More congratulations to those recognized at the Conference:

• Betsy Webb, Superintendent of Schools for the Bangor School Department, who was recognized as the Administrator of the Year at the Maine Libraries Conference on October 23rd.  “Ms. Webb was lauded as “the kind of administrator we as school library personnel can often only dream of.”
• Betsy York from Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill, who was named the Walter J. Taranko School Library Media Specialist of the year.  Betsy was given a plaque and $500 donation to the school library media program in her name. Betsy has been the district’s library media specialist for over 30 years.
• Edna Comstock who was the recipient of the Maine Libraries Conference Co-Chair Award 2008-so helpful  in making the conference a success. Edna was the conference manager and so much more.
• Senator Beth Edmonds who received the Presidents’ Award which is given by the president of both MASL and MLA. Senator Edmonds received this award for her service in the Maine State Senate, her service to the people of Maine, and for her advocacy on behalf of all Maine libraries.

I attended the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) Conference in Columbus, Ohio in October, 2007. Several Maine librarians attended, thanks to the generosity of the Gates Foundation’s “Rural Sustainability Project.”

One session entitled “What it takes to be The Best Small Library in America” included several inspirational ideas and projects. Rebecca Miller, Executive Editor for Library Journal, explained that the award was developed for libraries serving populations under 25,000. ALA realized many libraries in this category (78% of U.S. public libraries) were not qualified to compete with larger libraries served by ALA’s Library of the Year Award.

Miller commented that the applications for this award were inspiring and included similar characteristics that set them apart, such as:

• Demonstrating response(s) to changing community needs;
• Expanding the reach of traditional library service;
• Collaboration with other organizations;
• Pulling together the community.

Best Small Library Award

The Best Small Library in America award includes a cover story in Library Journal, membership and conference costs for two to attend Public Library
Association (PLA), plus a cash award recently increased from $10,000 to $15,000.The annual award, now in its 4th year, is co-sponsored by the Gates Foundation. The award includes these components (1) to provide the winner with an advocacy tool (the article in LJ); (2) to address the gap in professional development by exposing smaller library staff to the PLA conference; and (3) to get recognition and money for resources.

Library Director Herb Landau spoke about the diverse programs and services offered by the Milanos-Schock Public Library in Mt. Joy, PA, winner of the 2006 Best Small Library in America Award.Mt. Joy is in Lancaster County, PA. The library started as a small storefront with a bequest of $ ½ million which was matched. They were joined by four other towns; funding is by annual appeal to each town, fundraising, and state aid. The state forced them to improve their services in order to receive state aid.

When Landau became library director in 2002, he surveyed the community to ascertain its needs. He wanted the library to be a lifelong learning center for the community. During his remarks, Landau made several points worth considering:

• View the library as property of the community, not the library staff or board.
• Give priority to those not served by any other public education or information agency, meaning pre-schoolers and seniors.
• Adopt a philosophy of being the community’s “third place”– outside home or school/work (Ray Oldenburg).
• Excellent service generates community support.

Programs and projects at Mt. Joy, PA:

• Lending laptops (LSTA grant)
• Monthly “Cooking and Culture” program to foster understanding between immigrants and community
• “Snorey” time (bedtime story hour)
• Computer classes for seniors and the homebound (LSTA grant)
• Science programs (PBS grant)
• Van for home delivery: “Reads on Wheels”
• Einstein outreach program
• Lending toys and puzzles
• US Passport application acceptance agency [generated $25,000]
• Annual benefit auction & book sale
• Selling books on ebay
• Pet calendar
• Offer computer and online job-hunting instruction to laid-off job seekers (Penn State statistically evaluates the effectiveness of computer instruction programs)
• Opened computer instruction lab with donated computers and volunteer instructors
• Payroll deduction donations via the local teachers union
• Lions Club reading machines
• High school service clubs do yard work & other community service
• ESL classes
• Provide meeting room

Landau’s parting thought was, “What we are doing is valuable and we have to let people know we are doing it!”

This was only one of several excellent programs available at the ARSL conference. I feel this is an important conference for Maine librarians to consider attending. The membership and registration costs for the ARSL conference are quite reasonable, and the conference itself is smaller than most national library conferences. This might be a good one to consider for a “first-timer.” The 2008 conference will be in California.

View other reports about the 2007 ARSL conference

First, I want to say thank you to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Maine State Library for giving me the opportunity to attend the annual conference of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) in Columbus, Ohio (September 26-28, 2007). It was not only a great learning experience but was also a wonderful opportunity to meet librarians from all over the United States.

