Guest blogger Mary Westness, Youth Services Associate at the Hedberg Public Library in Janesville, returns with a post on another fun program they tried.
In June, I hosted a drive-in family Bingo program. It was a lot of fun! Lots of positive feedback.
Here’s the scoop:
We blocked off a portion of our parking lot-this required special permission from my administration AND the city. I asked the library admin first, then we filled out the necessary forms with the city. We borrowed the barricades from Parks and Rec. This process took longer than I expected, so it really came down to the wire to get the word out. My advice: start early if you want to try this and your city requires permission.
Cars drove in and received a packet of printed BINGO cards upon arrival. (Printed from this website) I printed them on colored paper, back to back and made packets of 3 pages (6 cards each) ahead of time. I just handed out markers for them to check off the numbers. I thought chips would be too messy/difficult in the car. We directed them to park in every other stall to allow for distancing.
Our library owns this FM Radio Transmitter. We bought it at the beginning of the pandemic with hopes to provide drive-in programming.
Before the program, we chose a radio frequency that was not already in use in our area. We used https://radio-locator.com/ to be certain it wasn’t taken, and tested it ahead of time with my own vehicle. Patrons were given the frequency upon arrival.
I borrowed a “fancy” BINGO game from a senior living facility in town...The kind with the cage and balls for dramatic effect.*
*sidenote, my family attended the program and my husband told me afterwards that the sound of the cage stirring was REALLY loud compared to my voice and the music, so...cover up your mic while you draw the numbers.
In one hour, we had enough time to play six regular BINGO games. I had them honk their horn if they got a bingo, which was really fun.
I partnered with our adult programmer for this since it was for all ages. He acted as the “car hop” and took a tray of prizes to the winners. We gave away prize books and some stuffed animals That were donated to the library.
We had a lot of positive feedback as people left!
Creating Community Fun YSS blog COVID-19 series
- Mini-Golf Reader’s Cup 9/25/21
- Beep! Beep! Honk if you have Bingo! 9/1/21
- Letters to Guinea Pigs 8/18/21
- Stuffed Animal Fun for Everyone 7/13/21
- Pet Show and Tell 4/17/21
- Campfire Storywalk 3/10/21
- Outdoor Storytimes 1/17/20
- Family Trivia Night 10/7/20
- Flipgard, Fanfare and Friends: River Falls Celebrity Storytime 9/21/20
- Tie Dye Masks 8/24/20
- Summer Book Picnics 7/13/20
- Engaging Kids Outdoors 7/10/20
- Downtown Story Stroll 6/5/20
- Book nCover Double 6/8/20
- Going the Extra Mile 6/15/20
- Summer Storyteller 6/16/20
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