Category: Storytimes

Polly Mahoney from the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth, NH reports having great success in transferring their story time to an outdoor format. For helpful hints and some of their favorite outdoor story times:

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Thank you to all who shared their ideas!  Follows is a compilation for everyone:

We’ve been making book bundles since we opened at the beginning of June. We are allowing one family/adult in at a time to an area blocked off that contains only holds and one display for children, one for teens and one and a half for adults. We also have put a cart outside for those parents/kids waiting in the socially distant line to browse more kids stuff before they come in. 

The children’s bundles have been WILDLY popular. We make picture book bundles, children’s fiction, children’s graphic novels, board books, audiobooks (playaways and cd), DVD, nonfiction and easy readers. We also make picture books and board books in spanish or bilingual. We have a square display and we put easy readers & picture books on one side, graphic novels on the second, chapter books on the third and nonfiction on the fourth. On the top we put one each of the board books, audiobooks, DVD. 

ALL bundles have four items in them, selected on some kind of theme. No activities, bookmarks or worksheets in them. We don’t limit how many bundles a person can take. We use just rubber bands to keep the four items together and we ask the patrons to put the rubber bands in a container when they check out their bundles. We spritz the bands with a disinfectant before reusing them. We do have a special status for book bundles, but we also could just put them on any display status we like, as we only have the one display, really! We have an area with bundles we’ve premade so we can refill the display super fast.

 We make bundles all day long, they go out so fast! Kids and adults have told us that they want us to still keep making them when we open up more fully. We’ve had kids and adults say that the librarian-selected, limited supply of bundles have shown them books that they never would have found on their own but that are a big hit at home. 

For a more personalized bundle kind of thing, we tell patrons they can call us and ask for 5-10 books on a topic of their choice for the ages they need and we’ll just pull what we have and put those items on the hold shelves for pickup. 

A couple libraries I’ve worked in have done book bundles every so often. One library did fiction, nonfiction, and a music CD or audiobook. Each one was formed around a certain theme or author, labeled in the computer (temporary call number change) and on the items with removable colored label tape (also with theme), and physically bundled together with string or paper strips. They were assembled and on display every so often in the youth dept for checkout. Patrons would check out the entire bundle.

My current library also does similar bundles in youth services periodically. We pull a selection of picture books, nonfiction, and easy readers. They get temporary call number changes (to reflect the bundle’s theme), temporary label tape on the spines (also with theme) and a laminated flag inside the top book with the bundle’s theme/clipart image.They’re then bundled together with string. They are available periodically throughout the year when I need a display. Patrons can choose a single book out of the bundle, if needed, and individual titles are also pulled to fill holds. So it doesn’t work as cleanly as my previous library bc staff has to keep up on adding new items (if available) when individual titles are taken.

Currently we are offering a book bundle option for patrons during our curbside/limited services operations. Patrons can select items for adults, teens, or kids using a Google form that asks questions about what they’re looking for. We don’t include activities, crafts, or additional items in these bundles; they are strictly library materials (magazines, books, dvds, audiobooks, etc).

 Apologies for the length of this, but I’m going to tell you how we started, which was fun in it’s own way. Then what we are doing now—hope one of these descriptions is helpful. 

Originally, we started book bundles several years ago; these started as something generic rather than specific to a particular patron.  We used to pick a subject, pull 5 books (sometimes audio versions, but only books).  The barcodes for each item would be copied, cut out and taped together on one piece of paper for the convenience of Circulation staff. This way the bag wouldn’t have to be dismantled for checkout and ruin the surprise factor. On the tag we would write in pen a one word description and age the bundle would be good for (e.g. “Trucks preK-1^st gr”).

The books were placed in the bag along with one or two “surprises” (usually some little thing left over from SRP).  We used bags from Upstart, but any would work. The envelope would be attached to the bag with a ribbon—we would punch a hole in the corner of the envelope to string the ribbon to. The ribbon would be tied at the top of the bag in a way to discourage peeking. There were only a few times we had to ask someone not to peek, most people understood the idea right away.

