The 'M' Word - Marketing Libraries

Free Webinar: Building a LibraryAware Community through Outreach

2012-02-06T05:00:00.002-05:00

Does your library need to build stronger community connections, but the thought of where to start leaves you feeling overwhelmed? I'm moderating a webinar that could inspire you to kick-start the process. Its free!

We have gathered together four amazing librarians - Molly Fogarty, Springfield City Library Director, Massachusetts; Gerry Meek, Calgary Public Library Chief Executive Officer, Alberta, Canada; and Tony Tallent, Director of Literacy and Learning and Susan Lyon, Learning Engagement Manager, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, South Carolina. Each of them have used some pretty amazing strategies to connect with their communities.

They are going to share the philosophies that helped them integrate outreach into their library’s DNA. They will talk about their programs that built strong community relationships, helped library staff members make incredible connections with high powered executives and helped a community get on board with using eBooks. Best of all, they will talk about how any of these programs can easily be scaled to your library.

And then we will move into “kitchen table” talks where our speakers will genuinely talk about the challenges they faced and overcame, as well as ideas they wished they had pursued (or still dream of pursuing).

The webinars are free. If you can't make it, register anyway and you'll be able to get access to the recorded version.

Join us and get inspired by the energy, creativity, optimism, and leadership that have made each of these libraries successful.

Panelists
Molly Fogarty, Springfield Library Director, Massachusetts
Susan Lyon, Richland County Library Learning Engagement Manager, Columbia, South Carolina
Gerry Meek, Calgary Public Library Chief Executive Officer, Alberta, Canada
Tony Tallent, Director of Literacy and Learning at Richland County Public Library, Columbia, South Carolina

2012-02-03T05:39:00.000-05:00

Kathy and I are talking about redesigning our blog in the next few months. I came across a new tool that looked very interesting and took it for a spin.

Hubspot's free tool is called "Marketing Grader". It analyses three critical marketing areas of your websites. I popped in The' M' Word. Kathy and I did okay with a score of 74 out of 100.What I love about the grader is that it carries you through an easy process to improve your stats. So let's go through it...

Top of the Funnel

Creating, optimizing, and promoting content are keys to filling the top of your sales and marketing funnel with more website traffic and leads. The good news is that companies who create, optimize and promote their blogs get 55% more traffic and 70% more leads than those who don't. They are suggesting we need to get more people to re-tweet our posts. We also need to post our blog posts to Facebook. We haven't been happy with the way our posts link to Facebook and will definitely address that issue.

The Blog:

We did great for having a blog, having our posts shared on Twitter, regular publishing our posts, and having an easily located RSS feed. But they suggested the titles of our posts should be unique and less than 75 characters. A little more digging and it turns out we may have forgotten one of the very some things we keep telling you - optimize that title! In our case a quick fix would be to include relevant search words. Ooops!

SEO

Our pages are being indexed by search engines (992 and counting) but I've been horrible with adding alt tags to my photos. Since photos can't be seen by search engines, tagging them with alt tags will let the search engines find them.

We have some great information to help us build our new blog.
See what how your site ranks.
They also have a graders for tweets and search.

Life Changes

2012-02-01T05:15:00.003-05:00

I was thinking how the events we plan to be “life changing” are so easily overtaken by the things we hadn’t planned for. My husband and I thought we were changing our lives last year when we bought our dream house. It was an 1830 beauty that had great bones but needed lots of TLC to bring it back to life. Halfway through the renovation process a friend emailed a job announcement from NoveList - they were looking for a person to lead the development of a new marketing product. The company was based 450 miles away but the job sounded very intriguing. If what I was reading was true, they were looking to create a software program that would automate the design, delivery and measurement of promotional materials.

They had my attention.

In my job as the marketing director of the NJ State Library, my passion was trying to help librarians market their libraries. We offered training and even developed strategies and materials for statewide initiatives. For many libraries the lack of time and money prohibited them from following through with those strategies for their programs.

I wondered if a library vendor could create a product that was better than what was on the commercial market.

