Message: 27
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2012 11:20:58 -0500
From: Becky M
Thanks everyone for great suggestions. Here's the compilation:
One suggestion (from a GS Leader and 4H participant) - you can also make a box for your library...hide it in the garden etc? The "team" can make up clues/poem etc to lead others to it. You can also go online and find other boxes in your area, and make a "map" of them on a brochure type document so that it can be displayed, create interest and then people can see how many of the ## they have been to and found. That might be more of a program instead of just making the stamps?
Beth
MSIS Student
SUNY - Albany
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One of my staff brought the most amazing summer program booklet home from PLA. The York County Pennsylvania libraries did this unbelievable program for last summer's One World Many Stories theme that included about 30 letterboxing/geocaching adventures around the county. They would be a great source of information website www.yorklibraries.org Good Luck Julie R
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We have an on-going letterboxing program at our library. We have about 15 letterboxes hidden throughout the children's department. We keep the clues for each letterbox at the children's reference desk; we also have some blank journals (copier paper stapled together) and a set of alphabet stamps for kids to use. We have a handful of our clues posted on online letterboxing sites (see http://www.letterboxing.org/BoxView.php?boxnum=54158&boxname=Behind_the_Reading_Towerfor an example). It's great fun -- I am planning on a regular "program" this summer in which we will make stamps and journals, and go hunting for our already-planted letterboxes. I'll probably plant some new ones, too.
Once a month, I go around and check the journals -- it's so awesome to find stamps and names of letterboxers from other cities and states. Good luck!
Kris
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I put together a letterbox at my library. It stayed up for about 6 months until the large number of unattended children that visit our library, discovered it. They had a great time with it, but I had to keep replacing the clues around the library and had to take it down.
About two years ago, some of our libraries put up geocaches for a big read program we did. They were a very popular part of the program. All but one library took them down after the program, and Geocaching.com did not like the fact we were not leaving them up for longer. They do not like temporary caches. The one library( Gates Public Library) that kept the cache up, had great success with it until they had to take it down due to the library moving to a new building. They just placed another cache, which is a letterbox hybrid cache, in the new building. Here is the link to the cache, as you can see the reviews have been very positive.http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7f1b36ad-5dcc-4a8d-9da6-4be7bf085fe9
Here is a link to all of our caches, and I believe you can still go into read the reviews if you would like to see how the geocachers reacted to them http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=libraryweb&submit4=Go
If you want more information on how the cache is set up, just let me know and I would be happy to provide more detail.
We did not take the children or teens out of the library to find caches or letterboxes in the community. Last summer I made a new scavenger hunt each week for the children to find in the library. Even though they were not an official letterbox or geocache, the children had a great time with them. They were so much work, but I plan on doing more this summer.
In addition to letterboxing and geocaching, there is another scavenger hunt game called waymarking (http://www.waymarking.com/). I have not played that game yet, so I can't say if it is as much fun as geocaching or letterboxing.
Maria H
Sully Branch Library
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You could create geocaches around your library. Within walking distance. Then they could actually walk around and find them. We also did a letterboxing program and I had a large box of used stamps. I let them pick one out and use that as their signature stamp. We decorated old notebooks, too, to collect their stamps. You could also let them help you make caches. You could supply the box and they could bring the things to put in them. Then you all could hide them together. We love these programs at our library, lol, it's turned us into geocaching fans!
Lisa K
Corbin Public Library
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I don't know where you live, but here in Dutchess County, NY we have an avid letterboxer who does workshops for hire. In advance of the date, she creates a letterbox to be placed in the library. Then on the day of the workshop she recounts the history of the hobby, leads the participants in making their own stamps, has the kids find a temporary letterbox she has set up in the library just for the day, and gives the clues for the permanent box. If you'd like her contact info, I can get it for you.
Peg S
Blodgett Library
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We have had a geocaching program for our teens at one of our larger branches three summers ago. Even had the local newspaper cover the event. First part of the program was dedicated to informing the teens what geocaching was and to visit the official website. Then breaking up into groups, each group got to search for a pre-hidden cache on the grounds using our hand held GPS, one of which was an official cache. We encouraged the teens to go home and talk to their parents as this is an excellent family activity.
My husband has been fortunate enough to locate caches in Ireland, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic along with ones from different states we have visited while traveling.
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Have you considered maybe creating a library themed geocache? I wasn't personally involved, but a couple of librarians did this with teens a few years ago. They hid the caches in the park behind the library.
Here is a link to a description of one of our caches:
!
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c2e108ff-292f-436e-b393-01a8e9352759
And the other:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d8ff6a33-6a81-401d-8e3b-1d69dae6fece
If you don't have an appropriate place to hide a geocache, perhaps you could do the rest of the planning with the group--the clues, the name, what to place in the cache, writing up the description for online?
Hope this is helpful,
Jennifer
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I have done a letterboxing program successfully several times. I start by hiding letterboxes throughout the library/department - usually 20 of them. I print out the clues to hand out the day of the program.
Kids make stamps with 3/4 inch thick insulation foam (you can buy a sheet for $12) that I have cut into small squares. They can use golf pencils to press in their design. They also get a blank journal (cardstock folded over copy paper and stapled) to decorate. Then they spend as long or as little time as they want searching for boxes.
