Because

I'm a nice person - why can't I sit in here at one of the tables way over there and use my computer, have a conversation, sit and read?

I'm sure you are a nice person and not a pedo or anything, but this is the Children's Room and it is for children and their caregivers. 

But there's no one here right now -

This is one small part of this library.  It takes up maybe one sixth of the public space.  The Teen Center is even smaller.  And all the rest of that belongs to adults.  Why don't you explore?

I've already walked all the way down here, you know.

And we are so proud of you.  Now show us how you can walk all the way back to the front (which you'll have to do to leave anyway), hop on the elevator, and walk down to the rotunda where there are tables and chairs and you can spread out.  Also, you won't be intimidating the children.  It is unwitting, I know, but just the presence of "strange" adults will frighten some children away from a certain area - such as those nice tables over by the windows where the manipulatives and crayons are.  And those couches by the puppet theatre?  Those are for parents to watch their children put on a puppet play or play at the duplo table. 

Most children are trained to be quiet around adults when they are doing adult things (not all, so I've noticed, but you get the idea).  If you are talking to a friend and aren't obviously a parent or grandparent with a child also playing, you are an impediment to play and, therefore, learning.  And even if they don't mind, won't their boisterous play interfere with your work or conversation?  If that is the case, I will ask you to leave rather than ask them to be quiet for your sake because this is their area.

By the way, the library is not a place to come and have a conversation.  If your main intent is to talk, either use one of the small conference rooms that are available on a first-come-first-serve basis ... or go somewhere else.  Yes, there are some ladies at the couches chatting away, but you know what?  They have children playing right there.  If they are letting the children get away with screaming bloody murder, I will have a separate chat with them.  The point is that they remembered to bring their children with them.  Next time why don't you?

[Now, the hard part is to put this in the tone of voice but reduce the verbiage to, "This is the Children's Room."  Practices Great Big Smile.]

Anatomy of a One-man Puppet Show

[by request]

The Show:

Act I: Dog's Sleepless Night (based on Little Bunny's Sleepless Night by Carol Roth) wherein Dog (a recurring character in the shows) visits one friend after another in an effort to get to sleep.  Squirrel eats noisy nuts in bed; Skunk accidentally "sprays" (this calls for some horrid "air freshener" aerosol for artistic verisimilitude); etc.

Act II: The Eye of the Needle (based on the Yupik tale retold by Teri Sloat) wherein Amik's grandmother sends him out to hunt and he's so hungry that he eats all the catch (including a walrus and a whale) and drinks up half the ocean. When he returns to the hut, he's too big to get in, but his grandmother brings him in "through the eye of [her] ivory needle."  Consequently, everything he has drunk or eaten is squished out and floods the hut.  This requires a squirt bottle that can shoot a thin stream of water a good ten feet [a dish detergent bottle is perfect for this] for optimal squealing of delighted children.  I don't think I've ever done a puppet show without this.  I highly recommend it.  The fish gush out as well and for that I used the fish die-cut to make many many many colorful tissue paper fish.  I grabbed a handful and as I let go, I beat the air with a handfan to spread them out.  They didn't go as far as I'd hoped, but the effect was good enough.   And then the whale belches up more water and more fish, so I got to repeat it for more squealing.
This episode in the show was a logistics nightmare because of Amik's parka.  The velcro fastener decided to attach itself to everything on Amik except the other side of the parka.  It drove me mad.

Sing-Along: Molly Malone (continuing on the fish theme).  I had the lyrics printed off onto a poster and posted to the side of the theatre.  In the pause before it, while children were scrabbling to get fistfuls of tissue fish, I told them to hold onto those fish for the last story.
No one sang. Oh well.

