Pop-up Libraries: Out of the Stacks and into the Community

Are you looking for creative new ways to raise awareness of your services and engage the members of your community who might not use the library? Pop-ups are a powerful tool for boosting library visibility and actively engaging with non-users. By getting out of the stacks and into your community you can provide access to services and collections at highly visible, well-trafficked spaces.

Participants in this course will learn, step-by-step, how to plan and stage an engaging and immersive pop-up library that represents the breadth of collections, services and programming offered by their libraries.

As a result of this course, learners will be able to:

• Plan a pop-up library on practically any budget
• Identify optimal locations within the library's community for pop-up events
• Determine staff, equipment, and materials required to stage a successful pop-up
• Utilize programming to engage visitors and create new library users
• Use your pop-up as a marketing tool to increase library visibility and attract new users

Course Description: This two-week course will provide students with the knowledge they need to plan and stage an effective pop-up library, on any budget, and in any community. Through course readings, online discussions, weekly assignments and two live online meetings you will learn how to identify effective sites in your community for staging a pop-up, estimate the staff, materials and budget necessary to run it, and tips and tricks for making your pop-up an appealing, immersive experience that represents all your library has to offer. Course instructors will be available to answer questions, and give detailed feedback on assignments.

Online Meetings:
Meeting One: June 8, 2017, Noon, Pacific Time.
Meeting Two: June 15, 2017, Noon, Pacific Time.

Note: Please make every effort to ensure that you are able to attend these two meetings before enrolling in the course. If this is not possible, archived recordings will be made available.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Planning a Pop-up Library
  • Why pop-up libraries?
  • Books and beyond: dynamic pop-ups that reflect the breadth of services at your library
  • Assessing and identifying the best locations for your pop-up
  • Determining the size and scope of your pop-up library
  • Staffing, budgeting and logistical considerations
• Week 2: Implementing Your Pop-up Library
  • Developing engaging, site-appropriate programming
  • Curating a pop-up collection
  • Creating an appealing, immersive pop-up space
  • Marketing your pop-up/Using your pop-up as marketing

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2 ½ hours per week, for a total of five course hours. Each week's module contains an online meeting, readings, and various options for assignments and discussions. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Library staff involved in community outreach, programming and marketing.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.

Keywords: Circulation, Outreach, Public services