Hip Hop History

August 21-27th is Hip Hop Week in the City of Milwaukee. Learn about and celebrate hip hop culture, music, dance, and art through objects from Antonia’s 365 Hip Hop Museum. A portion of the museum’s collection, as well as Antonia herself will be onsite.

When the Common Council designated August 21 - 27, 2023, as Hip-Hop Week MKE in the City of Milwaukee, I saw this as a great opportunity to connect library programming with a city initiative and community interest. I reached out to Antonia's 365 Hip Hop Museum about bringing artifacts and knowledge to the library during Hip Hop Week to celebrate.

While the event garnered a fair bit of attention on social media--over 300 people marked themselves as interested on Facebook--attendance was much lower than anticipated on the day of the program, August 22nd. Including myself, we had seven attendees, which was a disappointing turnout. My experience is that patrons have the best intention of attending a program, but other things end up taking priority. Those present seemed to have a good time, and hopefully they each learned something about DJ Kool Herc and the creation of hip hop.

As is my experience and take away with other programs, offering consistent, repeatable programs rather than one-offs may be the solution to attracting attendees. Long-term drop in programs may also see success among patrons who struggle to attend scheduled programs.

ALA Core Competencies:

6E. Engage in evaluation and assessment of programs, services, and partnerships, with input from the community being served.
6F. Practice cultural humility while planning, offering, and evaluating library reference and user services.