comfortable with technology
❖ An established social scene
❖ Developed means of exploring their interests
❖ Want a social element to their activities
❖ Born after Gen X
❖ Broadly defined as reaching young adulthood around the
year 2000
Mission and Goals
We want...
❖ patrons of all ages to see the library as a place for them
in the community.
❖ all patrons to view the library as relevant to their
lifestyle.
❖ to provide social opportunities as well as opportunities
for personal growth and fulfillment.
Reaching all genders
Include a variety of programming to appeal to many
interests:
● Crafting
● Gaming
● Movie Night
● Home Brewing
● DIY Home Repairs
● Financial Planning
Themes
Pop Culture/Entertainment
Oscar Night
Karaoke
Education/Personal Growth
Money Smart Week
Fitness Fair
DIY/Crafts
UnValentine’s Day
CrafterWork
Measuring Outcomes
How will you measure the success of your
programs?
What outcomes are you hoping to see as a
result of your 20s and 30s programming?
Statistics and Breakdowns
❖ Sign in sheet➢ Name
➢ Age
➢ How did you hear about this program?
❖ Post-program surveys
Program breakdowns and results
Keep track of time and money spent: planning,
marketing, setup, length of event, etc.
Communicate back to management the results of
program, age breakdowns
Don’t discount the power of qualitative comments
Marketing
How will you reach this demographic?
Promoting your programs through your
standard library newsletter and website is a
start, but consider also where your
demographic spends a good deal of their time
online - social media.
Branding
Creating branding for your 20s
and 30s programming isn’t
absolutely necessary -
especially if you’re planning to
hold these kinds of programs
only sporadically, but it can be
helpful in distinguishing your
programs as unique and set
apart from the rest of the
library programs.
Social Media
Facebook Group vs. Page● Group allows all members to
contribute
● Posts show up as notifications
vs. not all page posts showing
up in a person’s newsfeed
● Being added to a group by an
administrator vs. “liking” a page Other social media to
consider: Goodreads,
Instagram, Pinterest
➔ contact information
➔ links to social
media
➔ feed from library
calendar with
upcoming
programs
➔ link to sign up for
constant contact
newsletter
Website & Direct Email Newsletter
➔ pulled from patron database based on set age parameters (20 - 39)
➔ sent during the fourth week of the month advertising the next month’s events and
programs
➔ all-patron library newsletters are sent during the 1st and 3rd weeks, and we did
not want to overload people with library promotion
Working with your budget
❏ Pulling from multiple budgets
❏ Pooling resources
❏ Cultivating staff talent
❏ In our case, success of NextGen programming,
shown through statistics and monetary tracking led
to creation of new budget line for next Fiscal Year
What interests and hobbies do you have that would
make a good 20s/30s program?
- Share your thoughts in the chat
Question Time...
NextGen Programs❖ The Nostalgia Factor
❖DIY and Crafting
❖Getting Out of the Library
❖ Strategic Timing
❖ Series
The Nostalgia Factor
Don’t discount the power of nostalgia.
Basing programs on the pop culture of this
demographic’s childhood is a great way to appeal
to and involve a wide variety of people.
Nostalgia/Pop Culture Resources
● Buzzfeed
● Huffington Post
● Jezebel
● Tumblr
*Patron and staff interest*
90s Halloween Throwback
★ Pumpkin painting
★ DIY dirt cups
★ Goosebumps
★ Fruit Roll-Ups, Gushers,
Fruit-by-the-Foot
★ Trick-or-Treating candy
assortment
B(ring) Y(our) O(wn) G(ame or system)
★ After-school snack
assortment
★ Participants brought a
variety of board games
as well as game
systems and video
games
DIY and Crafting
There’s virtually no end to the different kinds of
crafting and/or DIY programs that you can hold.
These kinds of programs are great for creating
a fun, creative atmosphere that encourages
participants to share and get to know one
another.
CrafterWork
★ Relaxed, social
atmosphere
★ Patrons were free to
bring their own crafts
to work on
★ We also provided
various craft supplies
UnValentine’s Day
★ Combined crafting -
making unValentines
and worry dolls
★ And activities - a piñata
and smashing candy
hearts
DIY Terrarium Workshop ★ Educational, but
messy, crafty and fun
★ Incorporate into
DIY/Crafting or office
decor
★ Participants were
able to leave with a
finished product at no
cost to them
Getting out of the library
In addition to meeting our patrons where they are in terms
of social media and digital outreach, we also need to meet
them where they are in the community.
If the members of this demographic are not spending a lot
of their time at the library, we can’t necessarily expect them
to come to us for programming. Instead, we take the
programs to them.
Strategic Timing
Work, family, friends take precedence
Experiment with days/times- gauge your
community, ask for feedback from your patrons
Try after-hours programming, like a Saturday
night
Community Partnerships
Another plus to holding your programs outside of
the library is the strengthened community
partnerships that can come as a result of doing so.
Whether you’re holding Trivia Night at a local pub
or teaming up with a local winery to hold a tour a
tasting, opportunities abound to create
programming that benefits your patrons, your
program, and local businesses.
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
★ Fall Night
★ Bonfire
★ Storyteller
★ Creepy walk in the
woods
★ Crafts
★ S’mores and hot
cider
Cupcake Decorating at
Michaels Arts & Crafts
★ Held on a weeknight at
a local craft store
★ Taught by an employee
of the store
★ We purchased cupcakes
and supplies
★ Participants got to leave
with a finished product
Series
Creating a programming series enables you to
provide consistent, reliable programs with a set
date and location. Participants know when and
where to expect these programs and are thus
likely to keep coming back. Having an established
audience for your series programs can be
particularly helpful for promoting your stand-alone
programs.
Trivia❖ Partner with a local
restaurant or bar
❖Create trivia answer
sheets
❖Write trivia questions- use
a trivia board game,
online generator, etc.
Trivia can be done in
many different ways
❖ 6 rounds, 5 questions in
each round
❖ Round 1- each question is
worth 1 point, Round 2- 2
points, etc.
❖ Bonus Round- wager total
Young(ish) Adult Book Club
❖ Bi-monthly
❖ Books available 1
month prior to
program
❖ Alternate genres
❖ Incorporate other
events- viewing
film adaptations
Out of the demographic“Because the goal of this programming group is to provide unique programming
for people in the 20-39 age group, we prefer not to have anyone outside of this
age range, including young children, attend our events. If you feel you have
special circumstances and would like us to reconsider, please let us know.”
● Support from management in enforcing this policy
● Not dissimilar from YS and Teen having strict age
restrictions on their programs
● Age restrictions and the enforcement thereof are by no
means necessary and are entirely up to you
Adults facing social challenges
From our very first program, we have had participation
turnout from patrons on the Autism spectrum and others
who face social challenges.
New Opportunity- research the needs of these adults in our
community and see what additional programming can be
done for them at the library.
Transition from Teens to Adults
Teens aging out of teen services want to continue
attending programs with members of their peer group.
Final Thoughts
● Numbers don’t always matter, especially in the
beginning. This is a great opportunity to try new things
and see what sticks.
● Some programs will fail, and you might feel for awhile
like you’re constantly having to tweak things and
readjust.
● Patron feedback can be hugely helpful in deciding what
direct to steer in next.
Coming in 2015:
A Year of Programming for
Millennials and Beyond
Amy J. Alessio, Katie LaMantia, and Emily Vinci
American Library Association
Contact InformationKatie LaMantia
Emily Vinci
schaumburglibrary.org/nextgen
facebook.com/groups/nextgenschaumburg/
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