Outreach for Librarians: White Board

White Board Writing Prompts

Alternatives: 

• Your white board may be magnetic which you can then use for Magnetic Poetry.
• If your white board is on wheels and is in the high traffic area you use for events, you can flip the white board and use it to welcome people and/or give instructions.

White Board

Objective:  Students will be able to write answers to a writing prompt.

Why:  Students will engage with the library in a quick, non-threatening way.  This can also be a good way for the library to get quick feedback from students.

Supplies:  a white board – either mounted or on wheels, a variety of white board markers, eraser and white board cleaner

How To: Put a white board at the entrance of the library or in another high traffic area, and each week, write a prompt on it for students to respond to.

Things to Think About:  

• Put out a variety of marker colors.  You can also put out seasonal colors.
• Remove the erasers so that students can’t easily erase the board.
• Monitor the board.  You may want to erase certain responses and keep the board PG-13.
• Monitor the markers for dryness or if they disappear.
• If you have a student assistant who is a good artist, have them write and decorate the writing prompt.
• Until the white board becomes a mainstay in your library, you may have to put a sign on it asking custodians to not clean the white board.