What I was seeing from vendors was pretty much more of the same. They offered materials to promote their products but not much in the way of helping libraries promote other products and events. Some For the most part, libraries were designing with MS word or Publisher. Constant contact and Monkey Chimp that created great eNewsletters and Hoot Suite that help organize and post to social media, etc. Each piece helped but no one was putting it all together for libraries to do what they needed to promote all of their programs and services through the all free communication channels available to them. (Do I sound like one of those infomercials? Sorry- I’ve been living and breathing this product and I guess the talking points are pretty much imbedded in my mind at this point!) I think my dissatisfaction culminated at a presentation I gave at Internet Librarian Conference, when I proclaimed that we needed to demand that our vendors create products that meet our customer’s needs.

Did I dare even look at a job that was so far away from home?

I went on the interview to learn more (just to hear them out). When NoveList said they wanted to hire me, I was excited about having the chance to build something that really worked. When I returned home, my poor husband tried to look encouraging but I had the feeling he was about ready to kick over the paint cans and ladders in frustration. I used the phrases “make a real difference” and “everything I’ve worked my whole life to do” to persuade him it was the right move. There were a lot of conversations. In the end, we agreed, and after a tearful good-bye to my boss, family and friends we were on the road to North Carolina.

Did we build it right?

Since coming to NoveList, the LibraryAware team has collaborated to create a product which I am proud to attach my name - at least so far. We are still in production but will be ready to launch at PLA. We are also going to announce a new award at the launch party. (If you want an invite to the launch party, email me ndowd@ebscohost.com and I’ll send you one.)

So why am I proud of this product? Because it will help you promote ALL of your products and services and help your entire community become aware of everything your library does. (Yes, even other vendor’s products.) And because it really is easy to use, creates amazing materials, saves time and reaches your audiences … Sorry, I‘m getting carried away again aren’t I? Well back to my story ….

Was it worth it?

Even though my husband and I had agreed to come, it wasn’t easy. We left behind our families including our first grandchild, lifelong friends and the Jersey shore. We couldn’t sell our house and are living in an apartment for the first time in a very long time. But I think whenever you make the right decision, everything eventually works out. We’ve discovered how Facetime lets up keep up with the everyday moments of our granddaughter’s life, we were able to rent the house and we are getting to explore the beauty the south offers including the Blue Ridge Mountains, beautiful shore lines and some of the best hospitality I’ve ever known.

Life is good.

Working on the “vendor” side of the equation gives me the ability to make a product that works for libraries instead of complaining about what doesn’t work. The folks here at NoveList are amazing. For those of you who wonder what it’s like to work for Duncan Smith – it’s a lovefest. He manages from love and it permeates throughout everything, everyone does. The only bad thing is that most of the folks here are foodies and they are always bringing in something good to share.

Are you being called?

Some of my friends have been hesitant to move from the security of their jobs and have asked me for advice. I’m not one to give advice of how others should run their lives, but I have a coffee mug that I recently bought from the JFK museum that sums up my thinking. On it is the quote, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.” That’s how I feel at this stage of my life. I believe in the future of libraries and I believe that each of us has to utilize our talents and abilities to ensure that our communities don’t lose us. For me, that talent is marketing. For you, it’s something else.

If you believe you can make a difference but have been afraid – afraid of losing a pension, a position, or anything else, then perhaps my little mug might have an answer for you.

A 4-Week Online Library Marketing Course

2012-01-29T07:34:00.001-05:00

Do you wish you could learn more about library marketing?

Would you like to get college-level knowledge without enrolling in college?

Do you want to learn from someone with real-world experience?

Would you like to advance your career without spending too much?

Don't want to commit to taking a whole semester of classes?

Want to do all this without ever leaving home?

Well, have I got a deal for you!

There's a 4-week, online class being taught through Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science (a well-respected library school in Boston, Massachusetts). The class, "Marketing Your Library," is open to anyone, and is part of Simmons College's Continuing Education Program. And it costs just $250 (or $200 for Simmons graduates). It will take place March 1-31, 2012. You can learn more about it here, and register now.

