4 Events Coming Up Soon: Plan Now to Celebrate @ Your Library

September & October are chock-full of events around which you can create book displays and programs:

♦ Star Wars Reads Day, October 6th

Lucasfilm and its publishing partners have announced the first national Star Wars Reads Day to be held October 6, 2012.  It’s a “multi-publisher initiative that celebrates reading and Star Wars.  On October 6, events will take place at hundreds of bookstores and libraries across the United States.”

Though the sign-up for official events has ended, your library can still participate — “like” the Star Wars Reads Facebook page to get creative event ideas.

My question is…  why was this not scheduled for May the 4th?

♦ Teen Read Week, October 14 – 20

This year’s theme for Teen Read Week — It Came from the Library: Dare to Read for the Fun of It! — “offers a fun and simple way to show off what’s lurking in your library!”

Use these toolkits to get ideas for programs, contests, reading lists, and eye-catching displays:

• activity ideas you can replicate at your library
• planning checklist
• publicity toolkit — letter to the editor template, sample press releases, and logo to spread the word in your community
• Teen Read Week 2012 ideas on Pinterest

Teen Read Week is an national literacy initiative of the  Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association.

♦ Banned Books Week, September 30 − October 6

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.

Here are photos to inspire you to create displays:

• Banned Books Week 2010 by Somerset Public Library
• 3rd floor Banned Books Week Display by lincoln_library
• lots more photos in the Banned Books Week 2010 Flickr pool

Get …

• more ideas at Banned Books Week’s Facebook page
• free clip art to use on your Facebook page and website
• inspiration from events being planned at other libraries

Use these resources to find banned & challenged books on your shelves that you can put on display:

• Banned and Challenged Classics — #1 The Great Gatsby, #2 The Catcher in the Rye, and #3 The Grapes of Wrath
• Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 — includes the Harry Potter series, Of Mice and Men, and The Color Purple
• Frequently challenged books of the 21st century — includes Twilight, The Hunger Games trilogy, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

You can even upload videos of your library’s banned books read-outs or descriptions of a local book challenge to the Banned Books Week YouTube Channel.

♦ Library Card Sign-up Month, September 1 – 30

Library Card Sign-up Month is time to remind parents and children that a library card is the most important school supply of all. “Thousands of public and school libraries join together each fall in a national effort to ensure every child signs up for their own library card.”

Download these free tools to use in your community:

• flyer / poster
  • Free customization is available — have your library’s own logo added to the PSA. Send a print-quality logo file (hi-res JPG or TIF, or EPS format), your library name and URL, and ALA will generate a custom PSA flyer for you (in PDF format) within 1-2 weeks. Send your logo & info to libraries@atigraphics.com.
• letter-to-the-editor
• public service announcement (PSA) scripts
• proclamation
• logos
• audio public service announcements (PSAs)

And here’s a Star Wars Day and Library Card Sign-up Month crossover: Moorpark City Library holds card sign-up event, ‘Star Wars’ style

Promote Library Card Sign-Up Month @ Your Library

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month — here are resources to promote it at your library:

• Download print PSA featuring NBA star and Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month Dwyane Wade
• 52 Ways to Use Your Library Card
• Sample press release
• Sample letter-to-the-editor
• Library Card Sign-up Month Fact Sheet

Source: Library Card Sign-up Month

Finding New Residents in Your Community

Gretchen Raab of Neenah Public Library has a good tip for finding people who have recently moved to your community:

Our city’s water utility has a list of those who have requested water turn-on at their residence. This list also includes those who move within the city/district, and therefore, are not new to the area, but it would be a starting point.

You can send the new residents information about your library, including a library card application form.

References:
http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/2010-May/132681.htm
http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/2010-May/132657.html