Program Ideas from the YSS Regional Meetup

Librarians are amazing people and it is a joy to get to spend time with them and to share ideas with our colleagues. YSS Members and other youth services librarians from around the state came to last Friday's YSS Regional Meetup co-hosted by the Beaver Dam Community Library and the Columbus Public Library. Besides talking about books and reading, one of the agenda activities was a program swap.

Here is a list of the programs that attendees shared:

• Bad Art Night - 20 minute challenge using leftover craft materials; family friendly
• Booktrailer Filmmaking - using 21st century skills to create booktrailers for teens by teens
• Pokémon Club: What Would (insert character's name) Read  Bookmarks
• Afterhours Family Fort Night - reading together in their forts; family friendly
• Bottle Flipping Olympics - masking tape the only supply required, stations were set up with skill challenges, see YouTube for amazing bottle flipping videos
• Marauders Map Scavenger Hunt - adaptable to other themes, scalable event
• Kindness Rocks - very popular in libraries and in communities
• Emoji Magnets - popular with teens, but good for all ages
• I Survived The Library - various challenges taken from the themes of the I Survived series
• Enamel Pins with Shrinky Dinks - white works better than clear plastic for this
• Touch a Truck - arrange for a firetruck, heavy equipment, police car, etc. to be available for exploration in the library parking lot
• Footloose Friday - about six songs on a playlist, encourage adults to participate with their child
• Paperbag Robots - using grocery sacks and other assorted leftovers and recyclable supplies
• Book Boogie - based on the book "Is Everyone Ready for Fun?"
• Parent & Child Book Club - send invite letters with reading specialists to good readers
• Craft to Go or Discovery to Go Kits - circulate leftover storytime or program crafts or activities in a barcoded bag with instructions and list of any supplies like tape or glue needed to complete; reuse the barcoded bag for other to go kits whenever they're available

If you'd like to contact the librarian that shared a specific program for more details, send an email request to Sarah Cournoyer at sarah (at) beaverdamlibrary (dot) org and she'll send you the contact information.