Act III: Have You Got My Purr? (based on the book by Judy West and if I'd had my act together, I would have pulled these books to show to the audience and talk about them before I started) wherein Kitten goes to each animal at the farm in turn to ask them if they have her purr.  Even when two people are doing this, there was not a whole lot of time to change puppets.  This was the fault of the recording (all the shows are pre-recorded and mixed with sound effects and introductory music on a professional grade Akai mixing board that just happens to be lying around our house - ahem) and there was nothing I could do about that short of stopping the tape, but I'd still need a third arm for that.  At the last minute I decided that Kitten would just not have a hand up her bottom so that I'd have a free hand to put the next puppet on.  Mind you, this is all visible to the audience, but I wore black and explained before I started that the black meant they weren't supposed to see me; they should just pretend I'm not there.

Act IV: Hot Hippo (based on the book by Mwenye Hadithi) wherein Hippo goes to ask the god Ngai to let him live in the water where it will be cooler.  I stopped the tape and told them that when Ngai mentioned his "little fishes" and the bell tinkled, they should wave their tissue fishes or toss them in the air.  Ngai grants permission on condition that Hippo come out at night and Hippo offers to show his mouth is empty and stir up the water with his tail to show he hasn't hidden any bones.  He happily runs back to the water (blue tissue paper with cuts to give it shape stretched across the stage floor which was also used for the shore where Amik caught fish and that vanished bit by bit as he drank up the ocean) and jumps in with a mighty splash that requires one last squirt of water.  Hippo dances happily and I pointed at his bottom when the tape said "The End!" to much laughter from the adults.

Recessional (to get the audience up and moving out): Choo-Choo Boogaloo (love that Music for Little People stuff!)

Special effects: Anything that will reach out from the theatre into the audience will delight them.  The squirt bottle is a must.  The air-freshener for skunk spray is a crowd pleaser, although it takes a few seconds before the scent actually reaches them.  Some type of confetti fanned out (snow, flowers, bugs, the fish) is popular, but messy.  The fish - well, the children were delighted to pick them up and even throw them away for me!  Will use that more.

I know not everyone has a huge mixing board or a computer program that will mix layers of sound and then burn it to a cd.  However, I achieved similar effects years ago by using two tape recorders.  I'd put the sound effects (or dialog that would be going on at the same time as other dialog, as in an argument for example) on a tape and then play it back while I was recording the main dialog.  It's not as clear and timing is fiddly, but it works.  Always keep in mind while recording the amount of time it takes to change scenes (cover with music) or to change puppets (imagine going through the motions in your head ... then add a bit).

Voices: Dog was the first puppet I bought.  He got on my hand and wouldn't get off.  I came up with a voice for him and I can only use that voice for Dog (it's based on a co-worker from Boston).  Some puppets are like that.  Cat, purchased at the same time as Dog, just has a cat nasal drawl.  Skunk has a French accent while Hedgehog was English.  Hippo and Bear sound a bit too much alike, but being in different "plays" no one notices.  Pig sounds like Ronald Colman, sort of, and Cow like Marilyn Monroe (which I key into before recording by singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" and Pig has "'Tis a faa, faa bettah thing I do than I have evah done").  Fox wasn't in this show, but when he appears, he sounds like Bob Dylan.  Come to think of it, most of them sound like Bob Dylan.  I'm sure you know people with distinctive speech/accents you could harvest for characterization.

Theatres:

We have this beautiful dedicated theatre now.

The Purple Stage

We started with a stage made from two stepladders and two one-by-six planks.  It was "portable" if you had a full-size station wagon.  My Corolla station wagon was too short.  We staple-gunned velcro around the edges of the planks and sewed the corresponding velcro to the purple cloth (which was on sale apparently)  The cloth on the upper plank only goes down as far as the next plank and should be made of thinner material so you can see through it.  As long as there is more light on the stage side, you won't be seen.

