Legos with YMCA

May 16, 2019

Free

🆓

Byline

Kat Cook, Youth Services, Keokuk (Iowa) Public Library

The Keokuk Public Library conducts a Lego Club at the library one Wednesday and one Saturday each month.

After meeting with the CEO of the local YMCA to discuss ways our organizations could collaborate and connect our audiences, we decided to replicate our Lego Club at the YMCA.

Advanced Planning

We decided we would start small with a monthly Lego Day at the YMCA. Once a month, children ages 5 and up are invited to the YMCA to free build with Legos. They have the option of completing builder’s challenges (e.g., build your name out of Legos, create the tallest structure you can in a minute, etc.).

This program takes place during the school year but takes summers off to accommodate the library's summer programs.

Marketing

We sent a press release to the local paper, had the event listed on the community calendar, posted it on KeokukEvents.org and created an event page on Facebook. Both the library and the YMCA hung fliers in-house to let people know about the program.

I would promote the YMCA Lego Club during the regular Lego Club at the library, and the YMCA promoted it through their after-school programs.

Budgeting

All the Legos were donated to the library, so we did not have to spend any organizational funds.

Day-of-event Activity

The library Legos need to be transported to the YMCA about 15 minutes early; we then set the bins up in various parts of the room. The event lasts about an hour and a half, and one YMCA staff member helps staff it. If something comes up (illness or staffing issues), either of us can easily run the program alone.

The kids are encouraged to try out one of the building challenges available, as well as free building. After cleaning up, the Legos and the rest of the materials are brought back to the library.

The kids often comment on how excited they are about the amount of Legos we have, while they only have a set or two at home. Parents have been thankful that we’ve offered this program so they don’t feel pressure to continue buying more Lego sets.

Program Execution

This program has anywhere from 2 to 15 kids each month and depends largely on weather and sporting events. People are excited to have the Legos at the Y and were able to learn a lot about the other programs we were offering at the library.

We have established a solid partnership with our local YMCA and have since teamed up for other events. The YMCA cosponsored and hosted a Summer Reading Program event with us. We held a YA Book Club at the YMCA for a few months. They also teamed up with us for National Library Week to offer free day passes to anyone who had a KPL library card.

They are going to continue to do this once a month on a Saturday. We communicate regularly with them about new possibilities!

Advice

Start by reaching out to partner organizations and discuss the goals you both would like to achieve. It is surprisingly easy and fun to find ways of helping each other reach them!