A presentation that discusses how a medium-sized single location library can create dynamic and successful programs on a minimal budget. Presented in August 2008 to the Nevada Library Association.

1. Janie L. Hermann, Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ Implementing High Impact Programs on a Shoestring Budget  NLA 2008  Bridging the Gap  Las Vegas, NV 

2. What is a Shoestring? Depends on a variety of factors such as overall size of operating budget, programming budget and total population served One library’s shoestring is another’s pot of gold Free (except for staff time) is the ideal shoestring budget program My Rule of Thumb: Under $200 for small libraries Under $400 for medium libraries Under $750 for large libraries

4. Programming at Princeton Public Library Single-branch municipal library in heart of downtown State-of-the-art 58,000 square foot building opened in April 2004 Staff: 54 FTE Population: 31,000 Cross-departmental programming team comprised of 15 staff members Programming provided for all ages from infants to seniors “ Traditional” in-house programs as well as community outreach and virtual programs Number of Programs in 2007 1,718 Program Attendance 42,830

5. Expand How do you define programming ?

6. Rome wasn’t built in a day … Programming for adults takes time to grow – there will be failures as well as success along the way. Be patient. If you build it they will come (eventually).

7. High Tech, Low Cost Extend your programming reach with technology: Interactive blogs and wikis Podcasting Technology Talks Video and Photo Contests Gaming Nights Student Film Festival Customized Social Network

10. Create an Interactive Adult Summer Reading Club for Free! Princeton Public Library used a wiki to capture reviews in 2006 (we now use the review feature in our online catalog). Many libraries have set up book review blogs and post reviews from members throughout the summer Steal this next idea – a video contest on YouTube!

11. Video Review Contest YouTube Channel: Free Prizes – donations may be possible, if not the cost is relatively low: Flip Video Camera $150 MP3 Players $50-$75 Benefits: Great PR Tool Interactive Encourages Creativity Promotes new Technology Fun!

14. Create community, online conversations, virtual programs and promote library events and news by leveraging the power of Ning.com to create a customized FREE social networking site for your library.

16. Become the Community’s Living Room Ongoing monthly programs build connections and create meaning Impact is not just high attendance – it is about creating something meaningful for those who attend Be open to all possibilities and build programs that can be self-sustained with the use of volunteers Examples at PPL: Scrapbooking Circle Socrates Café ESL Conversation Groups Book Journeys SCORE

17. Partnerships are Key Who can you work with to provide free, high quality programming? Almost Anyone! Theatres and Art Museums Colleges, universities and schools Poetry and writing groups Local clubs and community organizations Business and networking groups Computer Clubs

21. Election Night at the Library Rubik’s Cube Competition Watch the World Cup on the Big Screen Synchronized Screening Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon