Program-a-Rama at ALA Midwinter 2017 in Atlanta

Image from ALA.org

Last weekend at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta two Program-a-Rama sessions were held. Now in it's second year, Program-a-Rama was created as a way for children's librarians in public and school libraries to share and take home tangible programming ideas, tips, and resources.

After introductions, each person shared a favorite cheap, easy, and successful program. Participants shared their successes holding school literacy lunches, hosting a day of coding and Minecraft, throwing a glow-in-the-dark dance party, and lots more.

Next, we did some group brainstorming on programming topics using pens and sticky notes. Totally participant directed, topics included ideas for an Elephant & Piggie 10th Birthday Party, outdoor summer activities for little ones, titles to use for storybook walks, and many more.

Finally, we spent a few minutes discussing programming challenges and possible solutions, such as ways to attractive more middle schoolers and the pros and cons of ticketing for large events.

Sessions were lead by Danielle Jones (Multnomah County Library) and myself (Denver Public Library) and we look forward to hosting more sessions at ALA Annual 2017 in Chicago . We hope you can join us!

Wondering what we talked about? Here are the notes from both sessions:

• Saturday Program-a-Rama notes 
• Sunday Program-a-Rama notes 

Want more programming ideas? Take a look at previous Program-a-Rama session notes, as well as a the notes from a recent passive programming brainstorming session held at the Colorado Association for Libraries 2015 Conference.

• Program-a-Rama notes from ALA Annual 2016 in Orlando
• Program-a-Rama notes from ALA Midwinter 2016 in Boston 
• Program-a-Looza notes from ALA Annual 2015 in San Francisco