Becoming an "Old Home Place" Library - Part Two - Marketing

Yes, it's about an emotional connection . . . and marketing

Take your library outside the "box": that is, the brick and mortar building you are housed in.

One of the best practices for marketing library services on a shoe-string is local cooperation that produces a positive image, creates a demand, and fulfills your mission. As a small or rural library you can only do so much with--or without--publicity. Sooner or later you will have to meet your customers face to face. Go to the lap of the public, or where the people are.

Here's how:

Strengthen ties locally with your schools and population centers to market your library services and increase community awareness. Don't forget your non-profits, the local hospital, jail, or social services office.

Attend public functions such as parades, museums, and local exhibits or festivals as a representative of your library. Go armed with brochures and business cards, as well as your "elevator speech". Set up a table to "sign-up" people for library cards.

Celebrate your library with an anniversary of some sort with an open house, exhibits, music, or a picnic on the front lawn. This is a great way to hook-in families or tourists for the day.

Merge with other information distributors such as regional libraries, school and academic libraries, and special libraries such as those within the hospital, a law firm, or your local churches/parishes to facilitate networking, teamwork, and just to make friends. Your mantra might be "You promote my library services and I'll promote yours!"

Pull in the local organizations fire squad, police fraternity, or VFW post. Offer them your front lawn or meeting rooms for community outreach and educational presentations. And when local organizations have their annual fund raisers, convince them that a speech from the local librarian would be of great interest to their members and guests. Get in there with a brief, but memorable account of how the library can satisfy their business and personal learning needs.

These are just a few ideas to get you started marketing on a shoestring. You don't need money, just a little extra time that could be distributed between co-workers on their available days. 

Our goal should always be to grow services and relationships. So, bring the family!



Brought to you by The Settlement Library Project:
Serving People, Broadening Perspectives, and Sharing Resources in Libraries.



Image:  http://www.sugarpiefarmhouse.com/the-old-homeplace

Outreach to Remote Users: Taking the Library Road into the Woods

Some of the most exciting opportunities in rural librarianship are in areas that have not been attempted before.  The goal is to give the patrons the best possible access to the largest possible amount of high-quality, high-relevance information.  The rural librarian in a small community may need to be prepared to depart from professional norms in order to benefit patrons.  Historically, librarians have not generally been rewarded for coming up with and implementing new ideas. Nonetheless, we need to encourage those who have crazy ideas to implement them, and run the risk that change sometimes brings.  A historical unwillingness to take risks and embrace new ideas is exactly the reason why some libraries are ignored by their public, while others thrive.

It is clear that fewer and fewer people are physically crossing the threshold into the public library.  Users not coming to us doesn't necessarily mean they don't want to see us; it may simply mean that we need to go to them. The forward thinking rural librarian sees this as an opportunity, rather than a crisis. A rural librarian is in a position to shape the future of a small community.

But there is an obvious problem:  a plate already full and the solo librarian or staff already going full-tilt.

So, what do we do?

Reexamine what you are already involved in, and the amount of time spent in traditional library practices. Weigh the benefits these actions provide against the cost of lost opportunities--in other words, the benefits that could be realized by doing other things instead. 

The opportunity is in online resources and making them easy to access and use.  This expands the number of people who actually make use of the library's services.  Offering remote access is a chance to make libraries as essential in the electronic era as they were in the print era, only richer, more complete, and more fun! 

Service to remote users is necessary in small, rural communities.  The 'Fotched-On' Librarian in small town America is needed to serve those who can't afford broad access, as well as to act on behalf of the sponsoring communities who require remote access.  This includes reaching-out to invite people not only through the library doors, but also through the doors that exist in Web-space:  doors patrons have a key to by virtue of their membership within the community.  Once a patron is through the doors of cyberspace, it is still our job to help them find and select from the manifold information available.  Services provided to users from a distance are every bit as real and valuable as those provided within library's walls.  Sometimes all it takes is to simply inform our patrons that we have these services for them to explore.

You may never see your remote users.  In fact, there are more differences than similarities among remote library users.  So go big with those wonderful crazy ideas, implement some of them, and take risks.  Swallow hard and plunge off the paved library road and into the woods, leaving some of your traditional burdens behind.

