Think Outside of the Library

The Library of Congress’ premier event has not been held at the Library of Congress since its first year. After 12 years on the National Mall, the event moved to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in 2014. Hosting events off-site can be tricky. Who wants to dedicate tons of staff energy, funding, and resources to an event, only to have attendees not realize that the library was even involved? The reality is that no library (not even the Library of Congress!) has all of the facilities necessary to make an imaginative librarian’s programming dreams a reality. If you’re hosting a wildly popular author, you may need to rent an auditorium with more capacity than your meeting rooms. If you’re hosting a cooking class, it makes much more sense to do it at the community center across the way, which has an industrial kitchen, than in your carpeted meeting room with some hot plates. Weigh your need for brand awareness against the need to make your program the best it can be, and you’ll find that sometimes you need to leave the four walls of your library space behind.

When asked whether hosting the event off-site has impacted brand awareness, MacNeil said, “It is important for attendees to know that the programs are presented by the Library of Congress, not for the sake of receiving credit, but rather so that the public understands that the Library of Congress is here for them. We want the festival to be a connection point and an invitation to begin a relationship with the Library of Congress more than one day a year.”

Keeping that goal in mind makes it easier to envision your off-site event as an opportunity to market your library. Place your logo wherever you can – on staff t-shirts, on informational tables, on signs, and on branded giveaways. Include your library’s mission and vision statements on promotional materials and paper programs distributed at your event. Make sure to clearly instruct all event staff and volunteers about the message you’re trying to get across to current and prospective patrons. Above all, remember that program success is about a positive experience for the patron, in or out of the library.

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

At this year’s National Book Festival, D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose sold almost 17,000 books, proving that a good partnership is worth its weight in gold (or books). Partnerships can help you improve your event by pulling in outside organizations with specialized expertise and providing built-in promotional opportunities. An event hosted by two organizations has twice the reach of a library-only event. If you’re hosting an author, partner with a local independent bookstore for book sales. If you’re planning programs around the upcoming election, consider reaching out to your local board of elections or League of Women Voters to collaborate. Establish a relationship with your local business improvement district or chamber of commerce, who are experts at connecting and promoting local organizations and can help you create innovative community partnerships.

A word of caution: partnerships can get messy if each partner’s roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined. Consider writing a memorandum of understanding to make sure all parties are on the same page.

Communicate, Collaborate, Delegate

When asked what organizing such a large festival has taught him about event planning, MacNeil said, “Planning, communication, and collaboration are key. There are so many moving parts…and so many people working to ensure its success; effective communication and collaboration are extremely important.”

When planning a program that relies on the work of multiple staff members, partner organizations, or volunteers, you should take care to communicate regularly in the stages leading up to the program. The method of communication will vary depending on the scale of your program, but it is the programmer’s responsibility to ensure that your team members know what is expected of them.

MacNeil continued, “When first building a plan for The Library of Congress National Book Festival, the scope of such a large undertaking can seem daunting, but when you break it down to smaller more manageable projects (a single presentation), then you can begin to build on that.” Delegating certain elements of program planning to various working groups can help reduce stress. Perhaps more importantly, having multiple eyes on your program plan can help you spot and solve possible problems before they’re beyond control. Keep in mind, when delegating, that you’ll need to regroup from time to time to ensure that all of the moving parts are aware of one another’s movements.B

Build On Your Success

It can be challenging to translate the success of a one-off program into the kinds of results we want to see in libraries, such as new patrons, more community engagement, and increased awareness of library resources and services. Acting quickly to build on the momentum of your successful program can help you achieve these goals.

When asked about the possibility of extending the National Book Festival to more than one day a year, MacNeil said, “To extend the success of the festival, the Library of Congress is introducing a new year-long program called ‘National Book Festival Presents,’ in the hope that we can continue engaging authors and the public throughout the year, and we already have announced a very exciting lineup.”

