Almost two years ago, I was a new librarian at Indiana State University. Naively, I asked the head of reference what kind of event the library planned to welcome students when the fall semester started. “None,” she replied, “but it sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you work on something?” “Be glad to,” I answered (having no idea what I was getting into). Following is our adventure in creating an event to
welcome students to the Cunningham Memorial
Library

Evans, Karen

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Indiana Libraries, Volume 20 Number 2 47CREATING A LIBRARY FAIRby Karen Evans,Indiana State UniversityCREATING A WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY EVENTAlmost two years ago, I was a new librarian atIndiana State University. Naively, I asked the head ofreference what kind of event the library planned towelcome students when the fall semester started.“None,” she replied, “but it sounds like a good idea.Why don’t you work on something?” “Be glad to,” Ianswered (having no idea what I was getting into).Following is our adventure in creating an event towelcome students to the Cunningham MemorialLibrary.PLANNING TEAMTwo librarians and one staff person made up thecore team that was responsible for creating the event.Since this was the first event of this type, we wanted tokeep the core team small, partially for ease in arrangingmeetings, but mainly because it would be easier for asmall group to stay focused on planning the event.Our first task was to decide what type of an event tohave and to outline all that needed to be done in orderto have a successful event. The team decided to call thelibrary welcome event a “fair.” We thought that moststudents would be familiar with this term and wouldassociate a fair with having fun in a non-stressfulsituation.There were many other decisions to be madeincluding the selection of a day and time for the event, atheme, events and displays, games for the students,food and drink, donations from merchants, gift bags forstudents, work schedule for staff, and, of course,publicity.We decided to schedule the fair for two days in lateAugust from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. We wanted to holdthe event very early in the semester, hoping to intro-duce the students to the library and staff in a fun andfriendly atmosphere on a day that did not interfere withany other events at the library.THEMEThe next item on the agenda was to create a themefor the fair. The theme had to satisfy our criteria: tomake the library non-threatening for students, toshowcase the facility and resources, to make the eventavailable to all students from those considered “return-ing” to international, and to have fun. We decided tofind an international theme that would give us manychoices in decorations and library resources to highlightduring the fair. We felt that it was important to choose atheme that encompassed all students and we finallysettled on “Passport to the World” as our theme.EVENTS AND DISPLAYSWe knew that we did not want the students to walkinto the lobby, pick up free food, and then leave. Wewanted them to at least look at the library and theresources available. We needed something to get thestudents into the building and past the lobby and inwhich all students would want to participate. Oursolution was simple. On each floor of the library areceiling to floor window displays cases. We decided touse the window displays to highlight internationalmaterials from the library. We would have studentsanswer one question about the display on each floor.Ok — why would the students want to look at displaysof international materials and answer questions? Prizes!The three questions were on one slip of paper.Queries were formed in simple sentences so studentsnew to the English language would be able to under-stand the questions asked about each display. Studentsadded their name, phone or email address to the slipsof paper. Entry forms stated all three questions had tobe answered correctly to win a prize. Drawings wereheld every hour.On the first floor, the display consisted of variousFodor Travel Guides from the reference section, repre-senting the countries of international students attend-ing Indiana State University. A large world map waspinned to the wall as background along with a list ofweb site addresses for the national libraries around theworld. Copies of the web site addresses were availablefor interested students to pickup. Students had to listone of the Fodor tour guides displayed in the window.The window on the second floor contained adisplay of fiction and non-fiction by American andIndiana Libraries, Volume 20 Number 248international authors along with posters depictingseveral of the authors. Students were asked if a work bya particular author was shown in the display.The government documents librarian created thedisplay for the basement window. The display includedthree maps of the world and international materialsprinted by the United States government. Students wereasked the title of a particular map on display.We also included another simple game that turnedout to be an unbelievable hit with the students.  