Community Collaboration: Uke Can Do It!
"Uke Can Do It!" aims to use ukulele music to create an inter-generational atmosphere of fun and learning. The Plainview Public Library collaborated with Green Prairie Rehabilitation ad Assisted Living Center to provide community access to instruments, learning tools, workshops, a concert, and jam sessions. A core ensemble of thirteen ukuleles and accessories were purchased to ensure that individuals can experience ukulele fun without the commitment of ownership. During a recent library survey, community members indicated that they value learning new things and inter-generational activities. Since ukulele skill is relatively rare in our community, adults and youth were on equal footing for a new learning experience. Over the course of the project, there were several opportunities for inter-generational interaction. Music is a medium that crosses age boundaries, relieves stress, and allows creative expression. We anticipate years of community ukulele fun to come!
143 participated
Teen Coffeehouse Jam Session--Teens will indicate that they enjoyed the relaxed Coffeehouse atmosphere and that they attempted to learn ukulele skills. We will determine that the project is a success if more than half of the participants indicate that they want to participate in future jam sessions.
Winter Wonderland Family Storytime--Families with young children will learn musical techniques together. After the program, they will indicate that they are more likely to make music with their families. We will determine that the program is a success if more than half of adults and children indicate that they enjoyed creating music with their families.
Uke and Me--Families with young children will learn musical techniques together. After the program, they will indicate that they are more likely to make music with their families. Children will indicate that they enjoyed learning a new skill with their adult loved one. We will determine that the program is a success if more than half of adults and children indicated that they enjoyed creating music with their families.
Surveys will be handed out to attendees, and staff community knowledge and conversations with participants helped to determine the precise age ranges of the events and whether folks had participated in library programming prior to Uke Can Do It! .
We hoped that the program would bring generations together in a learning environment, and that was very successful. The ages of participants over the entire project ranged from 1 (a concert attendee)-105 which covers the entire range of our community. Every family surveyed indicated that they had enjoyed learning to play music together and that they are likely to attend musical events as a family in the future. Responses from the workshops and concert say things like, "Great group! Loved involving community and elderly, " "We LOVE live music in our little town. I love that the kids sit front and center," and "I liked that it taught people about music." The enthusiastic response that we received from participants at these events indicates that this project filled a yearning in our community for individuals across generations to come together and learn to make music.
Prior to the Uke Can Do It! Community Collaboration grant project, only 7 had played the ukulele of the 86 individuals who participated in the Uke and Me! ukulele lessons, the Green Prairie workshop, and the Star Belle workshop. Community members as young as three and as old as 105 received some instruction on how to play the ukulele. Twenty one percent of the program's participants had not participated in library programming prior to Uke Can Do It! More than twenty families participated in a learning event together, and all of those who responded to the survey questions indicated that they enjoyed making music as a family and would attend musical events in the future. The library is a place where all of these generations were able to come together to learn something new and to make and enjoy music!
Plainview Public Library, Green Prairie Rehabilitation Center and Assisted Living