BIG IDEAS ON A SMALL BUDGETBrian Pichman | Director of Strategic Innovation | Evolve Project

Computers in Libraries 2015

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WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD….

MUST HAVE RESOURCESPeople who are passionate about the work they do!

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE

Be A Risk Taker

Have Passion and Motivation

DESIGNING YOUR SPACESSome great ideas for redesigning your space – at low costs

FURNITURE FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Maker Spaces

• People pay a membership to be part of a“MakerSpace” where the tools are provided for them to build

• Community Out Reach

• Ask your community for help

• Ask local businesses to make monetary donations towards new furniture/rooms and let them advertise on it

• If Fifty People Donate Fifty Dollars =2,500 = Very Nice New Couch.

ART FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Have Patrons create your art work

Justin Hoenke – Patron Driven Art

COLORS FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Use Bright Fun Colors

• Ask Staff to help

SHELVING IDEAS

• Find books that covers are colorful, and choose the books that coordinate with that season

• Red and Green Books = Christmas

• Orange and Black = Halloween

NEW CIRCULATION IDEASImprove your circulation by doing these cheap projects!

BUY USED DVDS/BLU-RAYS

• Speak to your local renting Video Store

• Or Red Box Kiosk Owner

CARD CATALOG – SEED LIBRARY

COUPON SHARING

MYSTERY BAGS

THE “POP UP” LIBRARY

OFFER OTHER ITEMS FOR CHECK OUT

• Guitars

• Patrick Sweeney was able to get guitars donated for circulation

• Also started a program with them

• Fishing Poles

• Pots and Pans

NEW PROGRAMMING IDEASGreat New Program Ideas

ZOMBIES

MINI-GOLF

MUSIC

• Ask your local artist to…

• perform at your library

• teach others how to play

• Do a “Battle of the Bands Event”

MOVIE NIGHT

• Check out Amazon for Movies

• Sometimes can show a screening before movie theaters do

• Start a “Film Festival”

• Encourage local talent to create or share a movie the created and play it during the film festival

VIDEO GAME NIGHT

• Ask local Video Game stores to borrow equipment to set up a gaming night

• Ask your patrons to bring in video games

MINIATURE EVENT

A LOCK IN

Lock-In Ideas: http://tinyurl.com/otmqfuz

GARDENING SPACE

TEDDY BEAR LOCKIN

SNAPCHAT

• Have people add your library snap chat

• Create a “Guess What This Is” Game

• Take a picture of something close up

• Set the timer for 5 seconds.

• Allow people to post on twitter,facebook, etc to your post

SUMMER SCHOOL?

• A library in Kankakee, IL started a summer educational program

• They had limited space, and all the spots filled plus the waiting list was maxed out

• Offered courses on Art, Math, Writing and Video

• Art – Walked through the different art forms through the years

• Video – Used free Claymation and used Flip Cams (Very Inexpensive Cameras)

• Math/Writing – used iPad apps to engage the participants with learning

SOFTWARE / HARDWAREHere are some great Software / Hardware resources for you to try!

TEACH KIDS TO PROGRAM

• Hopscotch

Programming made easy No typing. No syntax errors. Just drag and drop blocks. Hopscotch is an intuitive, friendly programming interface designed for everyone.

UPCOMING EVENT TICKER

• Typical cost to have an “upcoming event ticker” is in the thousands. But all you need is a

• Wall Mounted TV (Buy Refurb)

• A Cheap Computer (Buy Refurb)

• Hook the computer up to the TV and run a PowerPoint slide show.

ZAC BROWSER

Zac BrowserCost: $0.00 + Hardware (750)

AWE ComputerCost w/ Hardware = $2500+

PLACES FOR HELPResources for you to help fund a little bit more!

SOCIAL MEDIA

Most of the time, try to remain positive when

talking on twitter

When Asking For Things

• Sell your idea to them. Don’t let them sell their

product to you.

• You are picking their product to be in your

library.

• Explain your market share (IE patrons, how

many visitors each day, etc)

CROWD-SOURCE FUNDING

• People across the world group together to fund new projects and ideas

• People are encouraged to donate towards “awards” based off the amount they donate.

• Kickstarter.com

• Indiegogo.com

SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES

BONUSES FOR YOUR PATRONS

• Comcast Internet Access $10 a month (Internet Essentials)

• http://www.internetessentials.com

• For the folks in school, using your @edu address get:

• Free Microsoft Products at www.dreamspark.com

• Free AutoDesk Products at http://students.autodesk.com

• DropBox

• Free Storage Space for Backing Up Your Data

• If you have to filter internet / protect from web based threats

• OpenDNS.com

MORE IDEAS• Knitting Club – Get people together to knit together.

• "Sniff Off" contest with tea blends from a local tea shop to celebrate National Tea Month

• "Dog Listener" from a local kennel / animal shelter

• Library Literary Speed Dating Program: bring 3 favorite books to talk about

• "Parkin' lot pickin'” with 20 local musicians in the library parking lot, each performing for 10 minutes

• Jigsaw puzzle exchange

• Dial-A-Story – Set up a voicemail box and read a story for patrons to call in and listen too.

• “Ask A [Expert]” Locate your community experts like Laywers, Accountants, etc and ask them to do a workshop for your patrons.

• “How To Faire” – Similar to a Maker Faire, but learn how to do things (planting, fishing, sewing, comic book drawing…)

• “UFO” – Unfinished Objects – repair broken tech

• “Break and Make” – take apart technology and put it back together

THOUGHTS?

THANKS FOR ATTENDING!

Brian Pichman

815-534-0403

bpichman@evolveproject.org

@bpichman

Be sure to tweet me and keep the conversation going