*Program Title: Keller Cookie Swap

*Description: Bring 5 dozen cookies of one type and go home with a variety! Please bring the recipe and extra containers to bring home cookies. Coffee will be served and we will listen to Christmas music while we swap.

*Specifics: December 12th from 10:30-11:30 in the morning. Registration is required. Please register by December 5, 2006. 5 dozen cookies unless I call to change. The number of cookies may be changed depending on the number of people registered. Coffee sponsored by River Nile Coffee.

*Notes: I asked participants to pre-register so that I could control how many people took part. I also thought that I might increase the number of cookies that we baked if we had a large turnout. It was also useful to know how many people were coming so that I could do the math ahead of time in order to figure out how many cookies we would take. This is how I figured it. I had 9 people register. We were supposed to bring 60 cookies each. In order to have an even number of cookies to grab from each persons pile I decided that we would pull 4 cookies from each person's batch to sample. 60-4=56 which is divisible by 8. Each person gets 7 cookies of each type but their own.

*Experience with Program: Everyone that attended was thrilled with the program. Several ladies stated that they used to do this with their friends and were very happy that we arranged it. Several people forgot their recipes, but I was able to e-mail them to the group afterwards.

There are some things that I learned for next time. One person guessed how many people were coming by seeing how many people I sent an e-mail reminder to. Unfortunately, I did not have e-mail addresses for several people so her guess was wrong. She then divided her cookies into bags and had to do it all over again when a different number of people arrived. For next time, I will also be prepared for people bringing the wrong number of cookies. I think that I will bring a calculator and post-it notes to place near platters where people should take different amounts of cookies. It got a little confusing to say "Take 7 cookies from everyone's platter, except for this one where you take 5, and this one where you take 10 because she brought extra..."

This was a very easy program to arrange and no special supplies were needed. I will definitely do it again.

*For further information about program: Carolyn Booker, Public Services Librarian, Keller Public Library. (817) 431-9011 ext. 301. cbooker@kellerlibrary.org