Quick Summary
- Libraries can celebrate National Book Month with five creative programs, including trivia nights, story strolls, and book-beverage pairings.
- NoveList Plus helps staff deliver on-the-spot readers’ advisory and find perfect book recommendations.
- Both in-person and passive programs boost engagement and highlight the joy of reading.
October is National Book Month in the U.S., but you can celebrate a month of reading anywhere you are. It's all about the importance of reading, writing, and literature, and also pumpkin spice lattes (no shame). The National Book Foundation is the driving force behind the observance, and the nominations for the annual National Book Awards are announced in October, too.
In honor of one of our favorite months, here are five program ideas — using some help from NoveList Plus — to celebrate the world of bound paper and ink!
Interactive, in-person program ideas
Program Idea #1: Book Matchmaking
Here’s the idea: This open-house style event encourages your readers to “get matched” with a book. Your readers can come in, get into a line, and talk with the staff or volunteer. It’s a readers’ advisory program, done on the spot.
Picture your largest program space. Fill it with tables. Put a library staff member or volunteer at each table (especially those who know their way around NoveList or NoveList Plus) and give them a laptop. Pull up NoveList Plus on each laptop, and now your program is ready to go.
NoveList Plus can be there to help you if you can’t think of a recommendation off the top of your head. You could even have short questionnaires at the door for participants to fill out, which could help you find them a great recommendation. Ideally, participants can then check out that book, or they can put it on hold.
This program could also be part of a larger event held by your library, too. Here’s how the New York Public Library did it.
Need to help train your staff or volunteers on NoveList Plus before the program? Here are some training resources.
Program Idea #2: Book Nerd Trivia Night
Bring out your community’s inner bookworm with a lively Book Nerd Trivia Night — a low-cost, high-fun event that can be as simple or elaborate as you like. Whether you host it in-person or virtually, this program is a great way to engage readers of all ages and showcase your library’s love of literature.
Organize a trivia night with multiple rounds of questions across categories like:
- Buzzy Books: Use the Books with Buzz carousel in NoveList Plus to find titles making headlines and quiz participants on plot points, authors, or adaptations.
- Classic Lit: Test knowledge of iconic lines, characters, or authors.
- Genre Grab Bag: Include questions about mysteries, sci-fi, romance, or horror. The genre guides inside NoveList Plus are a great resource for coming up with these questions.
- Book-to-Screen: Ask about books that became movies or shows.
- Library Lore: Add a local twist with questions about your library’s history or collection.
Offer small prizes like library-themed swag. You can even partner with a local bookstore or café for sponsorship or prize donations.
Program Idea #3: Storytime Strolls
You’ve probably seen these before. Known as Storytime Strolls, or StoryWalks™, they became popular during COVID, when none of us could do a storytime indoors. Library staff got creative and pasted picture book pages onto signs that they stuck into the ground next to sidewalks and park paths.
Then, a community member can walk the path from start to finish and read the book as they walk. The books chosen for these storytimes could be for children or adults. The installation of the signs is either permanent (you might need a permit for that) or temporary (you might just need permission, if not on library grounds). It’s lighthearted and sweet and such a nice surprise when you’re not expecting it.
We love this “how we did it” write-up from Georgia Public Library Services about this program. They’ve even got some example language they used when contacting publishers to ask permission to use a story on their story strolls (since pages cannot be scanned or reproduced without permission ).
These programs make lovely passive programs for everyone and, when hosted somewhere outside library grounds, are great at reaching people who aren’t cardholders.
Program Idea #4: Bling-a-Book
Step back in time (there’s some debate about when bedazzling first became A Thing) and get ready to bedazzle the cover of your favorite book. Fun for tweens and up!
In this craft program, participants are asked to bring in their own book or journal (unless the library is able to provide them) to decorate with gems and rhinestones. Various posts on the Programming Librarian Interest Group on Facebook recommend that libraries use the standard “Diamond Dotz” glue for this program, and not use adhesives that give off fumes. The program puts the focus right on books, heaps on the nostalgia, and attendees get something pretty to take home at the end.
Program Idea #5: Book and Beverage Pairings Events
This program is probably just for grown-ups, unless you make the event alcohol-free. Partner up with a winery, teahouse, or beverage distributor for this program, unless you’ve got a big budget. Plan a selection of wines and/or teas and do a tasting event! At each station, a book (or selection of books) will be displayed as a pairing with that beverage.
Here’s where NoveList Plus can help: Under the Discover NoveList drop-down menu, click on Appeal factors index. There you’ll find a list of all the appeal factors used in NoveList Plus to categorize books. Using what you see (and maybe sitting down with someone who really knows about wine or tea), assign a selection of books to each of the beverages you’ll serve at your event.
For example:
- Perfect with a dark, moody, tannin-rich wine, NoveList Plus might suggest books with Brooding characters, an Atmospheric style, or a Serious mood.
- If your tea is green and grassy and flavored with fruit, NoveList Plus might suggest books with Likeable characters, a Feel-good mood, and a Fun read style.
- If your wine is pink and bubbly and sweet, NoveList Plus might suggest books with a Banter-filled and Character-driven style, an Upbeat mood, and Mischievous characters.
Use the appeals you choose to search for titles to pair with your beverages, and et voila, you’ve got a fun program! Learn more about finding books by story element on NoveList here.
Passive programs for National Book Month
Book programs during October don’t all have to be on a certain date or time. Passive programs fit the bill, too:
- Run a mini reading program with “Genre Bingo”. Print out small bingo cards and have participants check off a square when they read a book in a different genre. Completed entries go into a drawing for a prize! NoveList Plus can help you and your readers find books in genres you or they aren’t familiar with. LibraryAware customers can find bingo card templates ready and waiting to get started.
- Or set up a “Battle of the Books” display and have books compete against each other tournament style, like March Madness. Whichever book gets the most votes wins each face-off. LibraryAware customers, you can get instant help with this one. Bracket templates are available, too.
- Hold a “Scavenger Hunt in the Stacks” at school libraries. Help kids get used to navigating Nonfiction by having a list of Dewey decimal codes that the kids have to track down titles for. All completed hunts go into a drawing for a free ice cream cone or a free book.
Leigh Gaddy is a Marketing Specialist for NoveList. She is re-reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown.