It's taught by Rebecca Metzger, a former marketing / PR specialist who earned a library degree. Now she's a Reference, Instruction & Outreach Librarian at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. Rebecca has taught this course before and it's done well enough to be back again.

What's more: This workshop uses my book (The Accidental Library Marketer) and Brian Matthews' book (Marketing Today's Academic Library) as the official texts. (I've read Brian's book and it's quite good!)

So if you want to get some official knowledge under your belt without enrolling full-time, travelling, or spending too much, this is a perfect opportunity for you.

Inspiring Articles & Ideas

2012-01-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

There's been so much going on lately that I haven't had time to blog about it all. So I hope you won't mind a bit of a catch-up post here.

++ There's a wonderful new feature article over at The Programming Librarian site--- "Meeting Needs and Making a Difference: Outcomes Based Planning and Evaluation" by Abbie Anderson, the Assistant Director at the North Bend (Oregon) Public Library. I can't entice you to read it any better than she does in her opening paragraph:

"We’ve all been there. You plan a great program, and only a handful of people show up—or no one does. ... You’re doing everything you can think of and everything your schedule and your budget allow to promote your events to potential audiences. How can you draw people to your programs?"

There is a wealth of other helpful articles there; go take a look!

++ I bet you never expected to see a post on the Harvard Business Review's blog about libraries and stuffed animals! But here it is: "Innovating the Library Way" by Grant McCracken. Discussing the value that physical libraries can offer (that you can't get from ebooks or websites), he uses the fun example of "stuffed animal sleepovers" to show children that libraries are magical places.

Look at Crowell PL's Flickr set to see how much fun the animals have when left overnight in the library! And here's an animated set of photos from Briargate PL's sleepover.

++ You've seen bookmobiles... but I bet you've never seen one like this! An artist in Buenos Aires turned an armored tank into a mobile library and he drives around Argentina giving away books to encourage people to read. But the best part is the name: He calls the tank a "Weapon of Mass Instruction"!! See it in action on YouTube.

I loved the tank story so much that I posted it as my "Friday Fun" installment on my Facebook page for Libraries Are Essential (that's my marketing consulting business). That Facebook page is where I post lots of quick little links like these. If you like the idea of getting marketing tips, links to articles & ideas, and other interesting tidbits fed to your Facebook page every day, please Like my LAE page! (My more substantial writing will continue to appear here and in the Marketing Library Services newsletter.)

++ Finally, with February right around the corner, have you planned anything for Library Lovers' Day / Month? Librarians in New South Wales, Australia, have made it a big deal since 2006. Read all about it in a recent issue of Marketing Library Services. (Note: You are going to crave chocolate while reading this!)

So those are just a few of the things I've been exploring and reading lately. Hope you find them inspiring.

Join Kathy's Audio Conference on Marketing Plans

2012-01-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone; Kathy here. I'm honored to have been asked to speak in an audio conference put on by The Education Institute in Canada. However, it's not for Canadians only! You can call in from the U.S. too.

As part of EI's "Conversations with Leaders" series, I'll be interviewed about Marketing Plans. The call is next Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 2pm Eastern Time. The cost per "site" (many people can listen in at each paid site) is $54 for EI members and $74 for non-members. A bargain compared to travelling and paying for a full workshop! All the details are here.

Attendees will get a handout and will have the opportunity to ask questions. Hope to "hear" you there next Tuesday!

Help TWIL

2012-01-16T21:46:00.004-05:00

Justin meets the Dutch
guys for the first time in NJ.

A couple weeks ago I asked a few friends to help launch an international campaign to help our friends, Erik and Jaap by raising $10,000 to lend a hand for their weekly video program, This Week in Libraries.

Our team consists of Jan Holmquist (Denmark) and Mylee Joseph (Australia). From the United States we have the west coast represented by Justin Hoenke, east coast by Loida Garcia Febo and the south by me.

Me in my official LBI Tour shirt

The first time I met Erik and Jaap blew my mind. Traveling across the US, they told the kind of stories about libraries that made me want share with everyone I met. They introduced me to people who were doing amazing things, people who I still turn to for inspiration. Not only are the speakers amazing, Erik insists on asking the hard questions and delves to find answers that help us to think about what libraries need to do to exist into the future. One of my favorite segments was when they took us into the Media Literacy Event. At first I just listened but before it was over I was scribbling notes as fast as I could type. That's what happens when you listen to TWIL.