Fourpaperbacks (bought at a garage sale for 25 cents each)were taped (using clear tape) onto a cardboard base in asquare shape. The center of the square was filled withcandy; clear plastic wrap was placed over the entirepackage. Students had to guess how much candy was inthe square. The winner received the candy and thebooks.Additionally, we scheduled live demonstrations ofwireless technology, a display of information about theRare Books and Inter-Library Loan departments andtours of the library every half hour. Students chose howmuch they wanted to participate. If they wanted to pickup food and leave, there was no pressure to participateany further. We felt that it was important to greet thestudents and to give them the choice of how much theywanted to participate in the fair.FOOD AND DRINKWhen we started planning this event, I sent e-mails toseveral library list-servs asking if other libraries hadattempted this type of event and what advice they wouldoffer. Every answer included food. Food needed to beserved for the event to be a success. We decided to offera plastic bag with 2 cookies or a bag of chips along witha small bottle of water. Staff seated at tables in the lobbyencouraged students to pick up the food (little encour-agement was needed after students realized that theitems were free) and water and continue through thefair. We had no problems with refuse in the library fromwater bottles, chips or cookie bags.DONATIONSWe contacted city merchants to ask for a donationto be used as a prize for the students. The merchantswere very generous in their donations. Coca-Coladonated 250 bottles of water. They even brought in acooler to keep the water cold. Other stores donatedgifts, free haircuts, food coupons, and gift certificates.We tried to ask merchants not usually involved withdonations (beauty salons, flower shops, and an alter-ations store). We had enough gifts to hold drawingsevery half hour for prizes. As a grand prize, to be drawnwhen the fair closed at noon, a parking pass for asemester of free parking on campus was awarded to astudent.The stores we contacted did request a writtenconfirmation about the fair on university letterheadstationary for tax purposes. During the fair, a posterboard listed the donations and the merchants respon-sible. This was an especially good idea since at least onemerchant did appear during the event. We were able topoint out the poster and show him where his donationwas displayed.  After the event, hand written thank younotes were sent to each of the merchants.PUBLICITYThe event was heavily advertised. Colorful postersin the library lobby announced the event.  Flyersannouncing the free event were placed in dormitories,classroom buildings, and the union building. An ad wasWIN A PRIZE! ANSWER EACH QUESTION ABOUT A WINDOW DISPLAY. THE DISPLAYS ARE OPPOSITE THE ELEVATORS ON THEBASEMENT, FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS OF THE LIBRARY. YOU MUST ANSWER ALL THREE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY TOWIN.FIRST FLOOR:  NAME ONE OF THE FODOR TRAVEL GUIDES.SECOND FLOOR:  IS EMILY BRONTE ONE OF THE AUTHORS SHOWN?BASEMENT FLOOR:THERE ARE THREE MAPS SHOWN.  NAME THE MAP ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WINDOW.NAME:__________________________________________________________E-MAIL ADDRESS________________________________________________TELEPHONE______________________________________________________YOU WILL BE CONTACTED IF YOU WIN!!!Indiana Libraries, Volume 20 Number 2 49placed in the student newspaper. Invitations were sentto the President and Provost of the university. On thedays of the event, a banner was placed outside thelibrary to draw students inside.WORKERS FOR THE FAIRStaff were informed of the event at a library meet-ing. E-mails throughout the planning stage kept every-one informed of the progress. Sign-up sheets for theevent were available for staff to sign up to work one-hour shifts. People could choose which area theywanted to work (set-up, food giveaway, prize-sign up,gift bags or clean up). Several of the staff who signed upfor an hour worked much longer — because they werehaving fun.THE DAY OF THE FAIR:GREETING THE STUDENTSFaculty and staff were stationed outside the libraryto welcome students and encourage them to ventureinside for food and prizes. Some of the volunteersoutside wore costumes of their own choosing, greetingstudents with kazoos as they walked along the sidewalkoutside the library. The costumes and props were agreat way to attract the attention of the students. Onelibrarian donned a native Bavarian costume she pur-chased during a trip to Europe which was very appro-priate for the theme of the event. Other faculty and staffdressed in Hawaiian print shirts or large hats. A fewvolunteers blew bubbles to attract the attention ofstudents. Gift bags were handed out to students fromthis location. The gift bags consisted of brown lunchbags containing a bookmark, pencil, sticky note padand a few