Brought to you by The Settlement Library Project:
Serving People, Changing Perspectives, and Sharing Resources in Libraries

Image: 
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2434370/Festival-No-6-unique-magical-festivals-around.html

Thanks to:  Donnelyn Curtis, Ed. 2002. Attracting, Educating, and Serving Remote Users Through the Web: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians.  New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Serving our Differently Abled Neighbors . . . with Attitude

Staff Etiquette for Serving Patrons with Disabilities Never Ends

After all these years, it is still an issue in rural librarianship. The Americans with Disabilities Act was a watershed moment that helped take the term “disabled” out of employment, public access, freedom of movement, and the ability to utilize public and private services.  However, many rural libraries to this day, suffer under the weight of ADA compliance mandates, especially in economically depressed states.  In the rural library these issues can be traced to a lack of funds to purchase technologies for adequate accommodations, a lack of addressing sufficient knowledge about disabilities with staff, and simplifying what small, rural libraries can do today to accomplish appropriate services.  

These issues can expose more serious underlying problems such as a greater likelihood of not meeting ADA compliance in the library structure due to a lack of staff training and attitudinal barriers; and library directors and branch managers actually being unable to comply with ADA mandates for whatever reasons.

Only a few of us might be considered experts in the area of serving our customers with disabilities within the library setting.  As rural librarians, let’s help ourselves address ADA compliance in the best manner we can, not only through assistive technologies as they become available in our neck-of-the-woods, but also through our attitudes and hospitality toward our neighbors who are Differently Abled.

Here are some simple how-to's:

• Approach a patron with an offer of help, but don't proceed until the offer is accepted.
• Do not pass judgment on the validity of a patron’s statement of disability:  disabilities are often invisible, and many people do not appear to have disabilities even though they do.
• Remember that people who use wheelchairs, or who are of short stature, may have difficulty reaching high shelves, while patrons with other disabilities may find it very had to bend down to reach low shelves.
• Do not touch wheelchairs or mobility aids without permission.  Leaning or hanging on a wheelchair is an invasion of personal space.  Moving a wheelchair or crutches may leave a person stranded.
• When patrons ask you to act as a guide, offer your elbow.  Do not grab arms or push patrons; instead, allow them to hold on and follow you.
• When giving directions to people with visual or mobility impairments, be very clear and include information on distances, changes in floor level, and any obstacles along the way.
• Remember that a disability is not an illness:  don’t treat people with disabilities as though they are sick.
• Don’t be offended by a lack of response or unconventional behavior.  People with hearing impairments may not have heard or understood you; other disabilities may affect social or motor skills, causing unusual responses.
• Remember that using a mobility aid such as a wheelchair or walker is not in itself a tragedy.  Mobility aids give people the freedom to move about independently.
• Do not pet or play with guide dogs or working animals. These animals are not just pets, and distracting them can put their owner in danger.  Always ask permission of the owner before interacting with an animal.
• Always let the person with the disability decide what they can and cannot do.  Don’t neglect to mention programs or services because you think patrons with disabilities might not benefit from them.
• Interact with patrons who have disabilities as you would with any other customers.  Remember always to think of the person first.

Brought to you by The Settlement Library Project:
Serving People, Changing Perspectives, and Sharing Resources in Libraries

 

Image: by Morton Bibow, Harvard Law School Project on Disability http://www.hpod.org/networking/idpo

Thanks to:  Deines-Jones, Courtney & Van Fleet, Connie. (1995). Preparing staff to serve patrons with disabilities. New York, NY: Neal-Shuman Publishers, Inc.

Citizen Librarianship - Local Not Global

Citizen vs. Hermit

Librarians in a small, rural community often work with many survival issues prevalent on a daily basis: solo professionals or paraprofessionals; single libraries serving a patron base diverse in regard to education level, literacy, interest, age and abilities; small budgets; and ongoing competition for funds with other agency units which also provide public services. Frequently there is professional isolation; limited opportunities for professional development and peer exchange; insufficient guidance on the job; and too often a lack of formal professional training or poor initial training in the field. Other disadvantages may also include too little operating funds for adequate materials and equipment; low pay; poor physical facilities with little space for collection, equipment, and computers; and not enough help. For these reasons, small town librarians share the same potential for falling under one of two categories of librarianship: that of Citizen or that of Hermit.

A Hermit lacks certain Citizen qualities and cares little for public relations for the purpose of building up goodwill within a community. The Hermit is content with administrative duties on the inside and building institutional organizational structures usually bound by traditional teachings, hierarchies or stereotypes. Institutions operate in an environment consisting of other institutions. Every institution is influenced by the broader environment through what is known as "institutional peer pressure." The main goal for institutions is survival and legitimacy. And although institutions clearly have the capacity to grow and adapt, they also possess the habit of being prisoners of their own institutionalized history whether calamitous or otherwise. For a librarian in a small, rural community library, this type of Hermit behavior will not only hinder any possible relationships within the community, but will also limit the role the library plays in the lives of its service sector.