Now it’s our chance to help out. By supporting the “Help TWIL” campaign, you can keep the cameras rolling. Everyone who donates can have their name and country listed on an episode of TWIL as a public Thank You! Anonymous donations is also possible.

All you need to do is:

1. Go to Help TWIL and click the donation button on the top of this page and donate via the PayPal accounts that have been set up for this special initiative. It is quick and easy.

2. Make a video to encourage your friends to join us and send us the link- we'll post it to the page

3. Like us on Facebook

Please pass this along to your colleagues! Thank you for your support for Help TWIL. -Nancy

Pictures from their visit to NJ- enjoy!

PS - A special thanks to my friend and blogging buddy, Kathy Dempsey, for her help. Did you know she was the editor of their book and has been their American agent? She's been a huge help working with Erik and Jaap to keep the lines of communication open! Thanks Kathy.

#helptwil

Obama Family Works in a School Library on MLK Day of Service

2012-01-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

(Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) from cbsnews.com
President and Mrs. Obama paint MLK quotes on library walls.

I saw these reports on the evening news and I thought it was wonderful that President Barack Obama and his family did their annual MLK day of service in a school library. This is a great example of the importance of libraries! The President's team thought a library was worthy of his time and good enough for a background for a major media appearance.

Please share this post and use this opportunity to publicize the importance of school libraries.

If school libraries are important enough for the First Family to work on, aren't they important enough to fund and staff ?

For those who aren't familiar with it, here's an explanation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.

Here are links to various news stories about the service work that was done today at the Browne Education Center in Washington, D.C. The Obamas and other helped build bookshelves and paint walls.

Obama Volunteers on MLK Day, Addresses Controversy Over Memorial Inscription. Fox News.

Obamas mark MLK's birthday by volunteering. CBS News.

Obamas Observe Martin Luther King Day With Volunteer Service. Huffington Post.

Enter PR Daily's Contest to Win $ and Recognition

2012-01-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Ragan Communications is a well-known firm for PR professionals. "Ever since the launch of The Ragan Report in 1970, Ragan has provided the professional communicator and executives with timely, practical, and relevant information that few others can match."

Now its companion site, PR Daily, is launching a PR contest that covers all sorts of topics. Here's the scoop:

We're introducing our first-ever PR Daily Awards competition. And it's a doozy.
We're handing out more than $50,000 in free registrations to any of our conferences—including next year's Social Media Summit in Las Vegas, our September event at NASA, our October Best Practices Conference at Microsoft's world headquarters, our Health Care Social Media Summit at The Mayo Clinic and many more.
Use your prize for yourself, your colleagues or your clients.

We’ll also feature winning entries on the home page of PR Daily itself and in a special print edition of our flagship corporate communications and PR magazine.
Share your success with your colleagues, your clients, your prospects and the world by entering our competition by Feb. 3.

Eligible:

Work in public relations executed between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.
Open to in-house and agency public relations practitioners in the corporate, nonprofit and government sectors.
Agencies and vendors can also enter on behalf of clients.

There are many categories, including best Op-Ed article, blog, speech, online press site, YouTube Channel, and best cause-related marketing. Check the site for the full list and details!

Here's the catch: The fee is $250 per entry. HOWEVER, I contacted Ragan's to ask if there was a nonprofit entry rate, and there is -- $150. Better, but still out of reach for many of you (although you could ask your Friends or Foundation to cover the cost). To get the nonprofit rate, contact Lauren Yanow and she’ll help you out. You can reach her at 312.960.4167 or email her at laureny@ragan.com.

You can enter online; do it by Feb. 3!

Why Not Create a Thank-You Video?

2012-01-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

You know that we M Word women like videos. Here's another I recently discovered. It's a simple year-end Thank You message from the staff at Constant Contact, the email marketing company.

