I do a lot of PR.
Buy some of those clear plastic frames, 4X6 or 5X7. They're thin & cheap
down at Wal-mart or thick & spendy from Demco. Take your pick. Put them
on the tables in the staff room just like the "Today's Special" or
"Dessert Menu" do-dahs you see in restaurants. I usually put new book
announcements in the frames. At elementary, you could feature books on a
theme basis. Don't crowd the information. One book per frame is fine.
Change often including moving from one table to another. This is a good
way to "sell" the occasional professional title teachers always say
they want but no one ever checks out.... I've also found it effective
with those teachers who rarely or never go to the library, such as the PE
teachers. "I didn't know you had these kinds of books!!" (Of course you
didn't know, you never come to the library!)
I put these right out on the library tables or next to computers in my
h.s. library. Sometimes I feature upcoming events or rules.... "No
food, no drink, no cranky librarian."
I BRAND everything - from the website to every memo I send out to the
notices I post in the library. "From the Mojave Library." "Compliments of
the Mojave Library." "This project sponsored by the Mojave Library." "This
Literacy Event Funded by the Mojave Library." Actually, they all read,
".... from the Mojave Library, Where Your Future is an Open Book!"
Adopt a "catchy slogan" that people come to associate with the library.
I go thru the professional journals each month and send out a memo about
articles of interest... and sometimes make copies of specific articles
for specific teachers based on what I know about their interests and
teaching habits. Of course, I put a label on each one... "Compliments
of...."
I always plan to do a monthly newsletter. It always winds up being a
quarterly. It focuses on new books, events, statistics
and promoting certain resources (e.g. ideas for using audio books).
I always include a couple useful websites too.
I have a large visibly branded bookmark that lists the URLs & passwords
for our databases. I distribute these with a piece of candy at the
beginning of each year... and keep them flowing throughout the whole
year.
Because I'm nuts (and have big h.s. student aides) , we also run a student
store and cafe. This year we are really focusing on staff and will have
a delivery service. This weekend I'm designing a little strip of paper
about the size of a regular bookmark that we will wrap around a napkin and
spoon that will go out with each order. The little strips will include
"Thank you from the Mojave Library...." our URL and info about a database
or a new book.... Staff will be able to place orders online.
I got the elections department to send me a stack of voter registration
forms. "Register to vote here!" will be plastered in our windows
when school starts. (We have many new teachers from out of state around
here each fall.) I do driver's manuals to attract students.
Because we have a student store and cafe we have some money. I offer
"mini grants" periodically to departments or individuals for the purchase
of books or media or support of an event.
I work in a large school. There are a couple of pregnant teachers on
staff every year. I bought a supply of those "Born to Read" bibs from
ALA. We give those as a little gift to each pregnant teacher (or in
some cases the father). We also sponsor a "Read to me, Baby!"
program in which we give away a bag of books, including a copy of
the Jim Trelease "Read Aloud Handbook," to pregnant students. They
get a bib too.
I am sure to have an article from the library in every school newsletter
sent to parents.
We sponsor a teacher book club. We really go for it. When we read
"The Secret Life of Bees" for example, we sent invitation/reminder
notes as if written by May... and served up all-banana treats.
When we read "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" we sent out
periodic "dispatches" from Botswana with real news blurbs from their
official government site (which were in many cases truly hilarious).
The invitiation/reminders were a map of Botswana featuring locals
from the book. Everyone who brought an interesting fact about
Botswana to share got their name put in a drawing for a new book....
The library owns a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker and some little cheap plastic
ice cream dishes in relaxing pastel colors I picked up cheap from Ebay.
You can make many friends with those goodies. When we see a teacher is
stressed out, we send a student down with a personal invitiation to come
to the library for some homemade ice cream and some peace and quiet. They
ALWAYS come, guaranteed. They talk. We listen. We all eat ice cream.
Life is grand.
I make a point to serve on some strategic committees. This helps ensure
contact with a broad cross-section of teachers, important in a large
school such as ours. IN a small school, this came "naturally" so to
speak. Here I've really had to make an effort to get out there.
Sometimes I do things I swore I wouldn't do. Managing a full-scale
implementation of Accelerated Reader this year is an example. No one
made me do this one; I just got tired of watching everyone spinning
their wheels.
In exchange, I get the spring writing symposium I wanted. We have a
lot of sports banquets. It's time to start promoting and honoring
something academic... with "@ the Mojave Library" written all over it.
Dependency.... One of my goals (and what I should be working on instead
of typing this message) is to build dependency upon our website. I've
been really stretched since coming to this school (partly for personal
reasons). Been lucky just to get a basic website up. I've spent my
summer re-designing it and will re-launch just before school begins.
In a previous life, the website became a main source of info for the
teachers. "Where can I get? Where can I find? How do I do this? What
is that?" And my answer is, "I've posted that info to the website.
You can find it.... here." And I have another little bookmark for
that occassion, with space where I can write the correct URL for
what it is they're looking for. I don't abandon traditional support
but I do try to coax, steer, nudge... because if I can get them to
the website on a regular basis I can share even MORE information
and "sell" even more "products and services." And all this, I've learned
from experience, often leads to more collaboration.
I knew I was successful in my old school when teachers (and parents) would
call the office if the pages hadn't been updated as expected (we updated
daily... giving people a reason to come back often). "Is everything okay?
I logged on to get... x and y but they weren't up yet!"
And so I'd lke to re-create that experience here. We shall see.
J. Rathbun, Librarian
Mojave High School
Clark County School District
Las Vegas, Nevada
Email: jrathbun@orednet.org
http://ccsd.net/schools/mojave/library
Leave it to Beaver was not a documentary.
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