The
Great Big Holiday Card
The Great Big Holiday Card
#1 – Filled Out by Patrons
At either the front entrance or near the Circulation Desk, have a huge Holiday
Card ( 6' x 6' or larger, if you have the space) with the words "What You
Love About The Holidays" at the top.
Encourage patrons to fill out a small form that lists their 3 favorite things
about the holidays, with a space for their name. Have them add their favorite
list to the card. Enjoy watching your patrons list their holiday favorites and
watch as others take a few moments to read what other members of the community
have said. Perhaps you could give everyone that fills out a form a candy cane
or holiday bookmark as a thank you for participating.
Proudly display your card through the holiday season and keep the area around
it neat and clean.
Kids love this idea. You may consider making a separate one for them in the
Children's Department with some pictures for them to color on the form.
The Great Big Holiday Card #2 – Filled Out by Library Staff
This Holiday Card is a gift to the patrons from your employees. It is
also located in a high traffic/visibility area in your library. Create a form
for your employees to write down "Things that our patrons do that I am
thankful for". You could also make this the title of the card.
Have your employees write down specific patron behaviors that they like. For
example:
> I love it when a patron asks for help and allows me to guide them to the
resource they are looking for!
> I always smile when a patron says "Thank You" to me.
> I like it when a patron is pleasant about paying a fine for returning
materials late.
> I love it when a patron brings us some cookies or baked goods!
***** Extremely Important*****
Have the employees phrase things positively. Anything that contains
don't, isn't, can't, etc., needs to be rewritten and phrased in the positive.
To help your employees, keep a thesaurus with synonyms and antonyms close by
and encourage them to use it.
Give the task of making the card to your
creative folks and make sure everyone has fun in the process.
The Great Big Holiday Card will help to make your patrons feel like they are
home for the holidays...in your library!
These ideas came
from the Library~Connect E- Newsletter, published by Andrew Sanderbeck.