Bringing Books on Bases to your Chapter Janet McIntosh, Program Manager

Bringing Books on Bases to your Chapter It’s easy to bring Books on Bases to your community. It is a rewarding experience that requires dedication and some advanced planning. You will want to begin by asking yourself the following question:  How can you reach the most military families and make the biggest impact? Before you begin planning a Books on Bases event make sure you have done the following:  Completed your Books on Bases Training  Gone over the Books on Bases Handbook

STEP ONE Organize the details of your event.  Location  Date  Type of Event  Number of kids  How many volunteers do you need?  Will you have expenses?  Guest Reader

LOCATION Possible locations for your event.  Installation Library or Military Impacted Library  Installation School or Military Impacted School  Military Fair or Community Fair  Youth Center  Child Development Centers  Community Centers

DATE When choosing a date for your event consider  Books on Bases Campaigns  Installation or community events  School events  Military Organization events Remember that your events need to be planned 5-6 weeks in advance!

TYPE OF EVENT What type of event do you want to have?  Themed Events  Holidays  Special Occasions  BOB Campaigns  Large or small events  Open events or closed events  Congressional Events

NUMBER OF KIDS How many kids do you expect to attend?  Know your installation – past events  How do you plan to advertise your event?  Program Manager can help

VOLUNTEERS How many volunteers will you need?  Chapter Volunteers  BSF Members  PTA / PTSA Volunteers  Teens  Military Family Services Membership will be able to help you with volunteer recruitment.

EXPENSES Will you have expenses?  Snacks or drinks  Decorations  Crafts  MISC Supplies You will need to be able to list out all your expected expenses with an approximate cost on your event declaration. All expenses must be approved by membership BEFORE you purchase anything

GUEST READER Will you have a guest reader?  Important Figures in the Military community  Teachers  Blue Star Families staff and members  Principals  Authors

STEP TWO EVENT DECLARATION FORM  Needs to be submitted 5-6 weeks in advance of your event.  Program Manager will review your form and notify you if your event has been approved or denied.

STEP THREE BOOK & SUPPLY REQUEST FORM  Needs to be submitted a minimum of 4 weeks in advance of your event.  Program Manager will review your form and notify you of any changes made to your request.  Program Manager will process your request.  Will be notified when supplies have been shipped

BOB IN A BOX Request appropriate items for events : − Books − Book plates (to be placed on the inside front cover of every book distributed) − Bookmarkers − Pencils − T-shirts for Volunteers or giveaways − Books on Bases One Pagers − Blue Star Families One Pagers Special supplies for Campaigns

BOOKS  Books are divided into 4 age groups: 0-3, 4-7, 8-10, and  Classroom Events – 25 HB Books for classroom library  School Events – 25 HB Books for school library  Library Events – 25 HB Books for the library

STEP FOUR AFTER ACTION REPORT  Needs to be turned in within 7 days after your event  You will need to provide a minimum of 3 pictures of your event.  You will need to send the name and address / information for any guest readers  One week check in from Program Manager  Post event from Program Manager

Questions???  Leftover Books – Up to the discretion of the Program Manager.

You Are Ready for Books on Bases! Contact me today about planning your next Books on Bases event!! Janet McIntosh Books on Bases Program Manager bluestarfam.org Home – Cell – I am here to help make your event a SUCCESS!!