You can also purchase lightweight portable theatres.  I was looking for the one we had to share a link, but I can't find it.  It is made of the fat PVC piping used in plumbing and fits in the artificial Christmas tree storage bag I found on sale.  To me, the important part is the stage level.  I don't want to have to hold my arms over my head.  I prefer a stage at elbow level.  What I liked about the purple stage that I couldn't say about the portable one was that the planks were flat and sturdy and held props and tired arms.  You don't get that with PVC.  I had to adapt props for a rounded stage base by attaching strips of paper that drape over the rounded pipe and are weighted on the other side by something equivalent.  Oatmeal boxes were great for this.  They not only provided ballast, but you could put additional props in them that made it look like they were in the actual prop.

Never go on the road without a long extension cord.  Never do puppet shows outside.  Forget it.  You would need a professional PA system instead of a nice, cheap boombox and the outdoors will still swallow the sound.  And I can tell you from experience that outdoors is just plain hazardous.  I've had pinecones drop on my head.  And don't even mention bugs or heat.

Happy puppetry!

Anatomy of a Shadow Puppet Stage

Shadow puppet theatre in situ.

Puppeteer side with the cheap shoplight (on a microphone stand).

Frosty the Snowman knew the sun was hot that day ...

Puppet show "in progress" - ha ha.

Many years ago we created a puppet stage from two step ladders, two 1 by 6s, velcro strips, and some cloth.  We were also able to do shadow puppet plays by substituting a white sheet in front for the black backdrop.  I got ambitious one year and wanted to do some cute shadow puppet plays during storytime, so I made a stage from a poster carton and just some white roll paper.  Wax paper would work for a smaller stage.  Cardboard has the advantage of being lightweight and easy to toss into the back seat of a Toyota Corolla.

We've created several shadow puppet shows: one based on Remy Charlip's Mother, Mother, I Feel Sick, Robert Barry's Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree, Dr. Seuss's story "The Sneetches," and the songs "Frosty the Snowman" and "The Witch Is On Her Broomstick."  They are all just short of a nightmare to put on, but the kids just love them. 

The shadow puppets are often cut (and here the exacto-knife comes in handy) from black posterboard, but I've also used black foam sheets.  If you use color sheets, the color will still show a bit.  Storage is a problem because the fiddly bits start getting floppy so I've gone back and reinforced them with bits of wood (i.e. toothpicks, craft sticks, etc.) and then colored the wood with black magic marker if I need to use both sides. 

Shadow puppets show up clearest if they are pressed flat against the screen of the theatre and to make this easier, I started putting their sticks in at an angle. For the sticks I use bamboo skewers that I've stuck (with hot glue) into packing peanuts hot glued to the back of the puppet.  This works well as long as you aren't planning to use both sides of the puppet.  The long bamboo skewers help me keep my fingers out of the shadows.  Packing peanuts don't hold up forever, but they have the virtue of being plentiful and free, if you order a lot of stuff.  

Diagram of dinosaur shadow puppet with packing peanut and skewer at an angle.

We store flannelboard stories in manila jackets and I've tried doing that with shadow puppets, but moved on to a flap from a corrugated cardboard box.  The skewers fit nicely in the corrugations and the cardboard coordinates with the low-tech theatre.

There's something magical about shadow puppets.  You can use them to freshen up some flannelboard stories and rhymes: Five little whatevers, The three billy goats gruff, etc.  If you use them, it's probably best to use them at the end because it means turning off the lights - and then when the magic's over and the lights come back on, it's time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye.

Help! I Have 90 Firsts Graders Coming!

Partial Cast of The Mitten

Set pieces for Granny Glittens and Her Amazing Mittens

Okay, you're told that 90 first graders are coming and expecting some boffo program as well as a tour of the new library.  They're dividing them in half and taking one half on a tour while you do your fabulous thing.  I've chosen two puppet plays I know I can do by myself (plus a shadow puppet play to "Frosty the Snowman" at the end if there's time).  The first is The Mitten, a cute story where, by the end, the puppets explode out into the audience.  That's almost as much of a crowd-pleaser as squirting them with water at the slightest excuse.  The second is a favorite story from my childhood.  It came from The Tall Book of Christmas Stories and captivated me totally by turning itchy woolen mittens into candy.  I only have to put my hair up, my bifocals back on, and throw on a shawl to be Granny Glittens herself.