In the small town library, a library professional guides the library in building an image in the minds of the community in order to assure the local library the best place in community life. Even the smallest library needs at least one paid staff member designated as director to automatically instill the sense of responsibility necessary for a successful operation, and provide a sense of authority with staff members, the library board, and volunteers. This leads to smoother operations, more stable personnel relationships, as well as giving the library direction. As a Citizen focused on community goals with a mission toward outreach, the librarian in a rural community must possess the knowledge, skills, and fortitude to make the library an integral player in the lives of residents.

If rural communities are to develop an adequate collection of information materials and provide effective library services, it is vital that community leaders hire library and information professionals who have the knowledge and skills to make the library an integral part of the overall effort to educate and build relationships inside and outside library walls. How the librarian deals with the local community as a Citizen is, to a large extent, the responsibility of the individual librarian.

At some point in their careers, public librarians must walk down Main Street as a Citizen of the community. For the trained librarian, networking and collaborating is an answer for collection development and a source of communication in the rural community. However, it is up to the rural public librarian whether he/she becomes an engaged Citizen or an institutionalized Hermit.

Citizen Librarianship

Thomas Jefferson once wrote to James Madison that a public servant should be constantly at his post. The Citizen librarian of a public library is a public servant whose post stretches beyond the confines of the library building as a representative of the community at large. The first step outside the traditional boundaries of librarianship is also the first step toward success: the commitment to the goal of making library services available to all.

“Perhaps the single largest error librarians working in small libraries make is that they attempt to do too much of the job alone. There are many resources available to assist them in their development if they can open up and avail themselves of opportunities, especially from nearby larger libraries, the systems, the state library agencies, and associations. When small libraries cooperate and affiliate with other libraries, they might continue to do more than exist. They might even thrive.”

This “off-site approach” offers librarians the opportunity to open up communication about the library and its services on the “user’s turf” and beyond. It gives librarians the opportunity to observe and listen to the population intended to be served so that barriers can be overcome. Bringing a library outside its ‘walls’ “clears the way for the library to function as a critical access point for information and personal development resources, and [to be] perceived as a source of personal empowerment by its users.”

There are three major attributes that all Citizen librarians need to capitalize on:

• The first is accessibility.
The Citizen librarian will be known and approachable by the service population whether it is inside the library facility or outside in the rural community.
• The second attribute is openness.
In a small community rumors, misconceptions and fears can run rampant. The Citizen librarian keeps the doors of communication open and humanizes community residents in each individual service segment.
• The third attribute is that of educator.
The Citizen librarian teaches community residents the role of the public library and offers them resources to enhance their lives.

Outreach

All libraries have some segment of the population in their service areas which are misunderstood and therefore underserved. Outreach service is one of the techniques that librarians employ to help reach isolated groups. In exercising Citizen strengths, librarians create partnerships with community entities for expanded services as well as promoting public awareness and understanding toward the needs and issues of the rural population. Through this relationship, community groups and organizations band together to form a cadre of support for community administrators and librarians as they seek to improve library services for all as well as providing a friendly response to prevalent issues facing this segment of librarianship such as professional isolation, lack of training, and limited opportunities for peer exchange.

Through Citizen Librarianship the libraries of rural communities have the opportunity to play a distinctive role in many lives through up-to-date informative legal resources, life-changing programming, reading materials and services, and census and government information educating the general public. And for the librarians employed by these organizations, Citizen Librarianship offers an opportunity for professional sustenance and advocacy and personal support.

Katz, “The How To Do It Manual,” 70.
Williams, “The Big House,” 72.
Image: http://libguides.emporia.edu/participatorylibrarianship

Free Agent Librarianship: Open to Create

Individuality - not Collectivity

Hobson's Choice refers to an apparent free choice which offers no real alternative: a take it or leave it collective manifestation.

The story goes that Mr. Hobson, a 1600's livery stable owner, had some 40 animals in his rent-a-horse business and a straightforward system: a returning horse goes to the end of the line, and the horse at the top of the line goes to the next server. He had good intentions - rotating horses so his steeds received good rest and equal wear - but his heavy-handed enforcement of the policy didn't provide the patron a choice and thereby denied any potential for customer service value.

So how does Hobson's Choice apply to rural libraries today?

Rural libraries should be as individual as the community in which they serve. Not every philosophy identified through a library organization could or should apply to the library supporters/patrons in every individual community. A library's business is people, and a library should mirror the community it serves; not a collective establishment of information services or programs.

