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You may have heard of the Michigan public libraries that signed up to host a rock and roll music show at their library. You may feel wary of this idea, or overwhelmed thinking about organizing a rock show.

This is a model of how one librarian created a summer tour for an entire state.

The High Strung played 34 libraries during the summer of 2005. The "Rock & Roll Library Tour" was the brainchild of Bill Harmer, the teen librarian at Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, MI.

Harmer had brought a rock show to his library previous to attempting to conduct a three-month tour for the High Strung and the libraries interested. He said, "The idea for a rock and roll tour of libraries literally came to me while driving to work one day."

So how do you organize a rock show for your library?

Harmer said that with the High Strung tour, the band was responsible for the sound system, the show, and a Q&A session afterwards. For the tour, Harmer took care of contracts, payment, fliers, and contacting the press.

Each library that signed on paid between $200 and $300. As Harmer said, "We wanted to have room to negotiate for those libraries that had to mind their pennies. In other words, we didn't want to price anyone out of the market."

An obvious disadvantage of bringing a band to your library is finding the band. The High Strung music is fairly kid friendly, and the band is very pro-library. Finding a local band with a good solid sound (and good solid character) would fund local talent, and maybe even be a 'big break'. During the tour, the High Strung had more press than during the four years they had been touring cross-country!

How do you possibly get your library to agree to a rock show?

Reasons: the library struggles to shrug the lame-o image, and having a nice, noisy rock show shatters the 'libraries are for old ladies' assumption many teens have. For the High Strung tour, this was many kids' first show. This is a memorable experience, and associating it with the library will make the library infinitely cooler in their eyes. An annual rock show might be plenty to boost young adult circulation, so that's 364 days of rest for the less supportive staff. The High Strung not only spoke about making records, creating music videos, and touring; they also talked up the library between songs. They mentioned how great maps are, because that's how they'd get from one gig to another. The Q&A session after each show gave newbie concert goers a chance to ask the band about music, about being a band, and why the drummer didn't wear shoes.

Logistics: holding the show in an open space leaves little acoustic padding for the rest of your patrons. This may be what you're looking for. If not, other options include using a conference room or having the concert outside. Having the show off-site loses a little of the concrete relationship of rock shows+library=hip, but if you can't have a show in your library, having it in a different venue might be a good option. The High Strung played at normal show volume, because they wanted to give kids the real concert experience. Some of the shows were played after normal library hours. Other shows were played in the afternoon on weekends. Derek Berk, drummer for the High Strung, said that they played 40 minutes of music, and then had a 20-minute Q&A session. He suggested that the librarian in charge announce how the format of the show would go, so the kids would know what to expect. During concerts, reactions ranged from full-face grins to shocked looks of 'You can't do this in a library!' - which is exactly what you want to see. Derek also said that having a concert in the conference room is OK, but would rather take over the library with sound, instead of hiding it. One of the points of having a rock show in a library is to make everyone aware that there are teens in the library.

How did the High Strung become the featured band?

Harmer knew of the High Strung from his previous library rock show, as they had been touring with the other band. He said he chose the High Strung for several reasons.

"1) They are a great critically acclaimed band, not some local yokels or bar band, 2) they are just fabulous guys - they understood immediately the potential of this tour idea, and they are gracious and un-egotistical enough to relate to people especially the teenagers we were trying to attract for this event, and 3) they are a "Do It Yourself" hard-working outfit, and that's something I wanted young people to see first-hand, that is, with hard work, sweat, and determination, you can make your dreams happen even in the face of adversity."

Read more about the High Strung and the tour in the press release.

Harmer is planning on bringing the tour to the whole nation this next year. The High Strung is on board for the ride: the goal being to have shows in all 50 states.

If you have more questions about hosting your own show, having the High Strung play at your library in the future, or questions about the 2005 tour, contact Bill Harmer.

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