The set pieces for Granny Glittens are made from white posterboard (and one piece of corrugated cardboard for the packing box for her new stove) and backed with pieces of paper towel roll to keep them standing up straight.  The balls of yarn are on bamboo skewers.  I pop a white ball of yarn in the pot on the stove ... and out comes one by one: a red one, a green one, a brown one, a yellow one, and a black one.  I've heard gasps of amazement from 4 year olds.  First graders might be a bit more jaded.

Don't they wonder about the size of the stove relative to the human being? you ask.  What, you haven't heard of suspension of disbelief? 

Hit the Road, Hoppy-Toad

Adults are not allowed in the Children's Room of our library.  Well, not exactly.  Stray adults are not supposed to be wandering around the CR.  Adults with children can hang out.  Caregivers can come in without their charges and look for books.  There isn't an operating PAC station in the adult area downstairs, so they have to come into the CR to look up a book.  The die-cut machine is available to the public and it's pretty deep in the CR.  So many exceptions.  But how do you know if you have a stray adult or a caregiver?  Yesterday I lurked by the desk to tell a woman that, for future information, there are adult restrooms in the adult area behind the stairs.  I am not going to make someone turn around and go the whole length of the building in case it is an emergency.  I will let them know there is a better choice in their own area.  It turned out she had kids in the CR.  I'm glad she spoke to them as soon as she came out or I'd have been embarrassed.

My strategy has always been to ask what appear to be stray adults if I can help them, but often they say no and keep moving.  Next, I follow them and start a tour of the CR.  They've helped pay for it, so they should be allowed to see where their money has gone.  "You are in the Children's Room," I begin.  "Is there something I can show you?"  If they seem amenable, I will show off the computers for children, the puppet stage for children, the program room, the homework/tutoring rooms, etc.  Usually this will work.  In fact, I've given two tours already this morning.  I will then finish it all off by suggesting they see the upstairs as well ("Run along, now!").

I don't want to appear to be accusing someone of anything or singling anyone out.  I did monitor one man who didn't want help, didn't want a tour, but was just going to watch the children, he said, long enough to determine that he was actually there as a father who had finished what he was doing elsewhere in the library and was rejoining his wife and kid.  Anyone could be there with a kid.  The kids run down on their own (they're supposed to have an adult with them - and there's another thorny issue) and I have to look to see if an adult is coming along to be with them.  Which adult?

A new library generates new membership.  I don't know half of these people.  The last thing I want is to come off like some brassy library dragon who challenges every adult who walks in (not to mention intimidates young children who got ahead of their parents).  This is a tightrope I walk every day - without any set guidelines.  All I know is: no stray adults and no unaccompanied children unless they're old enough to be too old for the CR, at which point they should be annoying the teen center people upstairs. 

No adults on the children's computers - except we don't have the in-house use laptops yet, so parents often work or surf next to their children on the children's computers. 

And, while we're at it, absolutely everyone, even nice people, is ignoring the "Please Turn Off Cell Phones" signs.  I had a mom poke her head in the CR last night and say to her middle-school daughter, "You have a cell phone, look at it.  I've called you three times."  Ummm ... lady, she's not supposed to have it turned on.  That's, like, a rule - like the one about no food or drink. 

It's possible that we need signage, but the more you put up, the less inclined people are to read them.  And I bet the architect will have a hissy fit if we start putting up any big signs on his nice, clean walls and columns.  So it's down to me confronting people.  Sometimes I wish I had brass - but I just don't.  Why can't you just get in people's faces and tell them they aren't welcome in the CR for some reason?   Well, there you go.  If it's a child, I don't want to turn the library into some horrible experience (that kept me out of public libraries until I was in college).  If it's an adult, who is paying for the building and my salary (however distantly), I don't want them to write letters to the editor or to their councilmen (or keying my car, depending on how they tend to react to rejection) because they wandered unknowingly into Forbidden Territory.   I want them to see their library ... once, at least.   I'm proud of it.  I want kids to feel welcome, but not fall between some cracks (too old for the CR, too young to be in the adult computer lab alone). 

