I’ve got this idea stuck in my head…

When we stand back and look at our goals, at the core is always student success.  Fortunately, that part is unwavering and crystal clear.    Sometimes the steps to attaining these goals aren’t always so focused.  All these plans and ideas are tumbling around inside our heads…some ideas are simple and easily achieved, some seem too complicated, others are too expensive, and then there are those that are just not practical.  So, how do we get those ideas transformed into something tangible?  I would say these are our most helpful resources…

Professional Books!  There are so many to choose from, but these have really hit home for us.

o   Blueprint for Tomorrow:  Redesigning School for Student-Centered Learning – Prakash Nair.  This quick read is packed with practical solutions, before and after pictures, and a great survey to help you evaluate your current space. 

o   Make Space:  How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration – Scott Doorley & Scott Witthoft.  This book is an amazing “how-to” manual.  Each idea is presented on a short colorful spread with pictures and step-by-step instructions. 

o   The Third Teacher:  79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning – A collaborative Project:  Cannon Design + VS Furniture + Bruce Mau Design.  Another bold, graphic addition to your professional collection.  This is divided into 79 succinct, colorful, graphic displays that allow you to jump around from section to section as needed. 

Field Trips.  Get out of your space and visit other places…specifically libraries and businesses with a collaborative environment.  Most are more than happy to offer a guided tour and show off their spaces. 

Pinterest.  I’ll confess that I’ve given far too many hours of my life to Pinterest, but the return on the investment is pretty good.  (Plus, I’ve walked away with a few bonus recipes and home improvement projects too. )

Twitter.  Find the people who share your passion and follow them! 

So many creative ideas!

What's Your Story? - Rebranding Pt. 2

So, libraries aren’t just books anymore. You know that, and I know that. We’re librarians for crying out loud! But, does everyone else know that? Do all of your students know this? What about your staff? Parents? The community?

If you have any hesitation or doubt about how people would define your library, the services you provide and the resources in it, then you need to think about rebranding! If you struggle identifying all of the amazing things going on in your library or advocating for your program, then you need to think about rebranding!

Before you get too excited, let’s be clear about what rebranding really means. It’s not just a new name, logo, tagline, blog, signage, etc. It’s not just a marketing strategy. It goes much deeper than that.

Your brand is your identity!!

So, before you do anything else, you must know your story, own your story and most importantly, be able to articulate your story. Here’s how!

1      Why do you want to rebrand? – Brainstorm a list of qualities or characteristics you want your patrons to think of when they think about the library. Make a list of feelings and expectations you want them to have.

2      Can you currently support all of those ideas? - Make a list of all of the ways students can utilize the library. List all of the reasons they might come to the library. Make a list of resources available to them (books, green screen, iPads, etc.).

3      What do your patrons think? – Ask your students what they think, feel and expect when they use the library. There are lots of ways to do this. You can email a survey, post a survey on your web site or blog, etc. The most effective way, though, is to just talk to them! Get a group together or simply walk around the library and interact with your students.

4      What’s working and not working? – Evaluate all of the information you collected in steps 1-3. First, celebrate all of the ways your patrons love the library. You don’t want to fix what’s not broken!! Now, look for gaps or mismatches. If your view of the library program is not matching your patrons view, there’s a problem somewhere.

Keep these things in mind when you get started. You do not own the library’s story – your students do! Your students should steer every decision. If you don’t like the story as it is currently written, revise it!! Never stop revising your story.

May your story end happily ever after!

It's Not Your Grandma's Library! - Rebranding Pt. 1

One of the things I like to do over the summer is get my house in shape. It gets so cluttered throughout the year. Our kitchen is tiny. We need every bit of space we can get. So, I decided to start there.

The first thing that caught my attention was the number of cookbooks I have. I never use them. I get most of my recipes online now. That being said, it wasn’t easy getting rid of them. I’m not going to lie; I had stacks of cookbooks in my living room for days!!  What if I need a recipe from one later?! But, then I reminded myself that I hadn’t used them in years. I did end up keeping the recipes my grandmother gave me and a couple of church cookbooks. There is no substitute for these. They are the traditional, classic, timeless recipes!!

You start to look at things differently when you are organizing and trying to make the most of your space. For every item you consider tossing, you think about the value, the last time you used it, how often you use it, if there is something else that could replace it, etc.

I immediately started to draw parallels to our library.  So much has changed over the past several years! Not only have many print resources been replaced with digital versions, there is so much more going on in libraries today. They are hubs for creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. On any given day you might see students reading, studying, meeting with friends, listening to music, playing games, recording video, recording audio, giving presentations and performances, mixing music, coding, building, prototyping, designing, the list goes on!

Libraries aren’t just books anymore!

Big Ideas + Funding Shortfall = Grant Writing

What do you do when you’ve got a really dynamic vision for the LMC but not enough funding to cover all of it?  Write grants!  Although we’re no strangers to grant writing, lately we’ve stepped it up a bit. I’ll admit, just the thought of writing a grant can be a bit daunting, but once we get rolling it’s never as overwhelming as anticipated.  In fact, once we settle in and get focused, we typically end up saying, ‘that wasn’t bad at all!”  When reflecting, I’d say these are the things that get us through the process with smiles on our faces…

·      Search, search, search:  Finding the right grant takes time!  We don’t have a magic bullet, but we do spend tons of time scouring the web for local and regional opportunities.  There are a lot of places out there who want to support educational initiatives.  Also, once people know we’re writing grants, they begin to send them our way – some of our most promising opportunities have come from colleague recommendations.  Don’t get too hung up on the amount - all grants are pretty much the same amount of “work” so nothing is really too small or too big!

·      Focus:  Don’t try to squeeze too much into one grant.  When you focus on one element of a big idea it’s easier to clearly define your needs and future follow-up is more manageable too. 

·      Recruit students:  Ask them what they want, and they’ll tell you!  You can start an advisory group, deploy surveys, set up interviews – they are the major stakeholders and their input goes a long way. 

·      Partnership:  Find a good grant writing partner – it not only divides the work, but the collaboration yields so many great ideas!

·      The Hope Factor:  Be confident, but don’t be easily discouraged – in the grant writing game, you win some and you lose some. When you don’t get one, dust yourself off, take their feedback, and try, try again!