I've been thinking lately about how promotion of our services can really make a difference in the public's response to our efforts.
There are traditional methods of promotion in getting the word out: flyers, handouts, posters, press releases to the media and youth serving organizations, online newsletters, social media, email blasts and so on.
Then there is the more subtle - and I might suggest more successful - methods of simple word-of-mouth advocacy. The information we relay while on the desk working with patrons AND wherever we see our community members - at the grocery store, place of worship, gym, bar, 5K, trail or across the fence - becomes a personal invitation that's hard to turn down.
I've seen some great examples of this over the years:
- An early literacy librarian who inevitably found her way to each new parent she saw (whether at the library or outside in her civilian life), cooed over their baby and personally invited them to baby storytime. She always carried a business card with the days and times of our storytimes to leave with the family. Our storytimes never lacked for attendees.
- Desk assistants who, while checking people out, always mentioned upcoming programs of interest to their various children. They relayed excitement and a hint of the fun to come. Our programs were always full of eager kids.
- Storytime presenters who, when interest in 1000 Books initiative started to falter, promoted the program in their sessions. Sign-ups and participation perked up again.
- Librarians attending community meetings chatting about our programs and services with tablemates and putting our literacy efforts out front for people to discover. Amazing opportunities resulted.
Like any kind of advocacy, these personal conversations and invites work best if they are ongoing and consistent. Once word-of-mouth promotion becomes a habit for staff, it's as easy as falling off a log to promote services, programs and initiatives. And the results can be amazing!
As most of us can’t physically travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in National Library Legislative Day (NLLD), ALSC’s Advocacy and Legislation Committee has developed resources so you can contact Congressional leaders from home!
Check out these easy-to-use resources for taking action from your library community during the week of May 4-8, 2015.
Image courtesy of ALSC
Contact Your U.S. Senators and Representatives
Talking Points to Use with Legislators
Letter to Congress Template
Sample VLLD 15 Tweets
The post Take action with #VLLD 15, and let your voice be heard! appeared first on ALSC Blog.
National Libraries Day is today (Saturday 7th February 2015) and it is the culmination of a week of festivities and celebrations for the extraordinary work that our libraries and librarians do.
This is a chance to say thank you to our nation’s librarians for the wonderful work they do. It is an opportunity to get people out to visit their library and see the amazing services our libraries offer - and join up if not already a member.
Most of all this is a reminder. This is a loud reminder that libraries matter to us all. On this day we can bond together and send a collective, public message to the decision makers. We can show them that we love and value our libraries and that we recognise that no one else can do the work of a professional librarian,
This is an election year, and so National Libraries Day is an opportunity to show the various political parties that we are a powerful, bonded and supportive group – and we will not stand for the destruction of something that is so vital to all of our communities. This is our chance to celebrate what we value, and what is so essential to the literacy of our entire nation.
National Libraries Day is a grassroots celebration led by library staff and library users. It is supported by CILIP and a coalition of leading literacy, reading, library and education organisations including the Reading Agency, the School Library Association and the Society of Chief Librarians – and you!
In 2014 NLD was hugely successful, but we can make it even bigger this year.
We want to top this list from 2014….
§ Over 603 events were registered on the website,
§ Over 17,000 tweets were made using the hashtag #NLD14 (3 - 9 Feb)
§ It had a social reach of 286,000 through the Thunderclap
§ Nearly 31,000 Facebook users reached
§ Over 8,200 website visits (3-8 Feb)
….and we are well on the way towards beating these figures in 2015
Philip Ardagh knows exactly how to support librarians!
What can you do right now to show your support?
Email a quote or comment: approve a comment on what public libraries mean to you giving permission for us to use it on the NLD website and social media (include a pic we can use) Post this on social media and send to @CILIPinfo or via the NLD comment form.
Retweet our main message: “I’m sending a message that I love libraries & the wonderful work done by librarians.” RT to celebrate National Libraries Day #NLD15
Share your support on social media
Share a library #shelfie or two with caption /comment and upload to the NLD15 Flickr pool or send to us for uploading or tweet it using #NLD15
Lend your talents - Write or create something - could you find the time to write a blog, letter or create a piece of work about what libraries mean to you?
Find an event near you – get out and get into your local libraries (with our without chocolates!). Tell them who you are and let them know that you support them. The NLD map will show you where the registered events are.
We all know how important libraries are, but we can’t save them unless we put up a fight. All over the country both school and public libraries have been saved by public campaigns. Not many, but some. This is just the beginning. It’s not going to be easy, but we have to stand up and fight for what is right. We need to fight to make sure that our communities all get what they deserve; the essential service that only a library staffed by a professional librarian can provide.
Make a noise for libraries, before the silence falls forever.
Dawn Finch - Vice President CILIP
Children's author and library consultant
Those all-important links again...
Links
We have a favorite partnership in our community. It's with our
La Crosse Storyelling Festival. As part of my job, I represent the library on the planning committee for this annual festival, held the first weekend after Labor Day for over 800 avid storytelling fans. The festival features tellers from our local guild, from the state and national tellers.
The library began as a partner years ago by sponsoring children's crafts during breaks in the children's tent storytelling. When I started work at the library four years ago, the fest steering committee asked me to serve on their board - they are all storytelling colleagues that I had known for years in my storytelling circles. Our library wants library staff to serve, on library time, on local organizations and boards (Rotary, Jaycees, Optimists, Earth Day planning committee) so this fit right in with the library goals. And it was storytelling. As a free lance storyteller, it was a great fit!
As a board member, I've been able to work on behalf of the festival - but also on the library's behalf. I look for ways to make our contribution meaningful and to highlight the library beyond having our logo displayed. The library now co-sponsors the Friday night spooky tales. I host the evening as the "Wizard of Reading" and get to plug the library and reading. Anyone who shows their library card gets $3 off their admission. The library, pays the difference - we consider it part of our programming.
The Saturday craft area that we sponsor has mellowed into an activity area with one or two book-related activities (bookmark making, writing or drawing activities) and a space for reading and books. I also do storytelling in the children's tent off and on during the afternoon. It's also a great chance to spend time with folks who are regular library users, chatting about their thoughts on the library; promote our services to non- and new- users and be there for support of literacy through storytelling.
So the twelve and fourteen hour days I work at the festival are about as fun as they can be for work hours. And the partnership between storytelling and the library...well, it's perfect.
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