r/Libraries • u/FeralGoblin3303 • 1d ago
Programs & Programming In search of masculine program ideas!
Howdy fellow library workers! I have been tasked with coming up with ideas to have more programs geared towards the men of our community, both young and older.
The community I work in is a majority Hispanic population and I would love ideas for programs that would be interesting!
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u/Repulsia Academic Librarian 1d ago edited 1d ago
What sort of things does the community need right now?
If you have a lot of parents around, programs for them can be good. I had some success with ponytail and period programs, helping dads connect with their daughters through hair care and taking shame away from periods. Understanding the cycle, the moods, the pain and biology can help build empathy and understanding. This safe space for dads can lead to them hanging out together, discussing parenting and learning some basic hairstyles. It's often just guys, no kids present, led by an educator. Consider an educator who understands different hair textures and have little take home bags with supplies.
Being a hub for a mate's walk program, so they can start and/or finish at the the library and end the meet-up with a cuppa and a chat once a week, supporting physical and mental health.
Other ideas:
Dad's storytime
Elder-led programs with older people teaching skills or culture
Gardening, especially if you have an onsite garden or seed library
Men's health programs (what health issues are common in your area, diabetes, heart health etc. Maybe have a nurse visit and give them baseline obs and health tips)
Movie nights
3d printing, coding classes or a gaming night (boardgames too)
Do you have a local facility like a men's shed you can ask how you can support their work or invite in to do a series of talks on things like wood working, repairs, leatherwork etc.
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u/Wild-Sky-4807 1d ago
I love the idea of a skillshare. Have a skill, bring it and be prepared to share with others.
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u/deadungeonkillasnake 1d ago
Leather working
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u/Potential-Recover-78 1d ago
That would be another fun one. I’ve watched way too many online videos of that.
Honestly, upholstery would be fun too.
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u/BridgetteBane 1d ago
Dudes love war history
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u/adt820 1d ago
Was gonna list this, “Dudes are always thinking about Ancient Rome” became a meme for a reason — also, I think men feel more comfortable talking about community and compassionate care for each other through military stories.
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u/Lo-Fi_Kuzco 1d ago
Yea but these are Hispanic men, we don't really think about Rome at all
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u/Potential-Recover-78 1d ago
So pick the Aztecs? Mayans? Mesopotamia? Native America?
There’s a shit ton of possibilities. Maybe each month is something different
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u/-mud 1d ago
What historical topics do Hispanics care about?
I’m surprised Rome isn’t popular with that group. It is “Latin America” after all.
Which actually makes me wonder if that’s a term only used by English speakers.
Still - the connections to the ancient Romans are deeper for Spanish and Portuguese cultures than they are for English speakers. Latin American domestic architecture also comes straight from Roman models.
Anglo culture is basically Germanic with an overlay of Latin forms. Hispanic culture evolved directly from the Roman empire.
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u/Alaira314 18h ago
I’m surprised Rome isn’t popular with that group. It is “Latin America” after all.
Which actually makes me wonder if that’s a term only used by English speakers.The term comes from colonization, referring to who colonized south america. And rome, of course, was the imperial granddaddy of it all. Using the term is one thing(I don't know who proposed it or the context it was proposed in), but I can completely understand there being mixed comfort with digging into elements of history that led to colonialism happening to your country, particularly if you're someone who identifies more with the indigenous populations than the colonizers.
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u/Lo-Fi_Kuzco 1d ago
Okay so for Hispanic males, I recommend the following:
Anything with Dragon Ball, Hispanics love Dragon Ball. Maybe a movie night with one of the Dragon Ball movies. Idk if they're on swank though
Anything with cars, maybe have a car show where people show off their cars. See if there's any local car clubs that may be interested
A look at Hispanic characters in video games, definitely mention the new Gears of War game that just released (Gears of War EDay). Extremely popular in Hispanic communities, they make a HUGE chunk of the fanbase.
For the dads, have them build model cars with their kids. There are kits you can order online, kinda expensive though
Carne asada tasting, which dad has the best carne asada?
Auto repair showcase
Have a local barber school or shop do demonstrations
Soccer
Can your library do beer tastings?
For the dads with daughters, how to do their hair
Grilling 101, Hispanic men showing younger generation how to grill
A look at Hispanic wrestlers and their impact
Again, anything with Dragon Ball
Cologne workshop, might attract younger males
That's all I can think of atm
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u/theprimedirectrib 1d ago
As a white lady married to a Mexican guy, can confirm the Dragon Ball thing. 😂
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u/BadEndingsFound 1d ago
Our gardening programs tend to attract more female attendees…. Until the presentation on lawn care.
