This is a Guest Post by Maria Hughes of childrensbookstore.com
Hosting activities and events at your bookstore can not only help promote literacy, it can also generate valuable business for your store, and establish you as a community place. There are a myriad of events and activities you can host, but if you’re out of ideas and all the activities you’ve been hosting seem to be a bit stale, here are a few more fresh, kid and family-oriented ideas that will help promote literacy and help you grow a customer base for your business.
Host a Costume Party
If a popular book such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games is coming out, a great event to host would be a costume party. You could also hold this event around Christmas or Halloween to go with the holiday season. If you have crafting books or books on making costumes, make sure you display them prominently before and during the event. Pass out flyers and perhaps provide some refreshments, and your party will be sure to start generating some buzz. Encourage a recitation contest where the children act quote lines from their character.
Host a Theatre Production
Although this is a rather ambitious idea, it may seem more daunting than it actually is. If you are interested at all in hosting a theatrical event, you may try starting out small, with perhaps a puppet show or even just an open mic for monologue or dialogue performers. Be careful that open mics don’t get off track though; make sure all performers know that the content of their pieces must be family friendly.
If you do decide you can handle hosting a play (you can decide how technical you make the event, based on your space limitations and other resources) you might charge or ask for donations to give to a local literacy or child-care charity. This is both a great way to get people into your store, and a wonderful way to raise money for charitable organizations.