I leave the boxes out so they can come back anytime to search and I have a binder of the clues at the desk. Clues are also posted on Letterboxing.org and atlasquest.com
My powerpoint is attached.
After the initial prep time to create the boxes (this takes months...) it is a very simple program that can be offered over and over again.
Best,
Heather A
Rochester Public Library
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I did a letterbox/geocache program with families of kids grades K-5.
This was the description in the newsletter: "Come hear a story and learn about the fun hobby of letterboxing. Then participate in our own version of reverse letterboxing! Every participating family gets a prize!"
We're right near a old-fashioned little main street town, so I asked 6 or 7 of the businesses to participate, assuring them that we weren't looking for donations or money. All they had to do was stamp a booklet the families would present at the store (the library provided that stamps and inkpads). So this was the reverse letterboxing element.
At the program, I read the story of The Tinderbox, and I talked about treasure hunts. Then I talked about how geocaching and letterboxes were a form of treasure hunting and could be fun. I gave them booklets with clues that would lead them to the stores in town. They had a week to get all the stamps and then return it to the library. When they returned it, they received a cloth library bag, booklets about how to get started with geocaching and letterboxing, bookmarks, some mazes and puzzles, stickers and little toys that we had leftover from the summer reading club.
We only had 7 families sign up, but they seemed to enjoy it.
I know you're working with teens, but maybe something in my program might spark an idea.
Jen
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We did a geocaching event for our teens a couple of summers ago. I created and hid caches around the Library and wrote clues and the coordinates on paper (since I didn't want to enter them into the Geocaching.com website). If I remember correctly, I used a Sucrets box, and three Freezer jam plastic containers as the caches. I hid them in trees, drain spouts, under rocks etc.
I had someone from Dick's Sporting Goods come out (they brought 2 GPS units with them) and they did a basic teaching on how to use them.
We split the kids up into three teams (using my GPS and the two from Dick's) and they went to town. They had a good time, even if most of them didn't get the hang of it until near the end. A few did though and there were a couple full families.
Dick's was really good about helping out.
As an aside, we have a geocaching team here at our library, and we're challenging the rest of the system to see who can find the most caches during the month of April - winners get a pizza party.
Good luck. Feel free to write with any questions.
Cosette R
Park Forest Branch Library
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Last summer we did a geocaching series involving local businesses and our city parks. We offered a pathtag (http://www.pathtags.com/community/publicpathtagprofile.php?id=17740 ) to those who signed up for summer reading and finished the series. We also held an event cache and a geocaching 101 class. Overall we had a great turnout and even won an award for best series from the North Texas branch of Texas Geocaching Assoc. We are doing a second series this summer and I hope to throw some puzzle caches in to fit better with the SRC theme.
As far as letterboxing, I have very limited experience with it other than the few letterbox hybrids that are located within the DFW area. I like the idea of making stamps as a program and maybe you can have the teens place their own letterboxes on the library's grounds for each other to find for an additional day(s) of programming. Or you could have them group together and place letterboxes to be published on letterboxing.org at or near the library. A quick lesson on orienteering itself could also be a possibility.
Thanks for reminding me about letterboxing. The SRC theme works great with it. I am presenting with two other librarians at TLA about geocaching and we should probably include a bit about letterboxing, seeing as how it is the historical roots of geocaching. You just may have inspired me to place another letterbox hybrid and post it to both websites!
Hope I helped at least a little bit!
Jennifer O
Hurst Public Library
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I did it last year and we used erasers to make the stamp. Then I had placed a letterbox cache in the library and we all went up to find it and add our stamps . I also gave them hints to several local letterboxes to find. It was a big success, with everyone who came in the room asking to make a stamp.
Joetta LP S Wilson County
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I have done Letterboxing programs for two different age groups (elementary and teen) at my library in Greenville, SC. Both age groups seemed to really enjoy the programs. There is plenty to do and it makes for a fun program. You really don't have to leave your library to make a Letterboxing program work. I planted a Letterbox in the library.
Actually, a fellow librarian and I planted boxes in all of branch locations in our library system as well, 11 boxes in total. My program generally lasts about an hour. I start the program with a description of what a Letterbox is and a brief history of how Letterboxing all got started in Dartmoor, England in the 1850's. Two great resources are The Letterboxer's Companion by Randy Hall and www.letterboxing.info. Next, I talk about solving clues when finding boxes and tie it in by reading a picture book that involves decoding clues throughout the story. (Even the teens get into helping solve the clues.) Next we make stamps. A great, safe and in expensive way to make a stamp is with craft foam and bottle caps/lids. You draw your design on the craft foam, cut it out, and attach it to you bottle cap with double sided tape or a glue dot.
Viola- you have a custom made stamp! (My teens actually got into this part more than I thought they would and made very intricate stamps.) After everyone has a stamp, I pass out the clue to the library's letterbox and we all go on a hunt for the letterbox as a group. They loved going through the motions of deciphering the clues, secretly searching the library for the letterbox and stamping in a real logbook.
Letterboxing makes for a really fun program. Let me know if you have any questions!
Jennifer P
Greenville County Library System
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