The bags were placed around the department on top of shelves—lower shelves so they were accessible.  They were first come first serve and we only put out a few at a time. They were very popular with some patrons—though in addition to a few trying to look before checking out, we did have one or two where the patron –usually a middle schooler—who would check one out and then immediately return the books and keep the “prize”.  A bit surprising considering that the “prize” was not anything too expensive, just something we would have gotten from Oriental Trading. 

Last spring, a librarian started “Binge Boxes” for kids in 5^th grade and up. Similar to Book Bundles, except that they were customized to the individual.  The patron would fill out a form, telling us what kind of books they were interested in and also if there was something to avoid.

This information included genre and examples of books they had liked and those they hadn’t.  Also whether they’d be interested in an audio book; We also asked fiction or nonfiction—it was nice to be able to feature some really good books that just weren’t circing as well as introduce a series they may not have known about.   We did the barcodes in the same way for these, to keep the surprise in-tact.

Since for these, we included some snack(s), we would ask if there were any food allergies we should be aware of. NOTE: when this was started, we were including full sized candy. Once the popularity took off we quickly switched to a few pieces of the fun-sized variety. 

We ordered boxes for the purpose that were often decorated by staff with washi tape and markers. NOTE: Some of our more artistic librarians really got into this; once they became popular the decorating was not as elaborate.  The box was theirs to keep with the understanding that if they wanted another box, they would return the box for refilling rather than get a whole new box. This was PreCOVID of course. 

We put a few pieces of tissue paper to line the box, and make it more gift-like.  In addition to the candy, we again included some giveaways ordered from OT.

These boxes were so popular, we had many adults wishing out-loud that we would do this for them.  When the Adult Services department started making them, we of course had younger children wanting them too.

That is when we started customizing Book Bundles.  Using a similar form, we started offering them to school age children. We do a lot of programming for PreK, so at first they weren’t included; though if someone asked specifically, we would make one for a younger child.

Our plan was to take a break from both for the Summer.  Our usual Summer programming takes up way too much time to devote time to this very popular service.

But then COVID hit…

As we were scrambling to figure out how to offer services through this, we realized we would be extremely limited in our options.  That is when we decided to use much of our budget for summer programming and apply it to Binge Boxes for all ages.  It has been a great way to keep the community engaged and our collection circulating. 

The big differences:

• We were able to have boxes printed with our logo etc. We also include a note reminding that the due date for the books is written on the box and that we hope they will reuse or recycle the box, but not to return it to us.
• We also put the form online for patrons to fill out, which minimized contact.
• Rather than scan the barcodes, the patron would include their Library card number.  We checked the items out to them, adding a week to the due date.  The understanding is that they will pick up the box within a week of getting our email that it is ready. 
• Shortly after this was launched, we limited patrons to one per month. 

This has been SO popular that a lot of us felt almost as busy as we would with Summer Reading in a normal year!

I hope something in this book-that-pretends-to-be-an-email is helpful to you.  Let me know if you need clarification on anything. 

We’ve been offering Preschool Book Bundles for about 6 weeks, and they’ve been quite popular.  We have been offering curbside pick-ups and 30-minute browsing appointments.  I noticed that parents of preschoolers were having a difficult time placing items on hold because they are so used to just browsing the shelves.  Many of our families are not ready to come in for an actual browsing appointment yet.  Enter Book Bundles!

We include 2 pictures books, 1 non-fiction book, and an easily reproduced activity sheet to go in each bundle.  We allow families to check out 2 bundles at a time, although we could probably up that to 3 at this point.  Topics have included things like colors, shapes, dogs, cats – but also New York City, Diversity, and seasonal topics.   

We pull our activities from online resources.  I include two of each activity so more than one child can participate. 

I bought plastic bags from Amazon and use those to package the bundles.  We haven’t found a way to catalog these bundles (since they are temporary and are using books cataloged in our collection), so patrons do have to call and request a bundle.  They are able to choose by topic. 

Families with young kiddos have really loved these – especially families that aren’t quite ready to visit us in person. 

We began creating Book Bundles when the library open for Library Takeout in June. 

