Edible Books - fundraisers

I asked California Librarians if they heard of "book cakes" and my e-mail box filled immediately with fun food events for friends of libraries. Here are a few:

• Cover City FRIENDS of the Library Edible Book Festival.
• Books2Eat annual International Edible Book Festival (around April 1 since 1999)
• Edible Book Festival at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library/ Graduate School of Library Science
• Ultimate Library Cake Off (like "bake-off". Laramie, Wyoming Outrider, page 5.)
• Santa Barbara City College Library Edible Book Festival (2009)
• University of Wisconsin- Madison Campus Edible Book Festival (2010 plans)
  

I've been a librarian and library advocate for years, yet this is all news to me. How fun and fabulous! What a great way to fun/fund raise, build community, and build support for libraries.

Book Cakes

College of San Mateo Library Director Lorrita Ford asked me if I was familiar with Book Cakes. Although I made a good guess, I hadn't realized that there were books on how to make them, images of great book cakes, and more. I looked up "Book Cakes" and found a few sites that showed me more information on them. Love the idea! Bet they are popular with some book clubs.

Here are some related articles and books:

• "Books Good Enough to Eat."
• "Enchanted Cakes"
• "Childrens Character Cakes"
• Book Cake Images
• Cake Wrecks
  

This could be a fun theme for a fund raiser! Now to do some research and thinking about how to do that this summer. I've heard of Gingerbread Library Fundraisers (Conshohocken, PA), but not book cake contests. This could be a yummy contest and PR opportunity.

Gingerbread Library -- FRIENDS Fund Raiser

Ever see a Gingerbread Library? Conshohocken Public Library FRIEND Jen Borovicka baked and built a replica of the 152-year-old Victorian Gothic Revival building as a centerpiece for a Winter Solstice Celebration and a raffle prize.

Once upon a time, a long long time ago when I was getting my MLS degree from Drexel University, I lived around the corner from the Conshohocken, PA public library. So, when I was reading today's issue of American Libraries Direct, news of the fund raiser by the FRIENDS of the Conshohocken Library caught my eye.

What a yummy treat! How many libraries can say their library tastes and smells like Gingerbread? Hope the FRIENDS have digitally captured the little library in a way that can be used for holiday cards, cups, or calendars.

Free Pancakes in the Library - Getting Boys to Read

The Getting Boys to Read blog carried an item on how to host a pancake breakfast to bring in (always) hungry teen boys. The article, "Free Pancakes in the library! We do it and so can you" was written by Getting Boys to Read's Mike McQueen. Mike starts by asking "Food in the library! Are we crazy? If you want boys to read, get them into the library by going after their stomachs! As part of our Extreme Library Makeover, we allow students to eat and drink in the library any time they want - even at the computers. Are we crazy? Maybe little, but heck, most adults eat and drink at their computer all the time. Are adults more careful thanks kids?..." Learn how to set up pancake breakfasts in your library and comments from other librarians on their fun food events.

To follow Mike on Twitter: MrMLibrarian