For now, this is my method of coping:
Step One: "May I help you?" [Who are you and what are you doing in here?]
Step Two: "This is the Children's Room.  May I show you something?" [You can't stay.]
Step Three: "Don't miss the second floor!  There is a really nice view of North Main Street from the rotunda upstairs!" [Now, scram!]

I'm working on polite ways of making people with cell phones not talk on them.  I'll stick with "Where's your mom, honey?" for loose kids.

Pre-School Storytime Pattern

I've been asked to detail my storytime pattern - which is pretty fluid but usually goes:

Opening song (Usually "If you're happy and you know it")
fingerplay/flannelboard
book (the more difficult one)
fingerplay/flannelboard
book (the easier one)
this spot reserved for puppets, creative dramatics, music making, major movement stuff
closing ("Now's the time to say goodbye" or, currently, my goodbye couplets: "See you later, alligator" etc.)
[Handout of some kind]

It's not hard-wired.  The usual rule of thumb is Lead with the most difficult. 
I've done three books or one book.  I usually have more than two books available on various levels so I can adjust by what age I've gotten.  Sometimes it's mostly 3s, sometimes 4s.  And, if they're particularly squirmy, the whole thing can get thrown out the window.  And sometimes I let them decide - for Halloween they had the choice of the funny book or the scary one (and, of course, they almost unanimously went for scary).

Sometimes they want to do something more than once, which is okay for fingerplays but I don't like to do books twice in a row. 

There are some flannelboards that I also have Spanish versions of, so I will do it first in English and then repeat it in Spanish, such as "Juguemos en el bosque."  As the lobo gets dressed, kids learn some Spanish vocab. These materials were prepared for our foray into bilingual storytimes ... which went nowhere.  We might try to revive them as more of our Spanish-speaking population discovers the new library.

The puppetry and creative dramatics go towards the end because they have a tendency to get the kids wound up.  The creative dramatics will often follow or be within a particular book - acting out part of it.  With the puppetry (I'll have some little story I can act out), it's just hard to put the puppets away.  The kids don't like it.  And they want to hug the puppets, so it's best to do it at the end when they can get up and hug a puppet on the way out.  Puppet can be used anywhere in the storytime, but this spot is reserved for a whole story.

More on puppets: I don't like little hands up my puppets' bottoms.  I'm just that way.  Yes, they can hug them, but they are characters, not toys.  There is a puppet theatre just outside the storytime room that has puppets for them to use. 

The handouts can be as basic as coloring sheets or activity sheets, or I have created pages with one of the poems/fingerplays/flannelboards we shared that day.  They are either the Add To Your Traveling Flannelboard (the sheet of felt glued into the pocket folder) type where they also got some stick-on felt to make them hang on the felt sheet or the fingerpuppet generator: Five de-colored cliparts of frogs etc. and five strips to cut out and tape to the back of the clipart plus the poem.  Presto!

I used to have a Ning where I shared stuff like this, but they went capitalist on me.  Heh!  If anyone else starts one, let me know.

SCLA Part 7 - What We Were All Waiting For: Music and Movement in Storytimes

Although I let Karen and LeVerne go to the Bouncing Babies session and I did something else, I had to go to this.  And we had so much fun, even though I was still yawning a lot.  LeVerne showed up with the pillows I'd "won" in the silent auction and the three of us cuddled together and prepared to have a good time.

Parachute for movement activities

It would be nice to be able to play the guitar for programming, but at my age I may have waited a tad too long to start.  So much for Strings and Stories.  But you can do the same stuff with just singing, which is what I do.  They use rhythm sticks (have plenty of those!), boomwhackers (OMG, don't have those!), shakers, scarves, and a parachute with beach balls on it.  They use some books we already have and I made note of a couple more I will try to use or acquire.