We created Google Forms for 

Picture Books (https://forms.gle/z1KXJiWmWN7y6tHr8), 

Grade School (https://forms.gle/rmnVXTtNweDRybSM9), 

Tween (https://forms.gle/QuA9rDoeCRd2tFSUA), 

Teen (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKSzYW3tqniOAmoBbMd0ch-0_5DDfh20w5fdPE2In63zbiSg/viewform), 

Adult (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdB_84r4icyB_sX-eJI7e78YRuxRFXuucSwMlxY7AS-QoO1ng/viewform), 

Music (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4Yl8XC-SptsolayIKKuZ6aoi1TdH5aTISarRXGmpLIhuaAg/viewform)

Patrons fill out the forms and we create the Bundles. Originally, we pre-made the Bundles, but we discovered that it is easier to create the bundles on request. 

Picture Book Bundles include 5-10 books (all will contain picture books; some will contain easy readers and nonfiction). They also include bookmarks, stickers, and a craft for each child. We ordered craft kits from Oriental Trading.

Grade School Book Bundles include 3 – 5 fiction books (and will include nonfiction on request), bookmark and craft.

Tween Book Bundles include 3 – 5 fiction books (and will include nonfiction on request), bookmark and craft.

This has been one the easier (albeit time-consuming) and most popular services we have ever offered, and will continue when the library reopens. The patrons love it (especially families with young kids), and we have a great time putting the bundles together. We have discovered that mermaids, unicorns, dinosaurs, farm animals, and forest animals are our most popular subjects for picture books. The older kids like fantasy, friendships, and sports. Many of the older kids have read books they would not normally pick and discovered new series.

Once the Bundle is complete, we email the patron and ask them to set up an appointment for pickup. The day of the pickup, we check out all the books to patron, and deliver it to their car when they arrive. It is really nice to be able to see some of our families (even through the back of the car) and say “hey” to our Storytime kids.

To date, we have circulated 263 Bundles (Picture Book, Grade School, and Tween).

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

We have books in large ziploc bags. I have 3 books and they’re sorted by reading level/ topic. I have picture books through Middle School summer reading books (we are not circulating board books at this time due to the extended time the virus lives on them). I have fiction/nonfiction as well as some that are just graphic novels (grouped by age). With school about to start, the Emergent reader ones have become extremely popular! I hope this helps!

Hi there – we are doing book bundles for elementary age kids. The most popular ones are the characters they know – Pinkalicious, My Little Pony, Pete the Cat, etc. We try to pick a theme (sports, exercise, yoga, ballerinas, unicorns, music, etc). We do include DVD’s if we have them to match our theme.

I advertise through Facebook and email. Mostly the little kids take them out. Good luck!

We offer two different types of bundles at our branch.

Story Time Kits include 3 books, craft supplies, and a sheet with additional activities.  We currently offer 13 different themes.  We’ve had as few as 8 and as many as 15.  We chose our themes based on crafts we had leftover from previous story times.  I then created the activity sheets based on those topics.  I’ve attached a sample of one of the activity sheets.  If you would like to see more of them just let me know. 

Book Bundles are just books.  We have a google form that is filled out where patrons can request different types of books from picture books (awards, beginning readers, bedtime, series, etc), juvenile fiction (mystery, animals, fantasy, etc.), teen fiction (mystery, horror, fantasy, etc), and juvenile nonfiction (they need to type in topics they’re interested in).  They can also add a DVD or bluray if they like.  They can request up to three bundles on a form for a total of 15 books.

We restrict patrons to one Story Time Kit and Book Bundle per week.  We also require them to pick them up at our branch – we won’t transfer them to another branch. 

You can see our forms at https://www.jeffcolib.org/library-events/arnold-branch-kids-teens-events. 

 We have been doing this mostly for kids. We do a couple different ones:

DIY Storytime Kit – three books on a theme, a sheet with rhymes/fingerplays/whatever, crafts, and sometimes a CD. (I attached a sample of the sheet for you)

Tween/Teen Book Subscription – like a subscription box, I do two books per month with a snack and an activity/craft – for this I ask the kids what types of books they like to read to select the titles

We also had kits in our collection before COVID that check out as ONE item: inside a clear plastic tote there are three books, manipulatives, and songs/rhymes on a theme.

The only issue we have is that if people aren’t actually coming in to the library to see the bundles, they don’t know we have them, and if they do, they can’t request them without calling us. Since the new bundles aren’t in our ILS as an item, there isn’t a way for a patron to place a hold by themselves.