pieces of candy. Key chains and other freesmall items (highlighters, pens) donated by anotherdepartment on campus completed the gift bags. On theoutside of the bag was a sticker welcoming the studentsto the library.The library lobby was the main stage for the event.Here students were able to pick up free food and drink,pick up answer slips for the window displays to winprizes, and play a game. A large display window held a“Passport to the World” welcome. At a local teachersupply store, we found large paper squares with aborder of international flags. Librarians and staff withforeign language ability printed international greetingsof “Welcome” and “Hello” on the various squares forthe window. Also displayed were CD covers of interna-tional music. A librarian who collects flags from all overthe world volunteered his flags for display in thewindow. The welcome window set a great tone for thefair. Staff sat at the tables in the lobby, handing out foodand drink and encouraging the students to participatein the different activities of the fair.The first fair was a great success according to staff,library administration, and most importantly, thestudents of the university. Between 750 and 900students participated in the two-day event. Althoughthe number may seem low, compared to the totalenrollment (about 11,000), we realized there wereadditional factors to consider. Not every student is oncampus every day, some students go directly to theirclassroom (which may be on the other side of campus)and do not venture any further than they have to, andsome students choose not to participate in campusevents. But the students who did participate felt thatthis was a success and told us that they thought it wasgreat we were doing this. It broke the ice for the stu-dents and the staff, allowing them to interact in asituation which was fun and non-threatening.  WHAT WE ARE CHANGING FOR THIS YEARWe are planning the event for 2002. We havelearned from last year, and will be changing somethings. This year, the event is scheduled for only oneday and will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., givingstudents the opportunity to stop by during their lunchhours.Since the books filled with candy were so success-ful, we may make this a tradition at every fair.  But, wehave learned to put the books and candy togetherseveral days before the fair in order to let the candysettle and then add more candy before sealing theproject with plastic wrap. Last year, we offered cookiesand chips. We learned that the chips were much morepopular than the cookies, so this year, we will offer avariety of chips and no cookies.We also decided that we should not contact thesame merchants every year for prizes and we will lookfor different ones to solicit this year. Some of the bestprizes (according to students) last year were the basketsor small boxes filled with candy or chips and softdrinks. We have decided to create some of our own giftsthis year and are thinking about putting together smallbaskets filled with food or academic items studentsalways need. One idea is a small basket filled withmicrowave popcorn, cola and a voucher for a movierental. Another might be a small container filled withhighlighters, pens, a notebook and some candy.It is difficult to estimate the number of studentswho will attend this type of an event. Last year, westarted off with 750 gift bags, but ran out on the secondday. Although the students were good-natured aboutmissing gift bags, we plan on creating 1,000 gift bagsthis year.This coming fall, we also want to highlight thelibrary and resources more heavily. We plan to empha-size tours (a good way for students to learn whatresources the library has and where they are located).We want to spice up the tours by hinting of past ghostIndiana Libraries, Volume 20 Number 250sightings or the location of the tarantula found by a staffmember earlier this year. Plans are also in the works tocreate a continuously looping videotape of the libraryshowcasing databases and reference materials availablein the library.Finally, we can offer two big tips to help yousucceed in planning a library fair. The first (and the onewe plan to follow this year) is to start planning early.We had about three months to plan the event last year.While it was successful, we rushed to complete every-thing in time for the fair.  The second tip is to organize.We started with a three ring binder, labeling anddividing into the following areas: Possible Games, Foodand Drink, Merchants Contacted, Merchant Letters,Thank you notes, Gifts Received and Window Displays.The binder enabled us to keep track of our progressand serves as an excellent record of the event.The Library Fair is an event we plan to continue. Itis an excellent opportunity to showcase the library andlibrary materials. Most important, it is a chance tointroduce the library and staff to students in a friendly,stress-free environment.For further information, contact Karen Evans atlibevak@isugw.indstate.edu.

Creating a Library Fair

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