Presented by Katie LaMantia & Emily Vinci July 13, 2016

Officially established October 2013 and gaining momentum ever since.

Does your library currently have programs that cater specifically to the 20s-30s demographic?

Defining the Demographic Learning your Community

Defining your Mission and Goals Reaching all Genders and Programming Themes

Who are Millennials/New Adults? Wide range of life experiences and current situations:

graduations, establishing careers, marriages, births, relocations, etc.

Comfortable with technology An established social scene Developed means of exploring their interests Want a social element to their activities Born after Gen X Broadly defined as reaching young adulthood around

the year 2000

Learning your Community What is the demographic breakdown? How many of your library’s current cardholders

are in their 20s and 30s? Where do people in their 20s and 30s

socialize?

Mission and Goals We want… patrons of all ages to see the library as a place for them in

the community. all patrons to view the library as relevant to their lifestyle. to provide social opportunities as well as opportunities for

personal growth and fulfillment.

Strategic Timing Work, family, friends take precedence

Experiment with days/times- gauge your community, ask

for feedback from your patrons

Try after-hours programming, like a Saturday night

Traditional Library Programming Kids

Teens Adults/Seniors

Include a variety of programming to appeal to many interests: Crafting Gaming Movie Night Home Brewing DIY Home Repairs Financial Planning

Reaching All Genders

Pop Culture/Entertainment Oscar Night Karaoke

Education/Personal Growth Money Smart Week Fitness Fair

DIY/Crafts UnValentine’s Day CrafterWork

Themes to Consider

The Nostalgia Factor DIY and Crafting

Education and Personal Development Getting Out of the Library

Strategic Timing Series

The Nostalgia Factor Don’t discount the power of nostalgia.

Basing programs on the pop culture of this demographic’s childhood is a great way to appeal to and involve a wide

variety of people.

Nostalgia/Pop Culture Resources What’s trending? Buzzfeed Huffington Post Reddit Jezebel Tumblr Pinterest Entertainment Weekly

*Patron and staff interest*

90s Halloween Throwback Pumpkin painting

DIY dirt cups

Goosebumps Fruit Roll-Ups,

Gushers, Fruit-by-the-Foot

Trick-or-Treating candy assortment

80s Halloween Throwback to the Future

Watching Back to the

Future II

80s board games Making scrunchies Trick-or-Treating candy

game

Preschool for Adults Fingerpainting

Shrinkydinks Playdoh Legos Coloring books Spirographs Juice boxes,

animal crackers, pudding cups

Preschool for Adults

Say cheese!

B(ring) Y(our) O(wn) G(ame or system)

After-school snack assortment

Participants brought a variety of board games as well as game systems and video games

DIY and Crafting There’s virtually no end to the

different kinds of crafting and/or DIY programs that you

can hold. These kinds of programs are great for

providing a fun, creative atmosphere that encourages participants to share and get

to know one another.

UnValentine’s Day Combined crafting -

making unValentines and worry dolls

And activities - a piñata and smashing candy hearts

DIY Terrarium Workshop Educational, but

messy, crafty and fun Incorporate into

DIY/Crafting or office decor

Participants were able to leave with a finished product at no cost to them

Education and Personal Development Opportunities for education

and personal development are important for patrons of all ages. Creating programming for patrons in their 20s and 30s, however, does bring with it different kinds of education and personal development programming that can be as broad or as specific as fits your community and the people in it.

Kombucha Instructor-led information session about the health benefits of kombucha and how to brew it at home

Demonstration of the process while allowing for tons of questions and participant interaction

Due to interest, we opened this program to anyone 18+

Money Smart Week

First time renter First time homebuyer Deciphering financial

information

Adult Milestones

Fitness Fair and Self- Defense Class Partner with local

fitness centers New Year’s

resolution for healthy living and exercise

Community event

What is the most successful off-site program held by your library?

In addition to meeting our patrons where they are in terms of social media and digital outreach, we also need to meet them

where they are in the community. If the members of this demographic are not spending a lot of their time at the library, we can’t necessarily expect them to

come to us for programming.

Instead, we take the programs to them.

Community Partnerships Another plus to holding your programs outside of the library is the strengthened community partnerships that

can come as a result of doing so. Whether you’re holding Trivia Night at a local pub or teaming up with a

local winery to hold a tour a tasting, opportunities abound to create programming that benefits your

patrons, your program, and local businesses.

Discover Your Community Census information Community attractions New businesses

Lynfred Winery

Tour & Tasting November 2013

Junk Food and Wine Pairing June 2014

Lynfred Winery

Beer Market Tour & Tasting June 2015

Cupcake Decorating at Michaels Arts & Crafts

Held on a weeknight at a local craft store

Taught by an employee of the store

We purchased cupcakes and supplies

Participants got to leave with a finished product

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Fall Night Bonfire Storyteller Creepy walk in the

woods Crafts S’mores and hot cider

Camp NextGen Summer afternoon

Storyteller

Board games

Crafts

Snacks!