A vital library is not necessarily about size, a single technology, or the same management practices, but rather how it is deployed and with how much freedom to innovate and take risks.

This is the beauty of the rural library in a small community: freedom to innovate, opportunities to focus, and openness to create. There is a difference between being efficient and being persuasive. Outcomes must match or exceed the expectations or customer service really only reflects Hobson's Choice.

Emotional connections always precede economic connections.

Quality personal services thrive on enthusiasm for problem solving because in a quality service setting each person should be treated as a respected individual. Quality service is emotional, and process is just as important as the results. As with Mr. Hobson, professional services may be very competent and knowledgeable but still not able to provide that which meets or exceeds the expectations - or information needs - of the customer. Customer service relies on active involvement between the library professional and the library supporter or user. Personal service is not a one-way relationship - it is an interaction: not a single event, but a continuing process.

Don't fall for Hobson's Choice in your library by basing your decisions on demographics alone: that tells you very little about how the individual's in your community feel. Take a deeper look by seizing opportunities to get to know your residents and take a fresh look through new eyes at what your library is presently offering. Create a customer service model which will give your library "legs" to attract repeat patronage from the larger population.

The bottom line is that your customers and staff are going to have an emotional experience because of their contact with your library whether you like it or not. Your responsibility - and challenge - is to provide them with the kind of emotional connection through individual interaction and services to inspire loyalty.

Afterall, library services should respond to what the community needs: It's about individuality, not collectivity.



Is your library technically considered a Rural Library? And what exactly is Free Agent Librarianship?

According to the United States Census Bureau, rural areas comprise open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents. Areas designated as rural can have population densities as high as 999 per square mile or as low as 1 person per square mile. On the other hand, according to the ALA/APA Rural Libraries Survey, rural librarians define rural differently: to some a library is rural if it is isolated; to another, a library is rural if the main patrons are in agriculture or commute long distances to larger metropolitan areas for work; and yet another defines rural as a population of less than 5000 with more deer per square mile than people!

Regardless of how you define your demographic, Free Agent Librarianship can be a reality in your library and in your life. A librarian who is a Free Agent is not subject to external constraints through organizational structures, influential and politically motivated library associations, and is not bound by traditional teachings, hierarchies or stereotypes. Free Agent Librarianship promotes a library professional who is set at liberty to create, organize and advance an eclectic librarianship for the purpose of providing highly customized services and inventive possibilities for community information centers focusing on the community at large.

Free Agent Librarianship is ALL about entrepreneurship and making your library the center of your community. So be one!!

Image: cmblog.cityofventura.net/2009/01/is-closing-w...

Special Libraries

What is 'Fotched-On' ?
'Fotched-On' is a term used by mountain folk when referring to Settlement School teachers who left the comforts of home and hearth to navigate uncharted clan-type communities within the Appalachia region at the turn of the 20th century. The actual phrase is "fetched in;" however, regional dialect overtook the pronounciation and configured it into "fotched on." The phrase refers to these teachers having been "fetched" from the city - or outside the settlements - and placed in rural, isolated communities within the region to create educational outreach programs.

'Fotched-On' is used here as a phrase exemplifying a modern concept of maverick librarians who promote an eclectic form of librarianship. Through moving out of metropolitan areas - and the traditional concepts of librarianship - a 'fotched-on' librarian is one who is "called-out" as a type of circuit-out-rider into remote, rural regions which do not have close proximity to a library system. A 'fotched-on' librarian is one who either promotes, establishes, or builds up a non-traditional information center for communities which may or may not have existing library services available.

This blog is being designed to indicate and establish an ongoing interest in special libraries, the special needs of communities requiring customized library services, and the solo or one person information professional who asserts the marketing and advocacy necessary for the creation, implementation, and survival of these unique and specialized emerging units of the modern library system.

More about 'Fotched-On' is available at this link:
http://www.ket.org/settlement/setschools_01.html
This image is available at:
http://maqonline.org/

Traditional and Novel

Librarian Live

A radio show is produced by the North Texas Regional Library System. Here is Librarian Live Episode 40: "The New Questa Public Library." This episode features an interview with Carolyn Anderson, Director of the Questa Public Library in Questa, NM and focuses on how the library, open since January of this year, began in this small community which had previously never had library services.

The Questa Public Library engages all the aspects of a special library becoming visible in a small community (less than 2000). It exemplifies community involvment utilizing a solo librarian and volunteers. I chose this podcast interview for its relaxed, optimistic, and encouraging dialog breathing life into the mission of this blog.

This podcast is available directly at

http://www.clickcaster.com/items/librarian-live-episode-40---the-new-questa-public-library