Almost everyone has a program completely fail at least once in their career. In library school, I learned how to build a good program, how to market a program, and how to incorporate elements of diversity into programs, but I didn’t learn how to recover when a program does an absolute belly-flop. Let’s look at three common ways a program might crash and burn (they’ve all happened to me!) and some ways you can salvage your time, supplies, or spirit in the face of program disaster.
Failure #1: The Classic, aka “No One Came to My Program!”
I’ve had programs with zero patron attendance. I’ve also had what I feel like is even worse – a program where just one person attends, and you must decide whether to awkwardly barrel forward with your original program plan or quickly try to change things up for a one-on-one show. Programs that have been handed down to me by upper management have had zero attendance; programs that were my own supposedly brilliant brainchild have also had zero attendance. For example, my “Monsterpiece Theatre” program. This was an idea I thought was amazing, in which I strung up a big red theater curtain for putting on puppet shows and put out tons of supplies for making paper bag monster puppets. I only had one lonely monster friend attend, despite my best attempts at marketing.
A monster in search of a puppet show.
Steps for Recovery:
Take a deep breath. Shake out your feelings of disappointment. Remind yourself that this happens to everyone.
Find out if your library has a policy about cancelling programs in the event of no patronage – do you wait the entire duration of the program, or clean up early?
Investigate where you may have taken a wrong turn. Is there something else going on in the community on that day or time? Would a different schedule be better for your audience? Could you reach your patrons better with a different marketing strategy?
Make a plan for future programs. If this was meant to be recurring, decide how many more times you’re willing to try and see if an audience builds before you give up. It might be three more sessions; it might be zero.
Accept that sometimes, program attendance is out of your control. My library usually has wildly popular baby storytimes, but in our temporary location during a renovation, there just isn’t any patron interest. And that’s okay.
Failure #2: My Performer Didn’t Show Up, aka “The Desperate Scramble”
Maybe they got the date wrong. Maybe they’re having a family emergency. Maybe their car won’t start. Whatever the reason, you’ve got 200 people in your program room and no magician/puppet show/circus act. Unless you’re a secret unicycling juggler, it’s time for some damage control.
Steps for Recovery:
Take a deep breath. Shake those feelings out again. And yes, remind yourself that this happens to everyone.
Bring out an easy and fun program to replace it if you can (make a list of options now so that you don’t have to scramble in the moment). Board games? Legos? The Floor Is Lava ? Open-ended craft supply explosion? Whatever you choose, some patrons will be disappointed, and some will just be happy that they (or their kiddos) have something free to do.
Acknowledge that some kids may have a very difficult time managing their disappointment, or deviating from the plan they thought they had for their day. That’s okay!
Failure #3: My Patrons Hate This Program, aka “I Think I Made a Big Mistake”
Once, I threw an Elephant and Piggie party, complete with carnival games, scavenger hunt, crafts, and an Instagram-worthy giant Elephant and Piggie cut-out photo spot. What I did not know: a neighboring library had recently done a similar program, and they had rented giant Elephant and Piggie costumes so kids could have a “live” character meet-and-greet. I had dozens of patrons complain that we had no meet-and-greet, and while I tried to point out the many fun, free things we did have, I felt like I must have done something wrong to give patrons the wrong expectation.
The Elephant and Piggie photo op was just not the same as a character meet-and-greet.
Another time, I planned what I thought was a cool code-breaking project for my tween book club. They absolutely hated it (it involved a worksheet and felt too much like school), refused to even look at it, and ended up staging a mini-rebellion with chanting and table-banging until I gave up and let them vent at me until their caregivers arrived.
Despite our best intentions, sometimes we plan programs that are just not well-received. Sometimes, like with my book club, we really made a mistake and misunderstood what our patrons wanted from a program. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with us at all. It can be embarrassing. It can be frustrating. After all that emotion recedes, it can also be useful for future program planning.
Steps for recovery:
Deep breaths all around. You know the drill – it happens to everyone!
Take notes on patron feedback, even if you don’t agree with it. I never advertised a costumed meet-and-greet, but patrons still came away expecting it, and while I didn’t agree with those expectations at the time, I was able later to make sure I specified each available activity for every program in the event description, to try and manage those expectations.
Stop and take stock of just how many patrons are disappointed. One patron? Five? Half the crowd? It’s okay to stop a program and shift gears with help from the patrons if a large chunk are unhappy. It’s also okay to recognize that the majority of patrons may be enjoying the program, even if a minority aren’t, and to stay the course.
See if you can involve patrons more in future planning. I started giving my tween book club much more control over what we read and how we spent our meetings, and we had no more protest chanting.
Have you had a program crash and burn? What did you do to recover? It might be awhile before I plan another Elephant and Piggie party!
Today’s blogger is Chelsey Roos . Chelsey is a Children’s Librarian for Santa Clara County Library. They have served on ALSC’s Advocacy and Legislation committee and the Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers committee. Images in this post belong to the author.
This blog relates to ALSC Core Competency III. Programming Skills .
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