One of the sessions that was the most interesting and practical for me was called “Merchandising @ your library.” It was presented by Carrie Herrmann, who is the Public Service Coordinator for Boone County Public Library in Union, Kentucky. She shared simple merchandising tips, ideas for displays, resources for themes, etc.

Capturing patrons’ interest with the senses

Getting people to check out books is very similar to getting people to buy something in a store. You need to capture their attention and focus their interest. A simple display can do that by eliminating the information overload that comes from looking at row after row of books. Displays should support the goals and mission statement of the library and appeal to as many of the 5 senses as possible. Carrie told of libraries that would pop popcorn, make coffee, bake cookies, etc. to appeal to patron’s sense of smell! The result is that patrons stay longer and borrow more. Looking at fashion magazines for the latest “in” colors was another great idea.

Display location

Displays should be located whenever possible in certain places. Near the circulation desk is ideal because patrons can browse as they wait to check out their books. Other great spots include the ends of stacks, areas of heavy foot traffic. If you have room in the stacks, it can also be eye-catching to occasionally display a book face out.

Know your audience

You also have to know your audience. Displays for men should be eye catching and have a masculine feel while women are more willing to browse but are less apt to examine items that are below the waist. Displays for older adults should not be on low shelves and should be in well-lit areas. Displays should have height which can be achieved with something as simple as boxes under a cloth, or with display cubes that can be purchased.  One idea that Carrie shared was the use of clear display cubes that could contain a prop.

Props

Props are useful in making an attractive display if they relate to the theme and compliment the titles. They should not clutter a display or upstage the titles. You don’t want the props to be so fascinating that no one looks at the books!  Herrmann suggested using fellow staff, garage sales, dollar stores, eBay, etc. as places for finding props.

Signs

Signs are also important and Carrie shared some tips that have been proven through study. As a general rule, an 8 ½ by 11 sign should have a headline (40 font) and two lines of copy (18 font). The three best fonts are Courier New, Arial, and Times New Roman and a combination of upper and lower case works best. Comic Sans was also recommend by several in the group for use in signs for young adults. Signs should have no more than two key images. Some color combination dos included black or blue on white, white on black or blue, and red on yellow. Don’ts included red on green, blue on orange, yellow on aqua or white, and green on magenta. Signs should not be hand-written and should be consistent and neat.

Ideas for displays

Ideas for displays can come from many different places. Books recommended by Carrie included:

• Chase’s Calendar of Events, Why we Buy: The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill
• Merchandising Library Materials to Young Adults by Mary Anne Nichols.

Websites recommended:

• Chase’s Calendar of Events
• Bizarre American Holidays
• Health Observances
• Food Holidays
• National Health Observances
• What’s Happening This Day, This Week, This Month and includes an Earth Calendar
• Fiction site

Display need to work

The most important thing to remember about displays is that they need to work. If the books in a display don’t circulate, change the display. It’s also true that if the books in a display circulate so much that you can’t keep the display stocked, you may need to take it down. It’s important to have enough books to keep a display looking attractive so don’t plan a theme around something you don’t have many books for. Remember that you can also mix media in a display. For example, a display about Italy might include travel books, films, and fiction related to the region.

I’ve just touched on the highlights of Carrie Herrmann’s merchandising session. Her full power point presentation along with other great sessions from the conference may be available soon on the WebJunction/ARSL website.  With all the holidays coming up, this is a great time of year to try out some merchandising @ your library. Have fun!!

Sally Reed, Executive Director, FOLUSA: Friends of Libraries USA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, provided an inspirational, motivating and encouraging presentation

What are libraries for?

• Lifelong learning
• Literacy
• Equal access for everyone regardless of income, age, no qualifications necessary to visit
• Libraries can’t do it all, but we can connect you with someone who can!
• Libraries are the friendliest piece of government the public will ever deal with!
• Libraries provide networking:
  • i.e. classes in parenting skills, meeting with other parents
  • Connecting with family via email
• Libraries are a safe, nonjudgmental place both physically and intellectually
• Libraries try to understand differences
• Libraries believe that information is power
  • In a democracy we believe in open education. In a takeover the conquering government closes education and restricts information
• Libraries provides access to technology

How do libraries stay relevant to a technological society?

• Libraries look for a need and try to meet it (i.e. outreach programs).
• Small libraries serve the grassroots community. The staff knows their
  patrons, collections and has the ability to make the Library relevant to their community.
• The library is the people’s university said Andrew Carnegie. “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”  In surveys libraries have a high approval rating, but we still need to defend ‘why do we need libraries when we have the Internet?’
• The Library is a location where early education takes place.
• Children entering school have better success when they have had an exposure to books.