Boomwhackers (sorry, this picture seems to have disappeared)

This isn't the sort of thing you can describe, because there's not so much talking as there is doing.  We need lots more stuff like this going on to make it worth going.  Or maybe someone could upload inspirational storytime stuff to YouTube.

Things That Keep Me Energized

There is a certain amount of talk here about "burn-out." Clinical depression and grieving aside, I find I need inspiration of some sort to get me excited about a job I've had for 15 years - and that's where classes come in. It doesn't matter what kind they are; they could be the repetitive ones on customer service or communication. They could be on storytimes, early literacy, puppetry. Even if I've been through it before, attending some class or seminar always gets me inspired and willing to try new things or dust off some of my old skills.
I used to look at each year as an opportunity to add something new to my repertoire: puppets, music, creative dramatics, more puppets, etc., but as time wears on it becomes harder to do and there are fewer classes to take. (Of course, it doesn't help when I show up all excited at a class and the instructor says, "What are you doing here? You know all this!") One can blame the economic situation, I suppose. Our state used to have great stuff for children's librarians. There used to be an annual weekend retreat where we could go and have people from our own state as well as "foreign" experts revitalize our programming. Of course, that was way back when ... way back when we had a state Children's Librarian. Regional librarians used to get together and share ideas for the summer. I have no idea if they still do.
There used to be good sessions at the state library conferences. I think I found one two years ago (Donna Washington and storytelling) but this past year I didn't see anything. Recently we've been sneaking over to the state next door for their offerings (I think every contiguous state to ours has more money than we do, even these days) but the Children's Literature Conference seems more school oriented and it's harder to get money as well as time off for overnight trips.
Classes like these are critical in motivating both the new and the veteran librarian, but there are other ways to inspire and one of them is sharing what you know. To this end I started a Ning on library programs for kids. Having a new idea, reworking something tried-and-true, or just seeing someone else working their genius and sharing that with others also gives a librarian a warm feeling. Feeling the enthusiasm coming back from or having your work acknowledged by your peers fans the fire, but it's hard to come up with the fuel all on your own.
In summation:
We can't work in a vacuum.
Economy be darned-to-heck, we need frequent release from regular duties to be re-enthused.
If the sessions/classes/seminars aren't available in this state or nearby, we need to make them ourselves.
What the heck's the internet for if not to network with Our Kind on social sites or in real time? And, do I have to organize this all by myself? 'Cause I'm tellin' you, I'm just plum wor' out.

Marketing on a Shoestring Workshop in Columbia

9 March 2007

Marketing on a Shoestring

with Padgett Lewis of the Richland County Public Library

which has 10 locations plus one book-not-mobile

that will soon be replaced by a storefront branch,

and a $16 million budget,

a Public Relations Department

with their own color printer for doing anything 1,000 or less.

Shoestring? Suuure.

Ms. Lewis is a journalism major who is part of a 4-person permanent public relations department at the RCPL. Their department consists of a PR manager (Ms. Lewis), a PR specialist, and two graphic designers. The RCPL does no paid advertising. That, apparently, is a slippery slope. If you pay once, they think you will pay again. They rely on building relationships with the media. Their PR is done by Staff, Media, and Community Partnerships.

Everyone wants to know how to get their message about, but the library has many messages. As it is easier to sell one on one, she recommends prioritizing. So, the overall goal is to prioritize. What is the most important message you want to get out? Whom are you trying to reach? Are you trying to increase usage of resources (which resources)? Are you trying to attract new users?

The RCPL has won national recognition, but Ms. Lewis says that national recognition means diddly-poo if one person at the grocery store doesn’t use the library. They started with a community survey to develop a true marketing campaign. They found out that while everyone had a favorable impression of the library, they still didn’t use it. (What? Doesn’t Google have everything? Okay, they have a lot, but they don’t have Personal Assistance. The main problem? The Library just isn’t “cool.”) They changed their domain name from the “rcpl.lib.sc.us” to something easy: myrcpl.com. RCPL needed to be a Brand, and they needed to be consistent with it. They wanted to make the library into a community gathering spot (develop community).

