Digital crafts (teen/adult): This program was chosen for two reasons.  First, because 30% of residents are under age 18 means that the vast majority are too young to work, and if they do, they likely do not make much money.  Digital crafts make excellent holiday gifts for those on a budget.  The second reason this program was chosen was because 44% of households have children in the house and parents like commemorating their children's development with keepsakes.  This program will offer tips to teens and adults on how to take attractive photos and teach them to use the online programs to create keepsakes.

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Makerspace crafts (children): This program was chosen for entertainment purposes and for stimulating children's creativity.  Olathe is a young community so this would likely be a very popular program.

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Makerspace crafts (teen/adult): This program was chosen for the purpose of introducing teens and adults to the Maker movement and to project-based learning (PBL).  This will serve to teach them the technologies being used and to demonstrate the importance of PBL in K-12 classrooms.

 

Storytime (children): This program was chosen for entertainment purposes and for stimulating children's love of reading.  Olathe is a young community so this would likely be a very popular program.

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Finals preparation (teens): This program was identified to assist teens in the 2nd quarter push before the end of the first semester of school.  Many teens have large projects, papers, and tests due in December which provides a perfect opportunity for the library to assist with research, writing, study tactics, time management strategies, or simply a quiet environment for students to maximize production.

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Book club (teen): This program was chosen for entertainment and fellowship purposes and for stimulating teen's love of reading, to expose them to new types of material, and to widen their social circle.  Olathe is a young community so this would likely be a very popular program.

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Civic mindfulness (all ages):  This program was chosen to initiate a conversation based on empathy for our fellow community members so that we can learn, enhance, and practice kindness and openness to those who are different from ourselves.

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Holiday history (all ages): This is another program with empathy at its core.  By learning about the different types of people, the religions they practice, and what holidays they celebrate, we can enhance our recognition of and acceptance of those differences.

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Flu shots (all ages): This program was chosen due to the fact that it occurs during cold/flu season and is a simple program that is more about offering a convenience than furthering patrons' knowledge or offering entertainment.  By bringing health officials to the library for flu shots, patrons can utilize the library while crossing that task off their to-do lists during the busy holiday season. 

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Health matters (teen/adult): This program was chosen due to the fact that it occurs during cold/flu season.  It provides teens and adults the opportunity to learn more about tactics for staying healthy, raising awareness regarding health issues, exposing them to alternative medicine and treatments, and answering any questions they might have.

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Introduction to taxes (teen/adult): Because Olathe is a young community, there are many workers who are experiencing their first job.  They are not educated regarding taxes, nor do they know the implications of making certain decisions regarding new hire paperwork.  This will serve to teach them the basics of taxes and what they can expect to see (or not see) reflected in their net pay.  If successful, this could easily segue into a money management and budgeting class.  This class would also be appropriate for those patrons who are returning to the workforce after a hiatus.  Being a young community with many families, plus the high level of education achieved by many households and their average income, many homes have stay-at-home parents who could use a refresher upon returning to work after raising their children.

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Tax preparation information (adult): Unlike the aforementioned class, this would focus on April 15 tax deadline.  It would provide information to first-time taxpayers, those with a change in family status, and those returning to the workforce, all of which are within Olathe's demographic.