A partnership made up of Nottinghamshire Libraries, Adult Community Learning Services, local colleges et al with "transformational fund" support started planning "Nottinghamshire Loves Learning" weekend in October 2009.
The objective of the weekend was to provide a quality informal learning opportunity in all communities with a population of over 1000. The events would take place over the valentine weekend 13th -15th February 2010.
Libraries
A small project group was set up made up of members of both development and operational teams.
Our objectives were to:
- Host a minimum of 30 events
- At least 3 of the events would be on the Sunday
- The events would either be aimed at just adults or would be aimed at intergenerational groups. No events would be for just children
- The programme would be made up of 3 themes:
- A Sense of Place
- Music and Performance
- Arts and crafts
- Events should aim to attract at least 10 participants even in very small communities
The final programme actually included 35 events. Many of which were one offs but there were a series of Local History Events that we replicated at a few venues. There was also a mixture of events we created and delivered ourselves and events that we paid others to deliver.
The programmed included:
- Antique Antics with Eric Knowles
- Sculpture workshops
- Dance workshops
- Fancy a crafty weekend
- Community singing
- Learn to play chess
- Guitar lessons
- Local history workshops
- Relaxation techniques
- Play music with a skiffle band
- Song writing
Results
We attracted 750 people to our events. The events were of high quality and evaluations were very positive. They attracted new library users. Our profile was significantly improved with items appearing on all local radio stations and in local papers. Unfortunately there was little interest from the television companies.
Lessons learned
Having a well known name to headline your programme is expensive but does pay off. Not only do people attend that event in significant numbers but:
- More people will pick up the brochure because of that person's face on it
- It increases the profile of the whole event
- It generates more interest in the media i.e. gives them somebody to interview, photograph etc
- It generates excitement amongst the staff and that excitement is conveyed to the public
- Non-library users are more likely to cross the threshold
Working with partners is valuable but have back up plans if they don't deliver or if they don't deliver on deadline
It is difficult to identify which sort of event worked best because similar events got different responses i.e. Swing Dance was well supported but tap dance wasn't. With variables like venue, community etc. it's not always easy to draw conclusions. However craft events where people could just "drop-in" on were universally successful. I think these events worked well because not only did they attract people to the event itself but they also appealed to people who had come to the library on other business but then felt free to join in. This didn't happen with the more structured events.
It goes without saying but the enthusiasm of local staff both in the run up to and during the event makes a huge difference. Make sure staff understand what the event is about, why we are doing it and what you need from them.
People are willing to travel so publicize all the events in one brochure, don't assume that they will only be interested in their local events.
Delivering quality requires imagination, enthusiasm, commitment and money. Don't try to do things on the cheap. If money is tight then concentrate it on an headline act and good marketing.
Our programme was too big i.e. it took a lot of managing especially when we were working to a tight series of deadlines.
Share the work as equally as possible amongst all members of the project team. As project manager this is something I could have managed better.
People will attend events on a Sunday even in a town where shops aren't open. We were told that people didn't come into town on the Sunday and it wouldn't be worth putting on an event. We proved that wasn't the case, we got good numbers on the Sunday
Don't underestimate people's ability to make even the most ambitious idea work. The biggest risks often have the most successful outcome. Don't play safe.
Conclusions
An excellent event that succeeded in raising the profile of Libraries
No comments:
Post a Comment