On Branding: can use graphic arts students to develop a logo. [We did this with the Born To Read sticker.]

Use every opportunity to showcase your resources. Tailor existing programming to events (Black History Month, Women’s History Month). Capitalize by seeing a need in the community at a certain time and telling the community, “We have something!” Identify Your Audience, and find the best way to reach them. [Example: Hispanic Community distrustful of things that smack of government and filling out forms. Reach them through their children at the schools, where the children are more familiar with the concepts of library and forms.]

They started a Teen Advisory Board (Dana and I were chuffed that we already had an active TAB). They asked the TAB what was the best way to contact them. They said e-mail. Okay, but if we e-mail you info on upcoming events, will you forward that info to all your friends? Yeah, but don’t make it longer than one line. Teens don’t like to read a lot of stuff. So, they send teens one line with a link. They like their pictures on things. They put photos of TAB members on their website (with signed releases). Do they like to be called “teens” or “young adults?” Ask ‘em. And let your signage reflect their preference. [Okay, okay, we’ll call you “teens,” but would you like to check out a YA book?] Use technology to reach teens. They love it. On cards given out at desk or programs put a “Yes, please send me info on programming by e-mail.” On a program evaluation form add that and “How did you learn about the programming?” and “your comments count.” RCPL uses the Excel database for e-mail addresses (need to tell people to okay the library’s e-mail address so that their notices won’t bounce back or go to the bulk files).

They asked the TAB what sort of programming they would like. They said a Teen Idol contest. [We’d need an auditorium and sound equipment for that.] Everyone from RCPL rolled their eyes and tried to weasel out of it. It sounded like a nightmare. But because it was their idea, the TAB took ownership of it (a tremendous pay-off), and even handed out fliers. RCPL found sponsorship for the prizes (an hour’s recording time in a studio and one got to sing the national anthem at a major venue … and kept getting asked back to do it). Attendants were quizzed on library usage. This will be their fourth year of Teen Idol.

RCPL was going to open a wi-fi coffee shop. Teens got a special preview night all to themselves.

Ms. Lewis says to tell county council how teen programs cut down on teen violence. [Hmm, we’d need statistics for that, wouldn’t we?]

Sure, you have lots of vegetables for teens (SAT test info), but try to balance notices about that sort of stuff with stuff they want (graphic novels? Cool programming?). Video game contest: rent the machinery. Carnival games. Henna tattoos [been there, done that as well]. They sent a bitchin’ info packet to the media (with a poster of a middle-aged librarian with tattoo photoshopped on) and the tv stations showed up.

Lowe’s and Target have grant applications on line. Don’t let the manager sniff that they only give to their own community (you are a part of their greater community). Just slip in, get the manager’s name from the front and fill out the form on line. Sneaky, sneaky.

You can get e-mail info from the state schools website to use for contacting media specialists, music teachers (Teen Idol), art teachers, etc. [This is true. I got e-mails for principals for mailings I did.] Communicate with the schools. They are used to communicating with parents. Communicate with Homeschoolers [We used to keep a list of them and their addresses.]. Blog. Conduct polls on line. Post book reviews. The media has blogs as well [they do? Must check the Index-Journal. Seems so unlikely.] The RCPL puts out 20 news releases a month.

RCPL has a very popular handout on “10 reasons to come to the library.” It “flies off the counter.” Ms. Lewis will e-mail that to us. We can use that any way we want and let patrons know they can use it any way they want (church newsletters, personal websites, etc.).

The RCPL raised Friends dues from $10 to $25 (because the dues didn’t even pay for the mailings). They lost people who couldn’t afford it, but gained money. [Yeah, but then your notices go to fewer people.] They had some fancy tote bags made. [These really were beautiful. They were capacious, black, with the trademark green printing. Must have cost a bundle.] Next time they will add the website.

