Street Music at the Library
Thorson Memorial Library located in Elbow Lake, MN created Street Music at the Library to help bring music activities to the residents of Elbow Lake and Grant County. Musicians are hired and scheduled to play at the library on Wednesdays (May 5 to June 30, 2010 and continued throughout the summer) from 11:00 AM to 1:00 pm. The event is held outside when possible and attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and their lunches. Some weeks a single musician performed, for other dates there were several. Most were from the local area. Local restaurants held box lunch specials on Wednesdays to make it convenient for people to get lunch and then go to the library.
- Local restaurants and newspapers partnered informally by providing box lunch specials and running additional free ads.
- There were nine performances featuring twenty-two musicians with an attendance of 400 people (actual count).
- It’s probably safe to say that no one had ever attended a free concert on the Thorson Memorial Library lawn before.
Measurable Outcomes may be collected by survey, anecdotal responses, post-test; End user change in Behavior, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Condition and/or Status
Anecdotal: "All of the feedback about the music series was very positive. People clearly love the idea of gathering together for a concert over lunch. They have said wonderful things about the musicians; the musical talent local people have is much appreciated by the audience." (attitude)The Grant County Commissioners were pleased to hear about this program and commented that "It's good to see Legacy dollars bringing about some economic development." (attitude)