UW-Stevens Point’s Poem in Your Pocket Day project is a recipient of 2023 Ideas to Action Funds. The project aims to share the love of poetry in the Central Wisconsin region by distributing poems with colleagues, family, neighbors, and strangers. The poems are meant to be read and shared at work, school, in local establishments, and even at local government meetings, with the intention of spending one day – Poem in Your Pocket Day – engaging with each other through the beauty of poetry.
Poem in Your Pocket Day will take place this April, and here is what the folks at UW-Stevens Point have accomplished so far with their Ideas to Action Funds:
Community Outreach
- Successfully contacted over 50 organizations and businesses in the Central Wisconsin area to participate in the event.
- Secured commitments from 20 entities, with ongoing communication and waiting for other responses.
Project Leadership
- Established a “Pocket Protectors Committee” to steer the project and manage the timeline. The committee includes the project lead, the library’s Circulation Coordinator, and two English Professors from the college campuses.
Campus Presence
- Working on a display for the lobby area near the Circulation Department on campus to promote poetry from the collections from the campus publisher, Cornerstone Press, and to promote Poem in Your Pocket Day.
Poetry Engagement
- Successfully held a “Nominate a Poem” contest and received 27 submissions. After a review, they accepted 24 of those submissions, including original works from students. These poems will be featured in the Poem in Your Pocket Day distribution.
Visual Identity
- Developed a graphic for promotional materials, with final adjustments still underway.
Strategic Promotion
- Currently actively promoting the event at various campus functions and meetings, including a recent meeting with the Provost.
Digital Outreach
- Working on a LibGuide to serve as a public page. This platform will allow individuals to download poems for sharing and will include essential information about events and participating partners.
Next, they will be continuing to work on promotional materials, stay connected with project partners, procure materials and poems, displays, and media outreach.
“We are happy about the progress made so far on this project and appreciate the grant support.”
— Nerissa Nelson, Librarian, Professor, and Project Lead, UW-Stevens Point