Oklahoma Librarian

What is Penny Pinchers' Party? This is an event from ALA as part of Thinking Money for Kids . Kids get to plan a party with a budget of $100. They take turns to choose items from a party warehouse.  Event description provided by ALA: Ever dreamed of throwing the ultimate bash? Now’s your chance! Kids become party planners with a budget to create the most epic celebration. Choose decorations, snacks, and surprises from our party warehouse, then pitch your plan to your group. Will your party be the most fun, creative, and budget-friendly? Let’s find out—there might even be a Party Champion crowned at the end! Kids will need to use their addition and subtraction skills to stay within budget and make smart party planning choices! Advanced Planning I stuck to the regular plan for this event. I did purchase individual bags of chips as a prize for them if they didn't go over budget. We had a few matching tablecloths we used last year that I snagged. I also made paper party hats with r...

   A Girl Scout helped us make a kindness rock garden in front of our library to get her bronze medal last year. I did an event over the summer of 2025 to have new rocks added to the garden. I didn't take any pictures, but I'll tell you how it went down! I purchased (and found) rocks, fresh paint pens, acrylic paint, paper plates, paint brushes, and clear spray paint to seal the rocks. The rocks are the most expensive part, and I have to get some new ones every time. I asked my coworkers to bring me good painting rocks for future events to help lower the cost of them.  I did this event on a Tuesday at 4:30 pm. Not my normal day, but it turned out great! Before I started the event, I made a few paper plate pallets with a small amount of every paint color I had for them to use. The last time I did a rock painting event, we wasted a lot of paint. The rocks are small, so they only need a little bit, and we can always get more. I let everyone pick out two rocks to start with, ...

Kid Librarian is an event I started over the summer that has gone really well. I have one kid with their parents come in between the ages of 7 and 12 years old. We work together to make an 11 x 17 sign that says what their book display is about and pull 15 to 20 titles.  I started this because I wanted to give kids a sense of ownership of the library and the children's area. I love working one-on-one with people and getting to know the kids that come to my events as well. Our Easy book collection has a flat top where we have other items on display. The book display faces our Tween collection, so it's perfect for this. This space allows us to have a 11 x 17 poster, 5 face out books, and 2 bookends to hold extra titles.  I created the form below for kids to fill out if they are interested in making a display. I first tested out this idea with a kid that has been coming to many of my events for months. We already had a good relationship, so she was an easy first kid to test my pr...

I've been thinking about some special events I can do this summer that either fit the color theme or sound like fun for me and the guests. This year I am in main contact for most of our museum events so I can't create every event I would like to. If you don't know, many libraries work with local organizations and museums. This can happen all year long but the summertime is our busy season so we try to fill it with fun things for everyone to do.  This is a list of my ideas both events and passive! Feel free to take any of these to make your own.  Rock Painting We have a Kindness Rock Garden at the front of our library that I was able to get set up last year . I want to have a painting event where I provide rocks, paint, paint pens, and brushes. Passive Art Puzzle I found these blank puzzle pieces on Amazon and would love to have guests color a piece and add them to the puzzle. I want to use a few pieces to write something like "Color Our Puzzle". Snail Mail Decora...

What is Slime Day? Make slime at the library! I did this event last year as well and you can read about how that went here . Description: Get ready for a day filled with fun, creativity, and learning as kids dive into the magical world of slime. Kids will get to explore different ways to make slime and create their own to take home. This is going to get messy! What I did to prepare I purchased a lot of supplies again. This has been my most expensive event this year. The good news is that it's mostly common items such as stickers and glue. I bought 2 gallons of clear glue , 1 gallon of slime activator ,  200 containers with lids ,  clear filler beads , food coloring , tiny food charms , and rhinestones . This was around $150. I already had shaving cream, lotion, essential oils, pompoms, tiny foam balls, and glitter. For other supplies that did not go into the slime, I had aluminum trays, measuring spoons, play dough toys, and stickers. Now, I listed many items here. H...

What is Children Reading to Dogs? This is an event where kids can read to a certified theapry dog. This helps kids to think that reading is fun and works on their self-confidence. Descrption: Want to be a more confident reader? Build "pawsitive" self-esteem and improve your reading skills while reading aloud to certified therapy dogs at the library.  This program is intended for children learning to read and practicing reading aloud. What I did to prepare The biggest hurdle I have had with this program is getting the dog teams. My library system requires the dog and handler to go through a short interview process where we can see their therapy dog certification and insurance. Due to the pandemic a few years ago, dogs where not getting trained. The system as a whole has been putting out calls for dog teams for at least 2 years at this point. Now I have 3 dog teams where my events are their first experiences. They have all been great and have come from good orgiazations. I star...