I’ve also been making PDF booklists that link to our catalog–so patrons can see books on a topic and easily place holds without having to search. I’ve attached one of those too.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/jrjtXDzSMgpksvMpgxcZWczvhmnNSKfWGktLMgKBsJKRswkdklXNvQrDTVZkBVjwGrfGfBKl?compose=CgrPJRklqFdjlkkwNGSphQwKJcMRqxVRPhqBwQfcVnBhNFSMvbvwwBsVRxrvJnqQlqhsDdWSdfSDvgwwWNZrxmhDjMrRClDFkntsKXpvHpBvnrgkVSMwdWFVNdZznCXsKVMmlvfwmFQPkCcJztvNJTZKtzjcrsHNNrFJjqkQQwPj

We started offering Book Bundles in July.  https://www.bedfordlibrary.net/2020/06/24/kids-book-bundles/

Although they aren’t flying off the shelves, there’s been steady interest in them.  We include 2-4 books in each bundle, and families are welcome to invent their own bundle topics.  We try to keep one or two preselected bundles available for each topic, and we rebuild the bundles as soon as one is requested.  Sometimes, a family will request 10+ bundles, and we email them to ask if they really want 30+ books or if they’d like a smaller number.

If your library is primarily serving patrons by filling holds, I recommend changing the bundled books to a non-requestable status or simply checking them out to a dummy account.  (We check them out to a departmental account.)  Our daily paging list is long enough that we can’t hunt and peck through the waiting bundles to find requested books.

Advertising has been our toughest obstacle.  We have the bundles on our website, we occasionally send reminders to social media, and we include a printed flyer in every bag of children’s books that we fill for curbside pickup.  I think we’re still missing a lot of local families.

Right now, our bundles only contain books, and we sometimes include a related booklist.  We’re considering a “storytime in a bag” option that would also include rhymes and a simple craft, but we aren’t past the ideas phase.

We aren’t open for browsing, but I expect that the bundles will be really helpful for grab-and-go topics once we do allow the public into the building.

 I saw your question on PUBYAC about book bundles at libraries. We’ve been doing bundles for a few weeks now, and it’s going pretty well. We have a display in our children’s room. Currently my department (i.e. children’s) is the only area doing bundles. We have themed displays for adults. As far as bundles go, we use H-bands to put them together with little cards that are re-writable, so we can easily reuse them. We don’t really do AV, because that doesn’t seem to be of interest to people. Sometimes certain non-fiction topics go (pretty much animals or Lego books), but we mostly stick to popular picture book items like Pete the Cat, Dr. Seuss, Elephant + Piggie goes like gang busters. Sometimes certain comic books go if they’re really popular. Readers are not usually a hit, and we don’t bother with most chapter books, because they’re physically difficult to bundle. We feature them on book cradles on a display shelf we have on the floor. Hope that helps. If you have any other questions let me know. We date them as well, because sometimes certain bundles don’t go out, and we want to remove them after 2 weeks if they don’t move.

I just wanted to share how we do our Book Bundles.  I found the tags a few years ago on Storytime Underground and we have been using some blanks to just

write the titles of bundles right now instead of using the ones with graphics.  We are mostly bundling our picture books but have done some fairy tales and board books.

I can send a sheet of blank tags if you are interested, that just have the cute border for the tags. The first time we laminated the tags and used ribbon to tie them together. Now we are using rubber bands, only selecting 3 books and the tags have the pretty border but we write the theme in marker on them and it’s ok if they get thrown away.

We keep track of the books in bundles using an excel sheet. I have different tabs for bundles at our Branch and for board books.

I can attach a list of bundles we have made so far. It’s too much data to send the spreadsheet but I have a word doc list.

I think my recent favorites are the Clubs bundle, Interactive bundle and there’s one I call “mistaken Identity” with the books

Bark George, Skippyjon Jones, and the Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse.

Erin Isabell
Youth Services Manager
225 West Main Street | Platteville, WI  53818
608-348-7441 ext 3 
childrens@plattevillepubliclibrary.org| plattevillepubliclibrary.org