The post The National Book Festival: Takeaways for Programming Librarians first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

With many school library closures, the public library might be the only such place that our young male patrons experience. School librarian Helen Cox says that having objects that inspire curiosity—like chess sets, gyroscopes, 3D puzzles, kaleidoscopes—really does help foster an environment that boys like. In fact, she says that in her thirty years of experience working with students, boys respond well to a ‘scholarly environment.’[1] Cox also states that comics, pop-ups, 3D illusions, and jokes, as well as “the gross and the gory, the horrific, toilet humor, and action-packed adventures” should be highlights in the collection.[2]

For programming and even more collection ideas, let’s take a look at an organization that boasts a membership of over 2.5 million young boys as well as a record-high attendance at three of their high-adventure camps: the Boy Scouts of America.[3] How can the public library tap into that number? When asked how libraries might engage with scouts, Nancy Welton—Scoutmaster Troop 4, Thunderbird District, Grand Canyon Council (AZ)—stated, “Scouts actively seek truth and knowledge in all they do, so continuous learning through reading will only help them even more during their Scouting journey and into adulthood.” [4] Libraries provide meeting spaces, tours, merit badge book collections and some staff may even serve as the reading merit badge counselor.

If you take a look at BSA’s merit badge offerings, a total of 136, and specifically their most frequently  earned badges, you might glean some programming and collection ideas for your library. In order to get a cleaner picture of the statistics, let’s take away the thirteen Eagle-rank required badges and those popular offerings often found at summer camp or merit badge roundups. The remainder is merit badges that scouts chose to complete on their own. The following merit badges represent the next chosen in order of popularity: art, chess, mammal study, shotgun shooting, climbing, Indian lore, space exploration, pioneering, geology, and photography, basketry, aviation, and orienteering.[5]The list continues, but you get the picture. The merit badges that gained the most in popularity over the last year include game design, sustainability, programming, search and rescue, and cooking. Any one of these can easily tie into library programs and collections.

If you decide to pursue programming for males, don’t be surprised if you spark the interest of females who might be just as interested. And never exclude a patron based on their gender. Timmins Public Library (Ontario, CA) did just that but soon reversed its decision to exclude girls from a robotics program. In fact, many of the STEM and Makerspace programs have great appeal to both boys and girls.

Jon Scieszka, author and advocate with Guys Read, cites one of the reasons that boys struggle with reading is that they “don’t have enough positive male role models for literacy. Because the majority of adults involved in kids’ reading are women, boys might not see reading as a masculine activity.”[6] So if we can get Dad into the library, perhaps we can also help to create that male role model that our boys so desperately need.

If you’ve found success in reaching boys in your community, let us know by commenting below.

References:

[1]Helen Cox,. “Boy Story: Do you really want guys in your library?” School Library Journal, September 1, 2010.

[2]Ibid.

[3]“2014 Report of the Treasurer and Consolidated Financial Statements,” Boy Scouts of America, accessed February 11, 2016.

[4]Nancy Welton, text message interview with author, DATE.

[5]Bryan Wendell, “2014 merit badge rankings: Which were the most and least popular?”Scouting Magazine, March 25, 2015.

[6]Jon Scieszka. “Guys and Reading,” Guys Read [blog], accessed February 11, 2016.

Resources and Further Reading:

Brookfield Library programs reach out to men: Fantasy football one of the new “bro-grams” started this year

Culinary Literacy Center: Free Library of Philadelphia, Event Listing

Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library’s Manual for Showing Young Guys That Books Can Be Fun And Men Like to Read

Getting Boys Into the Library by Mike McQueen

For the Love of Reading

Check These Out at the Library: Blacksmithing, Bowling, Butchering

The post Man Up: Attracting the Male Patron first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Entitled “Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries Initiative: Reimagining The City’s Gateway To Information, Literacy, Economic Opportunity, And Civic Engagement,” this initiative is a model for collaboration among a large public library system, city government, and a local foundation. The William Penn Foundation contributed $25 million, with an additional  $35 million in total given by city and state government, and private gifts.

Strategic Priorities

How did this major gift take place? The William Penn Foundation’s Grant Overview application says it has “strategic priorities” for closing educational opportunity gaps, and that “it is more important than ever for us to allocate scarce resources for maximum impact.”  As the FLP press release emphasizes, this initiative will incorporate improving physical spaces through renovation and supporting outreach with new programs. The Free Library of Philadelphia is in a unique position to meet critical needs in the community, which makes it an ideal recipient for a significant grant.