After watching it, I thought, "Why couldn't librarians do this?" There are various reasons to thank people for their patronage:

At the end of an advocacy or fundraising campaign
After a grand opening or re-opening
Tie in with a holiday ("We love our patrons on Valentine's Day and all year")
At the end of a semster
After an observance like Library Card Sign-Up Month or National Library Week

A short video (and it must be short!) like this shows off your staff members in a positive light and makes them appear more friendly and outgoing. And the more fun you make your movie, the greater its chances of going viral. So thank your community and help them get to know you better!

Enter by Jan. 15 to Win IFLA's International Marketing Award

2012-01-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

The IFLA Section on Management and Marketing, in collaboration with Emerald, will be giving out the prestigious IFLA International Marketing Award. Now in its 10th year, the award accepts entries from any library in the world that markets its products or services.

The deadline is 15 January, so get your entry together now!

According to the website:

The IFLA INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AWARD will honor organizations that have implemented creative, results-oriented marketing projects or campaigns. Three finalists will be recognized for their outstanding achievements. From these three finalists, the winner will be chosen and receive airfare, lodging and registration for the World Library and Information Congress: 78th IFLA General Conference and Council in Helsinki, Finland in August 2012, as well as a cash award of USD 1,000 which must be used to further the marketing efforts of the recognized organization.

The award is generously sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing, Ltd.

and is administered by IFLA's Section on Management and Marketing.

Applications are available in IFLA's 7 official languages:

Arabic
Chinese
English
French
German
Russian
Spanish

You can read coverage of this award from previous years in IFLA's archive here and in Marketing Library Services newsletter here and also here.

How to Influence with Stories: a Free Webinar

2012-01-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

There's a free webinar next week on how to influence people with stories.

From ALA's press release:

Facts and figures may be the staples of organizational life, yet it is storytelling that reaches people’s hearts.

On Tuesday, 10 January, ALA TechSource and WebJunction will cosponsor the webinar “Organizational Storytelling for Librarians: Using Stories for Leadership, Community, and Advocacy.”

Participants will learn the concepts of organizational storytelling taking hold in business and other sectors. Presenters are Kate Marek, professor at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science and author of "Organizational Storytelling for Librarians" (ALA, 2011); and Chris Rippel, head of continuing education, Central Kansas Library System.

Drawing from the storytelling principles of noted screenwriter Robert McKee, Marek and Rippel will share specific examples and tools for library communication and advocacy. Among the themes to be discussed are:

Gaining trust with stories about yourself and your sense of purpose.
Building teams by sharing vision.
Managing change with respect for the past.
Why storytellers listen.

The webinar is at 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 at WebJunction. Find details here.

Life Changes

2012-01-01T05:00:00.001-05:00

I was thinking how the events we plan to be “life changing” are so easily overtaken by the things we hadn’t planned for. My husband and I thought we were changing our lives last year when we bought our dream house. It was an 1830 beauty that had great bones but needed lots of TLC to bring it back to life. Halfway through the renovation process a friend emailed a job announcement from NoveList for a person to lead the development of a new marketing product. The company was based 450 miles away but the job sounded very intriguing. If what I was reading was true, they were looking to create a software program that would automate the design, delivery and measurement of promotional materials.

They had my attention.

I wondered if a library vendor could create a product that was better than what was on the commercial market.

Did I dare even look at a job that was so far away from home?

Did we build it right?

Was it worth it?

Even though my husband and I had agreed to come, it wasn’t easy. We left behind our families including our first grandchild, lifelong friends and the Jersey shore. We couldn’t sell our house and are living in an apartment for the first time in a very long time. But I think whenever you make the right decision, everything eventually works out. We’ve discovered how Facetime lets us keep up with the everyday moments of our granddaughter’s life, we were able to rent the house and we are getting to explore the beauty the south offers including the Blue Hill Mountains, beautiful shore lines and some of the best hospitality I’ve ever known.

Life is good.

Are you being called?

If you believe you can make a difference but have been afraid – afraid of losing a pension, a position, or anything else, then perhaps my little mug might have an answer for you.Ot in the words of one of the great and funny Jp Porcaro: #makeithappen!

