If You're Not Doing Passive Programming in your Library… Why Would You Do That to Yourself?

A ghost from the October Scavenger Hunt hiding under the Seed Library.

​Passive programming has become a cornerstone of our library’s programming repertoire over the past few years and honestly, I can’t imagine going back. Between the chaos of full-scale events, the constant scheduling, and the never-ending marketing cycle, passive programs are like a little gift you give your future self. They let your community engage on their own time, and they keep your library lively without burning out your staff.

So… What Is a Passive Program?
A passive program is exactly what it sounds like something that runs without you having to hover over it. You set it up, put out the supplies, and let it do its thing. Examples include scavenger hunts, estimation stations, weekly challenges, and writing or art prompts. The magic of passive programming is that it lets patrons leave their mark, sometimes literally. A doodle on a whiteboard or a guess in a jar says, “I was here. This is my library.” These small moments of interaction create connection, even when staff are busy helping someone else or tackling a hundred other tasks.

Last month, we switched things up with a Sunflower Scavenger Hunt. Each sunflower had both a number and a letter. When participants found all the sunflowers and unscrambled the letters, they revealed the answer to a riddle. Once they solved it, they could stop by the Circulation Desk for a sticker. It was simple, cheerful, and kept people exploring every corner of the library.

Our Newest Experiment: Livestream Bingo

Our newest passive program is something we’re calling Livestream Bingo. At the library, we have a massive TV that we use as a projector screen for talks and lectures. The rest of the time, probably 90% of the time, it just sits there, turned off. That felt like untapped potential to me. So now, we’re using it to stream live nature feeds from places like explore.org, EarthCam, and even YouTube. Each month, we put out a themed Bingo card filled with things patrons might spot on the livestream like “a penguin dives,” “a zookeeper feeds an animal,” or “a bird flaps its wings.” When they fill their entire card, they can bring it to the Circulation Desk for a sticker. It’s a fun, low-effort way to bring a little piece of the natural world into the library, and give that big TV a purpose again.

I’ve done a couple of soft launches for Livestream Bingo, and it’s already showing promise. We had 12 people interact with it in a single day! It’s also been a nice morale boost for the staff. After all, who doesn’t enjoy glancing up from their desk to see kittens tumbling around, fish gliding through coral, or bears splashing in a stream? Sometimes the patrons aren’t the only ones who need a little moment of joy.

At the end of the day, passive programs are the unsung heroes of library engagement. They invite patrons to explore, play, and connect with the library on their own time without sign-ups or pressure. They make the building feel alive even when no formal programs are happening. They’re also a gift to library staff. You can focus on your daily tasks while knowing that somewhere out there, a kid is hunting down ghosts, a teen is solving a sunflower riddle, or someone’s quietly cheering because they just spotted a penguin on the livestream. Passive programming proves that even the smallest ideas can make a big impact and that sometimes, the best kind of programming is the one that runs itself.