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u/midmonthEmerald 1d ago
You didn’t technically mention kids, but I would love if our library hosted some sort of Dad/Parent & Me Lego/build event.
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u/bookwizard82 1d ago
blade sharpening.
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u/Potential-Recover-78 1d ago
I was thinking woodworking, but wasn’t sure how to do that.
A class on using whetstones to sharpen tools would be really cool though. Good idea.
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u/bookwizard82 1d ago
tool maintenance in general. do you know how many young men would like to know about 2 stroke engines and don't have the resources?
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u/Potential-Recover-78 1d ago
Pair that with a table full of your books on those engines or tools. Would be really cool.
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u/Pretty-Season2307 20h ago
After the number of times I've seen patrons manage to injure themselves with the most benign of objects, a hearty HELL NO from me 😂
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u/Pretty-Season2307 20h ago
Though if you hosted a CPR/life-saving workshop immediately after, you could have a built-in audience...
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u/patchworkskye 1d ago
I tried to focus on programming for men at my last library job - we did a home brewing program, had someone come and do a demonstration on how to make hot sauce (the air actually almost became dangerous with that one!), a program on fishing - how about a repair cafe?
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u/Temporary-Library597 21h ago
HALLELUJA! My library reacts defensively to any such suggestion, even when confronted with the facts that 70% of our card holders are female, 90% of our displays are made up of works by female authors, and none of our staff think the Science Fiction genre consists of anything but vampire romances.
Anyway: Hunting and fishing, sports, disaster preparedness, STEM subjects, etc.
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u/NoMastodon9915 1d ago
We do a beer tasting/education program monthly. Men and women attend, but it seems to bring in lots of guys. Also, our open game night for adults seems to bring in a slightly younger crowd of adult men.
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u/LittleDragonMeiling 1d ago
Maybe even tabletop game night/ dnd night. Those are very popular in alot of places, but just make sure that you set rules about if it gets out of hand. But also if you have anyone that wants to teach people how to play certain games, especially tcg as well.
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u/Flaky-Specialist-84 1d ago
We had a local beer brewing store come do a presentation on how to get started brewing beer. They brought some equipment. Even brought hops for people to look at and smell, since we couldn’t do an actual beer tasting. It was very successful and a lot of men attended.
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u/ethnomath 1d ago
I’m not saying these are masculine hobbies, but they do tend to attract men: vinyl club or cinema club?
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u/rememberbitsybat 20h ago
Have you heard of the nonprofit "repair cafe"? Its a great project and i'm sure youd get lots of older men eager to sign up as volunteers
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u/librarydude1 1d ago
Beer brewing the science would be cool also ghost hunts also I have seen bring people in. We partner with a local really old bar/tavern to help us host. We do it after hours and it’s always a blast. Bring in a younger group too
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u/tawandagames2 1d ago
English classes or English/Spanish conversation groups or language exchange? In my area there are a lot of Latino people who work a lot of hours and haven't had much of a chance to practice English, but might like to.
ETA also Salsa dancing.
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u/Pretty-Season2307 20h ago
Any kind of DIY home repair/handyman type stuff. A lot of people never learn those kinds of skills anymore and it can be a big money saver.
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u/MamaMoosicorn 1d ago
I had a boys book club. We read books they liked and I came up with fun activities to correspond with them. One example was Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party. The activity we did was test different materials to see what insulates from the cold the best. They had a blast! (and made a mess, lol)
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u/othertigs 1d ago
I think we had a pretty well-attended bicycle repair program. In our senior programs, local history things have done pretty well.
There was a library I heard of several years ago that partnered with a local DJ (probably rock of some sort) to have dad-kid-focused story time and play time. Also classes on how to do girls hair, as mentioned above.
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u/KitchenWitchComrade 3h ago
The library I work for offers automotive seminars a few times a year and they are well attended.
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u/Nomanorus 1d ago
Do a war history bracket. Have men come in and debate the most interesting wars through history and have each winner advance a round. If they don't want to argue, play a 5 minute informational YT video and have them vote.
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u/FeralGoblin3303 1d ago
Thank you all for such swift replies!!! I will collate all of these into a list and I think my branch manager is going to be STOKED with all of these ideas!!!
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u/magicthelathering 1d ago
Disaster readiness! You can often get your local fire station to help