Why Library Cards Make Great Gifts

2011-12-30T11:20:00.000-05:00

I like this short video on why library cards make great Christmas gifts. And you could use it for any time of year. A few alternate ideas:

* Library cards fit nicely into a box of candy for Valentine's Day.

* They can brighten up Easter baskets.

* They have no calories!

* They allow you to research history on an historical observances (national Independence Days, etc.)

* Library cards also make wonderful birthday gifts, and not just for kids--for anyone who wants to learn or explore the world, for people without computers, for movie or music fans, and others.

Kudos to Eastern Counties Regional Library (Bibliotheque Regionale Eastern Counties) in Nova Scotia, Canada, for making this video. Check the recent M Word post on how to make a 1-minute video to get your own started!

To friend or to de-friend ...

2011-12-20T07:42:00.003-05:00

"New research from NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey company, reveals that there are innumerable factors that help Facebook users decide to add a friend or cull someone from the fold, though knowing someone in real life is the top reason cited for friend-ing someone (82%) and offensive comments are the main reason someone gets the boot (55%).While some Internet interactions are online-only relationships, the most common reason we add friends on Facebook is because we know people in real life."

So why do you friend someone? I have two Facebook accounts- one for "friends and family" and one for "Friends and work." For work, I'll friend almost anyone in the library field and authors. I seldom de-friend people but I will "silence" them if they post too often or rare playing too many games. I love hearing people's ideas and will follow quite a few links if they sound interesting. What about you?

Creating the One Minute Video for Your Library

2011-12-19T09:05:00.002-05:00

One of the most difficult things to do is to create short videos (1 minute or less.) The creators of Arizona State University’s “Library Minute”, Matthew Harp, Mimmo Bonanni, and Anali Perry, presented a fantastic workshop outlining the process they use to create their “Library Minute” videos.

In their slide deck, they discuss the three steps they use to produce the short videos:
1. Conceptualization and Planning
2. Recording
3. Editing and Distribution.
This is good stuff! Check out some of the videos they’ve made here.

The Library Minute: Creating Short and Effective Outreach Videos

View more presentations from mharpasu

Building a Social Library

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Another great presentation. This time from Slideshare and given by the folks from NY Public Library: Michael Lascarides, Sr. Manager forWeb Initiative; Ben Vershbow, Manager of NYPL Labs; Angela Montefinise, PR and Marketing Director; and Johannes Neuer, eCommunications Manager. I think they are one of the most talented teams out there and what they have to say is valuable for every library- large and small.

Topics covered in the presentation:

Our Catalog: the Core of the Social Library
Crowdsourcing NYPL's Research Collections
Using Social Media to Reach the Mainstream Media
Our Framework for Social Media Success

Angela's section on using social media to reach the mainstream media demonstrates all the best practices we have discussed over the past few years and proves they really work.

Present compelling stories and the press will call you
Use the new rules for press releases: send links to blogs and other social media, use images and be creative with text
Share photos and video clips ( okay granted, they have photos of JayZ when he came, but you have compelling stories to tell that will appeal to your community too)
Highlight original content on your web/blog - reporters love a good story!
Highlight your library's unique assets- NYPL has the Biblion app, think about what your library has that is unique
Conduct exclusive social press meet-ups. I guess this is considered the "new" press conference and would warn that this must be newsworthy and "special" to be effective.

Run through the entire presentation and be inspired! I know the tendency is to think that since you don't have the resources NYPL has, you can't replicate their ideas, but that's not the case. What they are doing is applying excellent practices, and while you may have to scale them to fit your resources, the concepts are always replicable.

Web 2.0 Expo New York 2011: Building a Social Library

View more presentations from Johannes Neuer

Effective Video Promo for a Presidential Library

2011-12-13T18:51:00.000-05:00

This video is an amazing way to promote a special library!!

Tour host, actor Gary Sinise, makes the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum sound so fascinating that even a Democrat would want to visit.

Also notice "the ask" right up front--he makes it clear that the library wants donations and tells

viewers how to make them. Smart.

