Library Promo

Last week, I did a promotion "Celebrate Romance!" for June which is Nat'l Wedding & Marriage Month. The first 10 students had their choice of a free romance novel. While low-key, this was a success and something fun & different for the students. They let me take their picture w/the book, but many didn't want them 'posted on the Internet'- so I'll have to figure something else for that. I rec'd a number of free books at one of the FLA programs, donated some of my own that were new (and was willing to part with), and received donated copies from our Gen Ed instructor of one of her books (signed).

Military Appreciation Month

Last month was National Military Appreciation Month and I'm happy to say our campus had a very successful display - with student, faculty, and staff participation. My student assistants put together the background for the bulletin board and we included information on the branches of service, etc. We received a number of photos, which is great. For June we are doing something similar to continue campus participation/community by asking for comments/memories of parents and/or photos.

Circ Success

One of the displays we're doing this month is on fiction (regular popular novels... FIC :-) I've advertised this in the weekly announcements & on our kiosk. Amazingly, students have been checking out books! Another "gimmick" is that I point out to students that we have a few titles in the collection written by a Gen Ed instructor.

Success - Monthly Display

Emily suggested I share this with the team :-) ... For the Fall diversity displays, we have branched out of the library into the Student Lounge. We took over one of the larger bulletin boards & my student assistants have created colorful and informative displays. In addition, we have books and handouts on one of our study tables in the library. (I'll get the pics on FLICKR sometime in the near future...) For December, we're doing Spiritual Awareness Month. I've noticed students reading the material on the board, and one student checked out a book the other day!

Library programs

I know we're all doing workshops/demos, but is anyone doing library programs (other than the diversity programs already posted about)? Or have you done programs in the past, like Pat's book club, that worked well? (in-house or partnering with outside groups)
Thanks!

Unshelved..

Unshelved is allowing everyone to use their strips for marketing! For FREE.

How generous!

click here to read more.

hands-on library training for admissions team

Today I met with our campus admissions team and DOA in a computer lab for about an hour so I could properly introduce them to our library. I began by thanking them for being library advocates when they give tours and for introducing me to prospective students. (That helps combat library anxiety, I think.) I told them that I wanted to show them exactly what it is they’re promoting when they tell students we have “a phenomenal online library.” Then we worked our way across the library webpage in a hands-on, interactive way.

• FAQ
• Ask the Librarian (that's why I got the Who is Joe Jones question)
• APA handouts
• NoodleTools (they all set up accounts and made a sample reference page)
• Library catalog and ILL possibilities
• NetLibrary
• Academic Search Premier

The team members and DOA expressed their appreciation for the workshop, and they commented that they learned a great deal about what our library offers. (Somone even e-mailed herself an article she found during the session.) I think it will have a positive impact on what they tell prospective and new students about our library and the tools and resources we provide.

Proof that marketing works

Last night, I sent all students an e-mail with an attached list of the items added to the library within the last two weeks, along with their dot sections. About noon today, a student walked into the library, headed straight to the Office Management shelf, and selected a brand new book about Office 2007. The book hadn't even been on the shelf for 18 hours.

Plus, I'm relieved to know that at least one student reads the e-mails I send.

Database Demonstrations

Librarians:

Maybe the word "workshop" is not the best way to get the message across to some of our students. After all, a workshop implies 30 minutes to 60 minutes of PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and activities *blah*. And, after all, aren't students already subjected to that when they are in class?

Maybe, instead, we could consider using the terminology "Database Demonstrations" - and DO exactly that. Set up very informally - maybe have a few computers set up already pointed to a specific database. Offer one handout on the use of that database, and show students how to utilize it. Or, set up a computer with a power point about the database that continually restarts, and answer questions during the "demonstration".

Think about it like a Conference vendor display - maybe even have small prizes just for showing up :)