LATI Assignment 14.

4 Program Planner
Program Title: Homesteading 101: Whats All the Buzzzz About?
Submitted by: Amy Haynes CCPL Chesapeake City branch
Target Audience: Adult, teen, individuals interested in nature, food production, gardening, simple living and
keeping livestock in small backyard plots.
Need for Program: Backyard homesteading has had a surge of popularity lately within many age brackets. There
has been a resurgence of interest in growing and canning food, keeping bees and other livestock and being more
self-sufficient. The library system has seen interest through people requesting more programs in regards to this
and CSAs and also materials related to these topics are in high demand.
Program Description: Urban homesteader, Shane Brill, will introduce patrons to homesteading through offering
inspiring examples of skills and strategies for enriching the place where one lives that people can apply in their own
homes and communities. He will describe his transition toward an earth-friendly lifestyle by transforming his home
to a place of creativity and food production inspired by environmental values. He will share his experience with
honeybees, chicken, growing fruits and vegetables, preserving and canning and other considerations involved in
homesteading.
Potential Community Partners:
*Our other branches have been working with local farmers/CSAs in other programs of this
could be contacted.
*Local 4-H groups (http://extension.umd.edu/cecil-county/4-h-youth-development)
*Cecil County Master Gardeners (https://extension.umd.edu/cecil-county/gardening)

nature and they

Steps for Setting Up Event:

1. Contact will be made with the presenter and a date will be agreed upon and agreement signed.
2. A flyer will be made and placed in the branch and the program will be advertised on the library website.
3. Contact will be made with any potential community partners and as this program would fit our systems
Pinterest theme, it can be added to the Pinterest flyers.
4. A display with materials supporting homesteading, keeping chickens, starting a garden and
canning/preserving will be placed prominently before the program.
5. The presenter will be using our overhead and laptop to present a power-point presentation to back up his
discussion.
Program Evaluation: The program will be evaluated using our systems program evaluation form. The main
feedback that we use for our evaluation is from our program attendees both from talking to them and from the
evaluation sheets that they complete after the program. We evaluate based on feedback in regards to the
presenter and if the program was effective and met the expectations of those who participated. We also look at
our ability to get the word out about the program and if we were able to reach people and bring them in.
CCPL Mission: This program fulfills the CCPL Mission of providing lifelong educational and cultural opportunities by
allowing our patrons to continue to learn more about homesteading and ways to be more self-sufficient. This
program also fulfills our mission of promoting individual and community success, as we partner with local farmers,
CSA groups and 4-H groups to engage our patrons more with the opportunities in this area within their community.

PRESS RELEASE
301 Newark Avenue, Elkton, MD 21921 Phone: 410-996-1055
Fax: 410-996-5604 http://www.cecil.ebranch.info

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Frazier Walker, Community Relations Specialist

410-996-1055 x129 fwalker@ccplnet.org
Curious about Homesteading? Come find out what all the buzzzz is about!

Join urban homesteader Shane Brill at the Chesapeake City Branch Library on Monday, March 23, from 6:30 to
7:30 p.m. Brill will share his experiences about transforming his home to a place of creativity and food
production inspired by environmental values. He will share his knowledge and experiences with raising bees
and chickens, growing fruits and vegetables and preserving while also inspiring you to go home and apply it to
your own homes and communities.
To register for this free event, call 410-996-1134 or online at www.cecil.ebranch.info. The library is located at
2527 Augustine Herman Highway, Chesapeake City.

ABOUT THE LIBRARY

Cecil County Public Library is making a critical difference in education, workforce, and economic development by implementing our
mission: to provide access to educational and cultural resources for all and to promote individual and community success. The
library serves over 62,000 citizens with 7 branch locations, an outreach bookmobile, broadband, WiFi, and 24/7 website access.
To learn more, visit www.cecil.ebranch.info and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Other Forms of Promotion for the Event:

*Copies of the flyer to local CSAs and to the Town Halls at Cecilton and Chesapeake City
*Contact with 4-H
*News briefs to local papers
*Small blurb on our Small Business twitter and our normal twitter 2 weeks in advance
*Board created on the librarys Pinterest account for Homesteading 101 2 weeks in advance
*If attendance is slow about 2 weeks out from program blog post could be written for CCPL website
(This program has already been implemented at my branch (Chesapeake City branch) within the CCPL library system
in March of 2015. It was a very successful program both in attendance and patron response and many patrons have
asked for more programs in this area.)