However, the page isn't optimized to post the actual video via links. :-( So you'll have to link over yourself to see it.

http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-library-video-tour.aspx

Proving the Digital Difference that Public Libraries Make

2011-12-11T14:06:00.002-05:00

Some of you may remember that, back in February 2011, I posted about a study that I referred to as "worth its weight in gold" for public libraries that needed to prove their value to city and county managers. That study was done by the ICMA, the International City/County Management Association.

Well, Friday, 9 December was an exciting day. I was doing breakout workshops at a library's staff training day and the keynote speaker was none other than the Executive in Residence of the ICMA!! Dr. Ron Carlee gave a great talk about the library-related work that ICMA is doing, and it was punctuated with great advice and good quotes. Let me share it with you.

Ron Carlee understands a lot about government, economics, and budgets—and libraries. He knows that libraries help build sustainable communities that can grow. (This was made abundantly clear in the study, called Maximize the Value of Your Public Library. Download it for free!) In this presentation on "enhancing community relevance in an era of constrained resources," he detailed four main areas where ICMA is working with libraries:

1. Innovation projects

2. U.S. Impact Survey

3. Framework for Digital Inclusion

4. Edge: Benchmarks for Public Access

I want to concentrate on "digital inclusion" – making sure that everyone has access to technology and help using it. One great point that Carlee made was that three of the biggest employers in the US (Walmart, McDonalds, and Target) only take applications online. So in order for people to get even the most basic jobs, they need computers and the skills to use them. Libraries are making that possible.

"Were it not for the public library, we'd have virtually no digital inclusion at all," Carlee said. Libraries make technology infrastructure available, affordable, and accessible.

Here are a few final bits of his advice:

* To influence decision-makers, we must explain to them the negative consequences of not doing what we do, and also show the positive consequences of providing public technology access. It's not enough to say, "We offer free internet access." We need to show, with data and stories, what can happen if we don't have money to offer it as well as how we improve people's lives when we do offer it.

* Everyone should develop an elevator speech about the impact of libraries!

* We need to understand the budget process and educate the decision-makers. As Carlee concluded, "If you don't do it, it's not gonna get done."

I want to thank everyone at the Loudoun County Public Library in Virginia for inviting me to talk about marketing at their Staff Development Day, and for bringing in Ron Carlee to talk about the big picture and to encourage everyone to help improve it.

"Seduction is framing what you want to do in terms of what the person wants to do already." - S. Abram

2011-12-05T07:43:00.004-05:00

A Good Memory: Eric and Jaap visiting NJ

I was just catching up on some inspirational sites and loved listening to Stephen Abram on TWIL [This Week in Libraries.] For those of you who aren't familiar with TWIL, it's a fantastic weekly video interview program by our Dutch boys- Eric and Jaap. In this session Stephen works his magic talking about the need for libraries to seduce their customers in order to help people connect with us on an emotional level. It's what Kathy and I believe and Stephen explains it beautifully here.

Toward the end of the discussion he touches on the topic of book clubs and I think its worth your time to listen to and then take a day to let your own ideas percolate. Book clubs, book discussion groups or whatever you choose to call them provide a social extension to reading and can produce some pretty amazing results for those who join. Stephen talks about the idea of book clubs for parents helping people to become better parents. I remember a library in NJ that hosted a book club for divorced people that helped people build new and better lives after divorce. Are we doing enough when it comes to creating opportunities and incentives for new book clubs in our libraries and communities?

Take a few minutes to enjoy the discussion. See all the interviews [they are pretty amazing!] at This Week in Libraries

TWIL #53: Stephen Abram (Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Markets at Gale Cengage) from Jaap van de Geer on Vimeo.

"Yes" or "No" to the new template? You tell us.

2011-12-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

So Blogger is offering these new "dynamic" templates where you get to pick the look you like. The questions is, does it work for you or do you prefer the old style we were using? Please give us some feedback! Thanks- Nancy and Kathy

By far the BEST library video ever!

2011-12-03T09:57:00.001-05:00

The Finnish Library Association created this video and it is the best I've ever seen.

