If You Want to Throw a Star Party, Part 2: 2 months out

I would be remiss if I left out at this juncture the fact that Star Party was so, so far from a one-woman job. It was really a team effort, and I would like to say a big “thank you!” to the whole Collier staff. My manager Julia did a lot and thought of many things that I would not have. Regular volunteers at our branch and our amazing summer intern helped immensely with preparations.

To request volunteers for the day of the event, Julia contacted Andrea Lawrence through the Volunteer Request form: Intranet->Community Engagement->side bar->Volunteer Request.  She requested volunteers for the day of, to help with final preparations (decorating, last-minute craft prep, snack prep, setup), as well as during the event (manning tables, ensuring smooth flow, assisting participants, clean-up).

At this time, I started prepping the display that would go in the kids area. I wanted it to go up one month before the star party, to generate space excitement and provide an opportunity for telling people about it. I started putting books on hold, and decided what I wanted my display to look like: starry background, moon, Stephen Hawking quote. Collier’s summer intern, Agnes, really did an awesome job putting it together.

Materials: foam core board (special order through NL Admin), black butcher paper from Create HPL, Cricut-cut letters, die-cut stars, glitter paint

Our whole branch got into it, and Cyrano put up a space-themed display in the adult area, too!

Two months out, I created a passive program, a “Star Search” treasure hunt through the library. If you’re interested I can share it with you.

At this time, you should also decide what all you want to have: photo booth, snacks, crafts, etc. We decided we wanted a photo booth with props, so Agnes and volunteers started working on those at around this time (Agnes made the totally bomb astronaut helmets). We chose our crafts: galaxy jars (http://www.momdot.com/diy-nebula-jar-instructions/) and phases of the moon flip books (http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2014/11/phases-of-moon-flip-book_21.html).

Stay tuned for the next blog post, in which I learn that in order to give a planetarium talk, I actually have to learn some astronomy!

- Angela