Scavenger hunt

Outdoor games

Series Creating a programming series enables you to provide

consistent, reliable programs with a set date and location. Participants know when and where to expect

these programs and are thus likely to keep coming back. Having an established audience for your series

programs can be particularly helpful for promoting your stand-alone programs.

Trivia Partner with a local

restaurant or bar Create trivia answer

sheets Write trivia questions-

use a trivia board game, online generator, etc.

Trivia can be done in many different ways. Here’s how we run ours:

6 rounds, 5 questions in

each round Round 1- each question is

worth 1 point, Round 2- 2 points, etc.

Bonus Round- wager total

Young(ish) Adult Book Club Bi-monthly Books available 1 month prior

to program Alternate genres Incorporate other events-

viewing film adaptations

Questions?

What interests and hobbies do you have that would make a good 20s/30s program?

- Share your thoughts in the chat

Now a question for you…

Marketing & promotion Budget Measuring outcomes

Marketing How will you reach this demographic?

Promoting your programs through your standard library newsletter and website is a start, but consider also where

your demographic spends a good deal of their time…online.

Branding Creating branding for your

20s and 30s programming isn’t absolutely necessary, especially if you’re planning to hold these kinds of programs sporadically, but it can be helpful in distinguishing your programs as unique and set apart from the rest of the library’s programs.

Social Media Facebook Group vs. Page Group allows all members to

contribute Posts show up as notifications

vs. not all page posts showing up in a person’s newsfeed

Being added to a group by an administrator vs. “liking” a page Other social media to

consider: Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest

➔ contact information ➔ links to social media ➔ feed from library

calendar with upcoming programs

➔ link to sign up for constant contact newsletter

➔ information about community partners

Website & Direct Email Newsletter

➔ pulled from patron database based on set age parameters (20 - 39) ➔ sent during the fourth week of the month advertising the next month’s events and

programs ➔ all-patron library newsletters are sent during the 1st and 3rd weeks, and we did

not want to overload people with library promotion

Working with your budget

Pulling from multiple budgets

Pooling resources

Cultivating staff talent

In our case, success of NextGen programming, shown

through statistics and monetary tracking led to creation

of new budget line for next Fiscal Year

Measuring Outcomes How will you measure the success of your programs?

What outcomes are you hoping to see as a result of your 20s and 30s programming?

Statistics and Breakdowns

Sign in sheet Name Age How did you hear about this program? Email

Post-program surveys

Post-program Sample Survey

Program breakdowns and results Keep track of time and money spent: planning,

marketing, setup, length of event, etc. Communicate back to management the results

of program, age breakdowns Don’t discount the power of qualitative

comments

Out of the demographic “Because the goal of this programming group is to provide unique

programming for people in the 20-39 age group, we prefer not to have anyone outside of this age range, including young children, attend our events. If you feel you have special circumstances and would like us to reconsider, please let us know.”

With support from management, this was the policy we initially enforced

Not dissimilar from YS and Teen having strict age restrictions on their programs

As the programs have grown, however, we continue to target 20s and 30s demographic, but do not enforce an age policy.

Collaboration with other programmers in the library

Adults Facing Social Challenges From our very first program, we have had participation

turnout from patrons on the Autism spectrum and others who face social challenges.

After receiving feedback from parents of adults on the

spectrum, we researched the needs of these adults in our community and reached out to organizations in the communtiy to see what needs we could fill.

NextGen AFSC Launched in December 2014 Programs held once a month

and attended by at least one professional from one of our community partners

Partners include Alexian Brothers Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders Resource Center, Harper College Career Skills Institute, and Northwest Special Recreation Association

NextGen AFSC Casual, low-stress Emphasis on social

interaction in a space that feels safe

Programs have included crafts, board/video games, a genre discussion, drawing class, green screen workshop and a dating rules/etiquette information session

Staff Involvement

New to the Area Social Opportunities

Post-College Life

Transition from Teens to Adults

Teens aging out of teen services want to continue attending programs with members of their peer group.

Final Thoughts Numbers don’t always matter, especially in the

beginning. This is a great opportunity to try new things and see what sticks.

Some programs will fail, and you might for awhile like you’re constantly having to tweak things and readjust.

Patron feedback can be hugely helpful in deciding in what direction to steer next.

Amy J. Alessio, Katie LaMantia, and Emily Vinci

American Library Association

Facebook Groups Millennial Programming Ideas ALA Think Tank Programming Library Interest Group

Anything Libraries, Colorado https://www.anythinklibraries.org/

Sacramento’s Public Library’s alt+library http://altlibrary.com/

Contact Information Katie LaMantia Emily Vinci klamantia@stdl.org evinci@stdl.org schaumburglibrary.org/nextgen facebook.com/groups/nextgenschaumburg/ nextgen@stdl.org

Questions?

Thank you for attending!

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