ERIAL Study: College Students Don't Know Librarians Can Help With Research!

2011-12-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

I just read an article in Inside Higher Ed called "What Students Don't Know." It covers a study, done by anthropologists and librarians at Chicago-area universities. This is one study that all librarians really need to read and digest.

This ERIAL (Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries) project is a series of studies conducted at Illinois Wesleyan, DePaul University, and Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois’ Chicago and Springfield campuses. It won't surprise most of us that ERIAL found that college students don't know how to do good research. What did surprise many of the participating professionals was just how bad students were--and just what they thought of libraries and librarians.

I'll share a few key quotes to whet your appetite for the full article:

"This study has changed, profoundly, how I see my role at the university and my understanding of who our students are,” says Lynda Duke, an academic outreach librarian at Illinois Wesleyan. “It’s been life-changing, truly.”

“Students showed an almost complete lack of interest in seeking assistance from librarians during the search process.” Of all the students they observed -- many of whom struggled to find good sources, to the point of despair -- not one asked a librarian for help.

...students seek help from sources they know and trust, and they do not know librarians. Many do not even know what the librarians are there for. "I don't think I would see them and say, 'Well, this is my research, how can I do this and that?' " one senior psychology major told the researchers. "I don't see them that way. I see them more like, 'Where's the bathroom?' " Other students imagined librarians to have more research-oriented knowledge of the library but still thought of them as glorified ushers.

No wonder people keep asking why you need a master's degree to be a librarian...

This is serious evidence for why our profession needs a complete brand makeover. Since that's unlikely to happen, what each of you can do is to concentrate on your own organization. Meet with faculty and teach them what you really do. Promote yourselves as expert researchers who are better than Google and who can find the right info quickly and efficiently. Buy products with this design from Cafe Press and show it off, live it, preach it.

You can learn more about this age group in the book Dancing With Digital Natives, which I'm going to review in Marketing Library Services newsletter.

Don't wait for students to come to you with questions. Instead, proactively tell them that you're an expert and you're there to teach them how to find information. It's a skill they'll need for the rest of their lives.

Thank You, Huffington Post!

2011-11-18T15:37:00.000-05:00

The widely read online news service, The Huffington Post, has started a special section called Libraries In Crisis.

Right now, its front page features stories on these topics and others:

Chicago citizens protest to get mayor to reduce cuts to libraries that were in his planned budget (and he did restore some of the money).
Why librarians should be more like Lady Gaga
Many popular authors write in favor of libraries.
Why libraries should charge rental fees

There are many links here to articles from other sources, and to blog posts by famous commentators. Many of them are months old, and apparently have been gathered to create this section. Still, it's growing the discussion about the value of libraries.

Speaking of discussion... I strongly urge you to read at least some of the comments posted below each story. This is free research (albeit not at all scientific!) on how some people feel about libraries. If you want to get more respect, more users, and more support, you need to understand the points made by the people who do not respect, use, or fund libraries. As the old saying goes, "Know your enemy." I'll admit that sometimes, reading the comments raises my blood pressure! However, remember that you are as welcome to comment as anyone else. See misinformation being spread? Correct it! See people saying "We don't need libraries because..." ? Counter with reasons why we do need them.

This is a big opportunity for advocacy. Don't sit on the sidelines. Use this section of HuffPo to learn what's happening around you, to celebrate the comments of supporters, to address non-supporters in civil discourse, and to practice your snappy comebacks and elevator speeches. This is a giant forum about our struggling field; take advantage of the chance to educate the public and to influence change.

Inspiration: Jay-Z and Bing

2011-11-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

So take some time to look at this video but before you become overwhelmed just imagine what kind of campaign you'd come up with if you had all those resources. On a smaller scale, imagine something like this in your community. Ideas?

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"Seduction is framing what you want to do in terms of what the person wants to do already." - S. Abram

"Yes" or "No" to the new template? You tell us.

By far the BEST library video ever!

ERIAL Study: College Students Don't Know Librarians Can Help With Research!

Thank You, Huffington Post!

Inspiration: Jay-Z and Bing