  What is Herp and Invert Exhibit? This is an event where guests could learn more about animals like snakes by asking experts questions and getting to touch them.  Descrption: Come explore the amazing worlds of reptiles and invertebrates! Get up close with snakes, lizards, and more. This exhibit celebrates the incredible diversity of these cold-blooded crawlers and creepy crawlies. All ages welcome. What I did to prepare This started when Larry Daniel's from The International Herpetological & Invertebrate Society approached our library with the idea to have an expo. He's been running events like this for years and wanted to get back into doing more since Covid. He explained to us how it was done in the past and we put our own spin on it. We decided to do it in the afternoon and provided snacks like bagels and cookies for the people volunteering. The volunteers that would bring the animals were all contacted by Larry first then he gave them my contact information ...

What is End of Summer Party? I always loved the events that were all about the last hoorah of summer as a kid. Since I purchased outdoor games and other supplies for our Summer Reading Kickoff , I wanted to use them again before the weather started to change.  Event Description: Our outdoor end-of-summer bash will get you outside with our engaging games. Let's make the most of these final days of sunshine together! Please wear comfy clothing and sunscreen. Don't forget your water! What I did to prepare I had already purchased all the needed supplies so it was just a matter of gathering it together. I had jump ropes, hula hoops, ladder golf, giant scrabble, and  giant memory .  On the day of the event, it was pouring rain! I wasn't able to reschedule the event, and I really didn't want to cancel so I moved it inside. I kept everything I mentioned above but took away ladder golf and added coloring sheets. I found a pack of 12 balloons at Dollar Tree that I purchased becau...

What is the Summer Reading Kickoff? This event is a party that kicks off our Summer Reading Challenge. We want to let everyone know that they can sign up and start earning prizes just for reading. My idea behind this event was to combine local organizations, outdoor games, and snakes to create a cool event.  Description: Embark on a thrilling adventure as we launch into summer with our Summer Reading kickoff event! Prepare to journey through games, mingle with fellow adventurers from the community, and chart your own course by signing up for our Summer Reading program tailored for adventurers of all ages. We will have: Outdoor games Regional Food Bank of America Fire Department ONIE Project Pet Food Pantry Oklahoma County OSU Extension Snakes Raffle

What is Spring Crafternoon? This is a fun event that my programming department works together to make happen. This is the 4th one we've done. The idea is that we all put together the supplies and instructions for a few crafts that can be done during the event. We have 4 people that work with different ages so we planned 1 - 4 crafts for the group we work with. We set up in our lobby and couch guests through the crafts and other activities.  Description: Pop by the Midwest City Library for a fun and open Crafternoon. We will provide an abundance of supplies for families and friends to create fun craft projects! All ages welcome.  What I did to prepare I put together two crafts that felt like they belonged in Spring. I gathered all the supplies and cut out shamrocks and scrap paper. I bounced around during the event to make sure everything was running smoothly. We opened up our regular event space for additional seating and had a person stationed in the room. This made the ...

What is this event? I wanted to showcase the Great Backyard Bird Count as a fun citizen science task to do over the weekend. This event happens every year around the same time. Migrating birds are coming back in droves and getting a count of how many survived the winter can be helpful for scientists.  This is a longer description since my speaker asked me to write about his past birding experience.  Description: Have you heard of the Great Backyard Bird Count ? Join the world in connecting to birds – February 16–19, 2024. Spend time in your favorite places watching birds, then tell us about them! In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify them, count them, and submit them to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world.  This event will be an introduction to birdwatching. This is a great hobby for everyone because it's completely free to start! All you need is your eyes and ears to hear them sing. We will be inside for the fir...

 This is an update for my monthly  Pokemon Club that I started last October. What is Pokemon Club? It's a space for Pokemon fans to get together to trade cards and play games.  New description:  Take a break! Join us to meet new friends and play Pokemon together. Bring your cards and games and get ready to trade! We'll have a limited amount of Pokemon cards to hand out to start your collection.  We're having a raid battle! Bring your best 2 Pokemon cards to try to take down giant Pikachu or Drednaw. Please bring any materials to help support your experience and comfort. Registration is NOT required to attend. What I did to prepare Have have two people that have really helped to shape my event. One is a coworker from a library I used to work at that I reached out to when I found that that she was doing a similar event. She sent me a detailed email about how she runs her events. The main items I took away were a Pokemon Bingo and a printable activity from this we...

What is this event? I was approached by a girl scout who wanted to make a kindness rock garden to get her bronze metal. I was able to get approval for them to install it at the front of our library. We also wanted to do a rock painting event to tie everything together.  Description: Join Madelyn from Troop 5178 to paint kindness rocks for our new rock garden at the library! All kindness rocks made during this event will be added to the rock garden after they dry. We'll provide the supplies, you bring the kindness. What I did to prepare The rock garden was fairly easy to get approved by our branch manager. Madelyn and her mom came by the library to talk to me about details and where they would put it. It was great to see her mind working as she tried to find the best solution to problems. Once I got the okay with the location and sign they designed, we were able to pick a day to do the rock painting event that also announced the new rock garden. I was able to purchase rocks and acry...