In the library’s press release, Janet Haas, MD, Vice-chair of the William Penn Foundation Board of Directors, confirms that libraries are a logical entry point to strategically create meaningful change in communities.  “The community libraries, in particular, are becoming vital neighborhood centers, places where people come together to build community, engage with one another and use tools and resources needed to be successful. Libraries are places of life-long learning, which is why we are so pleased to be a partner in this important work.”

Here are some highlights from the initiative:

Central Branch

The FLP will construct two new areas at the main Parkway Central library, both of which have an entrepreneurial focus. One new area, The Common, will “serve as an active community space where individuals can gather to create, collaborate, and share.” The Business Research and Innovation Center will offer “incubator space for new projects and ideas” and support.

Neighborhood branches

The initiative will fund renovations and programming innovations at five city branch locations, by creating “hubs” to support specific community needs. For instance, the Tacony branch is “situated in the heart of a re-emerging commercial corridor,” so the FLP will focus on developing resources and space for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It should be noted that the five branch locations are prototypes, suggesting that evaluation and further development will continue to develop.

Partnership with City Schools

In addition to other partnerships with community organizations, the Free Library will strengthen its work with the School District of Philadelphia, “to ensure that all public school students receive the academic support they need to succeed.”  The FLP has already taken large steps to collaborate with the School District, including summer and after school reading programs, as well as completing an effort to make sure that all School District students have library cards.

For a deeper look at the initiative, see the FLP press release, or visit www.21stcenturylibraries.org for detailed plans.

The post Free Library of Philadelphia Building Inspiration Initiative— An Innovative Model of Library Service first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

My original plan this month was to write about “Outreach to People with Disabilities.” Yet that subject was soon replaced by a topic that preempts and precedes the concept of disability outreach: attitudinal barriers to library accessibility. While none of us sets out to block library accessibility with our attitude, attitude does in fact inform decisions about all library products and services. This mindset may unconsciously affect planning for library remodels and new facilities; how we present our physical and virtual collections; how we plan and market public programs; how we determine assistive technology needs, and whether to conduct outreach to people with disabilities. Attitude has a direct bearing on how we deliver all of our library products and services, but disability awareness should inform and support our ability to provide the best library service and materials possible.

Taking steps to include people of all abilities in public library programs and activities changes the outlook of both staff and visitors. We know in our personal lives that attitude shapes our thoughts and motives, so why would it not also affect decisions we make for our libraries? The goal of this discussion is to bring attitude into our awareness radar. Library accessibility first requires the level of awareness that places us as leaders in access, rather than reactors to accessibility issues. The difference between leading in access and reacting to accessibility begins with disability awareness. Considering the needs for all types of learners when planning library programs, activities, materials, and online services promotes the idea that increased access for people with disabilities means increased access for all. Planning for library accessibility opens doors to diverse and broad community connections. Moreover, it ensures people get connected with libraries, our goal!

Libraries that address access concerns during planning phases will face fewer challenges that result from accessibility blunders. Some of the most common reasons we review accessibility in our libraries include: Strategic priorities, legal requirements; demand from an individual or groups; or the topic is trending and brings renewed awareness. Most hasty accessibility quick fixes could be avoided if attitudes were honed for inclusion from the beginning. This not only applies to facility access, but when planning story times and other popular programs. Since we know that nearly 20% of the US population has one or more disabilities, we can assume people in our communities appreciate efforts toward access and inclusion. It’s not that libraries intentionally set out to ignore access issues, but inclusivity may not be considered early enough in the process of planning, training, and implementation of programs and activities. When accessibility demands originate from an individual or group, we often react as a result of that demand and consider it fixed until further notice. With library accessibility planted in the forefront of our minds, we will be ready to provide programs and services for people with disabilities before they are requested.

We can make huge strides in library accessibility beginning with our own attitude. Customer service delivered with the right attitude, one of inclusion and acceptance, can be easily accomplished. What will be remembered by library visitors is the attitude library staff conveyed, not the information shared. Consider the following attitudinal helps for providing a welcoming library experience:

• Share a friendly face
• Converse with a nonjudgmental look
• Provide encouragement and acceptance during the reference interview
• Make eye contact
• Acknowledge the importance of the person and their information request
• Abandon assumptions about physical or intellectual disabilities in favor of making a personal connection
• Relax and throw away fears that stem from lack of expertise

Source:

Nearly 1 in 5 People Have a Disability in the U.S., Census Bureau Reports, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html

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