31 Days of Horror: Day 30-- The HWA's Library Committee Wants to Help You All Year Long

We are 1 day away from Halloween, the day we have been leading up to. However, I need to remind you that Horror is popular all year long. 

At the start of the month, I demonstrated all the ways this blog can help you to help your scariest readers every day of the year. Today, I want to close out my blog-a-thon with how the entire team at the Horror Writes Association's Library Committee can help you as well.

Wait, Becky, "close-out?" We sill have one more day. 

Yes we do, but tomorrow is the announcement one of the flashier things our Library Committee does as we will be letting the world know about our 2024 Summer Scares Spokesperson with an official press release, but that is not all we do.

At the Illinois Library Association's Annual Conference last week, I was part of an entire panel where we discussed how the HWA can help any library. And today, I am giving you access to all of the presentations here in one folder. Also below, I have given you a linked list of the individual presentations as well:

• I went first to give an overview of everything the HWA Library Committee can and does do for all of you, our libraries, including everyone on the panel. The moral of my presentation, you want any horror programming for your library, email libraries at horror dot org. But don't it early if you want help for fall 2024. Click here for my slides.
• Next was Becca Boland from iRead presenting about the partnership between their summer reading program and Summer Scares. Click here for her slides.
• Yaika Sabat from NoveList had a presentation about everything they do to support Summer Scares and Horror in general. Thanks to NoveList for sending her to our conference for this persentation. Click here for her slides.
• And then back-to-back, 2 library workers from the Chicago area who both have been a part of awesome Horror programming because they emailed libraries at horror dot org and/or used the Chicago Chapter of the HWA as their starting point.
• J9 from Glen Ellyn Public Library had an idea in early 2022: what if they turned the library into a haunted house by using scenes from actual horror stories, acted out by kids from the high school theater troop. They contacted me early in 2022 to start planning. I connected J9 with authors from the Chicagoland Chapter of HWA and the event went off with 650 people attending and the Chicago Tribune sending a reporter and a photographer. Then they did it again this year with over 1000 people showing up. Click here for their slides with pictures and more, including lessons learned. 
• And rounding it all out, award winning author and library worker, Michael Allen Rose from Oak Park Public Library. His slides show off the nuermous activities and programs he has hosted and been a part of at his library and others, including an all day Book Festival at an IN library a few weeks ago. Michael is a great presenter on this topic and a wonderful resource himself as he is a bridge between the library and author worlds. Click here for his slides.

While these programs give an overview of some of the things the HWA Library Committee has done recently, it is not even close to everything. Anyone, anywhere, can email us-- libraries at horror dot org-- and we will connect you with the HWA chapter in your area or if you are doing virtual, help connect you with authors who can present for you. And of course, there is all that Summer Scares programming we offer. 

As we approach the sunset of another year of 31 Days of Horror, I leave you with my annual plea to NOT forget about Horror the other 11 months of the year. And know that you have me and an entire team of Horror loving library people, ready to help you.

Back tomorrow with our big Summer Scares 2024 spokesperson announcement as well as a special video message on all social media platforms.