Libraries explain what we do very well; we’re not so good at explaining WHY IT MATTERS

• Summer Reading Program – meets the gap of the time out of school; it keeps learning continuing through the summer months. (Don’t just list the numbers of participants, items checked out etc.)
• Babies are born with all the opportunities in the world if their early childhood development is on track. Preschool programs are provided at the library.Talk about what your city would be like without the library.
• Turn all people into library supporters.
• Discuss the critical role of the Library as the Town Square:
  • Where people speak, learn and think freely
  • The Library is the symbol of democracy
  • It is the pantheon of each town
  • It is the structure of the community and exhibits the culture of the community
• We need to frame the question to why libraries matter/ what is the value of the Library – not just explain what  libraries do.
  • Visiting libraries leads to community. When people move to a community, many ask ‘where is the library?’ The Library tells the story of the community; we care about education. When a community invests in itself by providing Library services, it is a good sign. Libraries are economic drivers of the community. The library is accessible to everyone and has a caring staff. It demonstrates that there are education opportunities in the area
• People who don’t succeed in life cost society money
• Libraries are a delivery service of health information
  • Medline saves lives/the library is an authentic, reliable location of health issues
• Cultural programs are offered to expand lives and minds
• The Library is a symbol of democracy
  • Jefferson said, “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic.”

We need to share Talking Points on services Libraries provide:

• Explain why we buy books on a regular basis
• How to defend all books, viewpoints, stories, enjoyment in life, even reading for relaxation or escape. A reader makes better choices in life. Reading anything makes you smarter. When people are smarter, they can find better jobs with higher incomes and then pay more in taxes (on their income, items they purchase, and their homes.)
• There is value in each book, video and item checked out at the Library.
• The internet is a window on the world.

Advocacy

• Friends groups – provide the icing on the cake through extra funding; they provide the ‘extras’ not the basic operating expenses. The city (or funding source) is to provide the cake (basic funding).
• Libraries are the health and well being of the community.
  • Towns need to support both police and the library. The police and security…’pay us now or pay me later and I’m more expensive.’ (The Library is a preventative measure, the police deal with problems.)

Complete 2007 ARSL Conference Highlights on WebJunction – Check them out!

Conference Offered Immediate Resources

The Rural and Small Libraries Conference was expertly organized, included terrific handouts and provided access to information that can be used immediately and in the months to come as training tools, talking points, and promotional items. For this  participant, the handouts will be extremely beneficial while planning and creating a strategy for short and long term goals and for staff development.

Librarians from all over the country shared ideas, talked about their challenges, and all came away with new human resources and friends to learn and garner support from.  I also met my former online professor (and Bonnie Dwyer’s too) Bernard Varvek, the Director of the Center for Rural and Small Librarianship.

Tools for Library Promotion and Advocacy

I was extremely pleased with our first day and felt that the speakers were knowledgeable and shared information that was engaging and exemplified best practices. The practices shared; the examples of marketing and promotion; the samples of how to demonstrate the value of your library, and the use of survey tools as explained by Mary Baykan, Director of the Washington County Free Library and Librarian of the Year, provided me with ideas for advocacy on the legislative and local levels.

Points to Ponder

• What is the perceived value of public libraries?
• What is the return on investment (ROI)?
• What is the role that the library plays in economic development?
• Is the library a cultural amenity or essential service?
• Courteous staff that are efficient and knowledgeable are essential to demonstrating your library’s worth.
• Surveys can uncover the public’s perception on the impact of property values.
• For revitalization projects, the library can be as valuable as passive green space, can have a positive impact on property values, and the idea of trip chaining (i.e. if you go to the library, for instance, you’ll go somewhere else in the town too.)
• Surveys, if done professionally and carefully, can be a major advocacy tool. Pennsylvania and Maryland State Libraries have funded major library surveys for their States.
• We received a sneak preview and copy of The Joy of Computing: A Cookbook for Small and Rural Libraries, an excellent tool for staff development, training, planning, etc. For more information go to the cookbooks at MaintainIT Project.  This can be downloaded as a PDF.

Breakout Sessions

In a breakout session, “Know Thy Customer as Thyself”, Janice Trapp offered the following ideas:

• Statistics about your users can provide valuable tools to advocate.
• Someone in the audience specifically mentioned the Maine State Library Value Calculator and raved about its potential.
• Discussion ensued about downloadable audio books, Playaways, banned books, processing fees, etc.

Best Small Library in America Session

This session was interesting, but I think the criteria fit many libraries operating in Maine! More Maine libraries should be applying to be recognized as a “Best Small Library”! It did demystify the process (and hearing Rebecca Miller from Library Journal speak was great!). Postmark deadline: November 5, 2007

Complete 2007 ARSL Conference Highlights on WebJunction – Check them out!