I was fortunate to be able to listen to a WebJunction MN
webinar: The Iron is Hot: Libraries as Innovative and Creative Community
Catalysts presented by Mary Lou Carolan, Director of the Wallkill Public Library.
(NY) This presentation has been archived and the recording and slides are
available on WebJunction.
She spoke about her experience volunteering and working with
the library, first as a Children’s Specialist, and now as director. Mary used the quote “the successful library
serves as a vibrant and active community center, taking a leadership role as a
creative catalyst-exploring new ways to build partnerships, strengthen
community, and contribute to local development.” She said that she us to take
away the mnemonic HOT: H-Hope, believing in the fact that libraries have a
place in the digital world and being able to communicate why libraries are
still relevant, O=opportunity, to look for ways to market the library to make
people aware of what we have to offer both as a resource and to help gain
supporters of the library and T=Time, Seeing the urgency in the need to market
one’s library and its services in order to amp up funding and make sure people
are aware of what the library is doing. She also wanted us to remember R&D
which she said stood for “Rip-off and Duplicate” because she feels libraries
should keep track of what each other is doing and replicate what seem to be
successful programs.
The Wallkill Library was the library to participate in Geek the Library which is
a community public awareness campaign
aimed at spreading the word about the
vital and growing role of your public library, and to raise awareness about the
critical
funding issues many U.S. public libraries face. Mary said that this was a great free program
that provided information on low-cost ways to raise awareness for the
library. There is a Geek the Library webinar coming up in March
for people who are interested.
Mary talked about the
Inside/Outside Approach of marketing and used the quote “In order to draw
people in, first you have to reach out” (Nitkin and Jackson “Libraries that
Matter”) She talked about how their community was struggling with fewer
people coming to use the businesses and the library. The library received a
cardboard cutout of the “Get a Clue” dog for their Summer Reading Program and
wondered what to do with it. They came up with the idea to approach local
businesses about having this
Mary gave us another mnemonic “GOYA”-Get Off Your A… and
Out into Your Community. She said it is vital to let people know why you matter
so that they support you at budget time and that we have to shape our future by
sharing out story of what we do and why we matter. During the webinar there was
a lively chat session going on and as Mary spoke participants starting sharing
information on ways they were reaching out and programs that had been offered.
Some that I jotted down is that a library had hosted coffee chats at a local
coffee shop as a way to let people know what was going on at the library.
Another library shared a public electronic bulletin board with the community
and in turn for library staff entering community notices, they were able to add
in library events. Another library mentioned offering story times at the local
farmers’ market and another told about collaborating with a local arts center
and hosting concerts indoors and outdoors. If you view this webinar on
WebJunction you should be able to see that chat session for other libraries’
ideas.
Mary next spoke about “What is Marketing for Libraries”.
“Libraries can no longer afford to leave getting repeat customers to either
chance or goodwill. Libraries are in danger of becoming irrelevant relics
rather than key players in the New World order.” (Blueprint
for Your Library Marketing Plan: A Guide to Help You Survive and Thrive)
Some projects that Mary’s library staff created are: Books Alive-a children’s theatre
project where kids work with retired teachers to turn books into plays,
Programming in the Arts –they’ve used volunteers, retirees, people from the
community to offer crafts programs like Maker Space, Multicultural Programs to
help kids learn about the world, and Common Core-Mary’s library partners with
schools and families to show the library resources that can help them, they
arrange for field trips to or from the library. When talking about these
programs Mary wants to show that the library is filling a gap created by
schools needing to cut back on arts programming and school library resources to
show the value the library is adding to the community.
Marketing is important to the library because “it matters
little what you are doing if no one knows you are doing it”. Mary spoke about
the challenges to libraries: change over a short period of time, the struggle
for community funding after the recession, librarians and library staff taking
on new roles-educator, informers, program creators, technology is causing
library staff to learn new skills at a rapid pace, library staff and board
members must learn to be comfortable talking with people about what they do and
why it is important and of value. This is in addition to other barriers
including how to begin, staff/board resistance, time limitations, size of
library, budget constraints. Mary recommends trying to get to “How can we…”
instead of “We can’t…”. She said it is important to try things and then share
what happens, to find cheap and quick ways to try things by using volunteers,
seeking funding, asking for help from the community, partnering and sharing
funds.
She next spoke about how libraries add value and that
libraries need to be bold about naming what they do and claiming the value that
it creates. The head of the library system that Wallkill belongs to said “We
don’t communicate with the community consistently enough. If we did they would
know what we are doing. We must give them a reason to pay attention.”
Marketing Segmentation means marketing through different
approaches for different segments of the community. One approach won’t work for
everyone; some people will read flyers, others will find information on social
media, in person, etc. We have to reach our target markets with the most
relevant message to provide the best customer service. As part of their Geek the Library campaign, Mary and
her staff had a table at an local evening baseball game to meet the community
where they were at.
Placemaking
is community organizing, using a people-centered approach to designing and
revamping public spaces into attractive, gathering places for fun,
communication, connection, cultural enrichment, learning and enjoyment. It is
about observing people, their behaviors, their interactions with space and how
they return to use the space again. The Wallkill Library Friends’ Group bought
nice wooden chairs and had the name of the library printed on the back of them
and then put these on their front lawn; the library is set back on a rather
large lawn and they wanted to make this area a welcoming space for people to
relax, enjoy library materials, explore, and play. They put up signs that said “Please,
sit, relax, and enjoy our lawn”. They found that people really enjoyed these
chairs and came into the library to tell staff this. Mary said that efforts
like this were a way of showing that the library is an anchor to bring people
to the community. The chat in the Webjunction webinar is full of examples from
other libraries of their placemaking efforts.
Mary advised that we must extend our mission beyond a place
for the storage of knowledge to being an anchor for the community; a
destination for the public. We should reach out to the community and experiment
with quick, cheap projects like Wallkill’s chairs on their lawn which helped
bring people to the library. She also recommended collaboration and
communication with other businesses, town councils, political leaders to make
sure we have a seat at the decision making table and that the library’s
presence and purpose is known.
In closing Mary reminded us of GOYA-Get Off Your A.. and to
make sure we are connecting and collaborating to let people know why we are
here and then figuring out how we can work together. She ended with the quote “The
time of the quiet library with the all-knowing librarian is over. Public
libraries have, during the past ten years, been changing from collections to connections
and now also towards creativity and collaboration.” (Skot-Hansen, Dorte, Casper
Hvengaard Rasmussen, and Henrik Jochumsen, 2013)”
Erin Z-R., Librarian I, Central
This is an article that was mentioned during the webinar: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/05/future-of-libraries/making-room-for-innovation/
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