They use local kids’ artwork on brochures and promotional materials. They just went to the art teachers and asked to look at some stuff. The ones they used they had framed and made a presentation at the school (with the brochures to go home with the kids). Very uplifting. And put that in the newsletter as well (photo of kid being presented framed art and story about art on brochure). [You know, this sounds like such a great idea if you have a huge printing budget with full-color brochures.] The booklet bibliographies have photos of local kids. A release is always signed. No names of children are ever printed. If media arrives, they are escorted (to “facilitate,” a euphemism) and must get signed releases. Yes, the library is a public area, but what people are reading is private. This is a written policy at RCPL.

[Note from other participant: “Don’t put a bathroom in the staff room. It’s disgusting.”]

If you have self-check-out with self-holds-pick-up, and the books are covered in paper (for privacy), use it for PR! Print info on it. It’s worth spending a little more money to tell them about more stuff they might be interested in.

Most important thing we learned: Bribe the media with food. Take them out to lunch. Or, here’s what they did for the Augusta Baker’s Dozen. It happens year after year. Media Person thinks: “Oh, here’s another news release about that d@mned story thing!” They got some Krispy Kreme donuts (no tax dollars were used) with colorful sprinkles, photographed the top and bottom, enlarged it, and used that for a cover for the press info. Then they ate the donuts. This was delivered with a dozen donuts (dough-nated) to local media (including radio stations that held the deliverer and made her talk on air … she was upset about this, but you can’t buy publicity like that).

If a vendor provides publicity materials and they are generic, ignore them. See if you can get them to tailor them to your library. Why just advertise them? Morningstar has a newsletter with “Library Notes.” The RCPL created some 10-minute on-line tutorials for their databases and that was written up.

The end of the workshop concentrated on one goal. Services to Hispanic Community was chosen.

Recruit from the community and engage them in dialogue. What do you need? [Queremos más gente de la comunidad hispánica venga a la bibioteca. ¿Qué podemos hacer? ¿Qué necesita la comunidad hispánica de la biblioteca? ¿De cuál modo podemos servirles?] Be a presence at latino festivals. RCPL has as much trouble as we do, actually.

In summation: prioritize. Pick one thing and hammer it.

For Children’s Services: programs, fliers, survey (hard copy or on website) asking for e-mail address. “Do you want to be part of …” nice wording. “We won’t share!” Cull out dead ones. To ensure delivery, add this address to your list (or it will turn into spam).

Hand out program info stuff when doing storytimes or other programming away from the library.

Every person in the library is Public Relations. You are library PR. No one should enter the Children’s Room without being greeted.

Start each program with “Who has a library card?” Tell them how many items they can check out. After a program, “Don’t you want to check out a book today?” And have some available.

At RCPL they pre-select books for the age group targeted (by the program) so that after a program, they can walk out with a stack. Of course, they have RFID (you can just set the stack on a thingie and the machinery reads the titles and checks them out to you), lucky so-and-sos.

They also have Library Pals, volunteers from the rising 3^rd grade to age 15 to help with puppet shows, simple shelving (easy and paperbacks), and pre-cutting crafts. There is a brochure with an application.

Coupon for “free” library card. Okay, we know it’s already free. Hand ‘em out anyway.

Who is your audience? Focus on something. Focus and prioritize.

So, what did I actually learn that I can use now?

For all programs:

Have some books on display.

Ask who has a library card.

Talk up the library card.

Encourage people to check out books after the program.

Not worry too much if the books aren’t on the program theme.

Approach members of the Hispanic community to see what they want/need from the library.

Keep an eye peeled for events (esp. in Hispanic community) that we can piggy- back on.

Work up press packages for local media and deliver them in person with food.

Example: press package for summer programs with Mystery theme accompanied by jelly donuts (surprise!). Of course, donuts will need some quality control … That’s radio stations, cable company … hmm, may need to bake cookies instead.

Revive Homeschoolers Mailing List and use it.