Questions: Are you proud to be a part of your library program?
Name the three best features about your library program. How busy
are you? Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?
What do you do for yourself on a daily basis? What library services
are under-utilized that could be a part of your targeted marketing?
Slide 2 Krista Taracuk [email protected] Slide 3 Steve
Abrams says... Numbers: Librarians are excellent at providing
numbers. Measurement: but we are not good at using those numbers to
demonstrating the impact of what we do. Stories: we also need to go
a step further and connect those numbers and measurements to
stories that resonate with our taxpayers. Slide 4 Inherent
problems: statistics show although the composition of males versus
females in the overall population are about even, approximately 75%
of (school and library) administrators are men while 87% of
elementary teachers are women and 61% of secondary teachers are
women (72 percent of all K-12 educators in this country are women)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JSD/is_6_57/ai_77336323
According to the United Nations Statistics Division as of 2009 =
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/tab4e.htm
Slide 5 Innate differences: Most men discuss events: latest
football game, March Madness, traffic pileup on the freeway, new
TV, etc. Most women discuss feelings: How did George do with his
surgery? How are the kids liking their new school? How are you
dealing with all the wedding plans? How is your sister-in-law
holding up after her accident? Thus, there is an immediate barrier
when principal/ administrator is male and librarian is female.
Slide 6 Change Our innate mission as librarians is to preserve our
collections. Emotional attachment results in a resistance of
change. Darwin showed that species adapted in response to their
environment. Change or die. Change is a process, not an event. John
Kotters Our Iceberg Is Melting is a story about the realities of
change in the penguin world. Slide 7 Change on the home front: We
have to realize that EVERYONE is going through a great deal of
change. Just at home, a person might be dealing with: Small
children Economy First child off to college Aging parents Future
in-laws Crazy relatives Slide 8 Change in the world: What are you
NOT doing today that seemed indispensable five years ago? landline
phones, bank teller, writing checks, email on your phone, etc.
Slide 9 Change in the library world: What are you doing today that
you were not doing five years ago? e-readers, computer classes, all
types of social media, Wikipedia. Slide 10 Co-curricular events:
The value of high school sports has long been argued. Studies show
the positive correlation between students who participate in
organized school activities perform better in school than those who
do not. It could be argued that this is because of economic and
environmental factors (i.e. students who can afford activities
already have a better learning environment at home.) Studies show
that an involvement in school sports is positively connected to
academic goals and show a positive effect on a strong emotional
association along with an overall positive effect on grades,
self-concept, focus of control, and educational aspirations.
Fejgin, N. (1994). Participation in High School Competitive Sports:
A Subversion of School Mission or Contribution to Academic Goals?.
Sociology Of Sport Journal, 11(3), 211-230. Slide 11 Co-curricular
activities: Coaching activities traditionally have provided
secondary and junior high teachers with an initial step toward
administration. Athletic coaching and assignments such as band
directorships often provide teachers an opportunity to demonstrate
skills in leadership, management and an ability to work with
community members.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JSD/is_6_57/ai_77336323
Slide 12 Identify a coach in your area that does a great job (does
not have to be an athletic coach) Coaches deal with change EVERY
day. Injuries, illness, and weather are three constantly changing
factors; then you throw in the personalities of the players: who
just had a fight with girlfriend/boyfriend/parent? Slide 13 Your
challenge How you react to the instigating event registers your
level of stress. 24/7 administrators It takes time and constant
attention. There will be unintended results during change. Slide 14
Identify your strengths: What do you like to do and what do you do
well? Build on your strengths. Be practical about what you can do.
Understand your assets: why do people use your library? Every
library is unique. A unique collection of early Ohio history? A
close knit community? Coaches have already done this. They have
focused on something that they were good at: debate, theatre,
basketball, etc. They immediately demonstrate their strengths.
Slide 15 Identify what you want to improve in your program: Every
coach has a list of goals: weekly goals (In-the- Know team will
answer 5 more questions correctly), seasons goals (Debate team will
beat rival), individual goals (Oboe player will make all-regional
band) Book club? New equipment? New databases? Do you want to see
more teens during the day? How many cooks do you want in the
kitchen? Slide 16 Your goals must pass the litmus test of your
buildings goals & mission. What is the political landscape of
your district or your community? Know what is driving your
organization. Nobody wants to back a whiner. Its a losing
proposition. It is what it is. Accept the reality that you can not
wave a magic wand and wipe out idiotic behavior. Slide 17 Identify
the biggest barriers to your success: Inherent problem is numbers.
Coaches may be dealing with 10 kids on the In-the-Know team or 20
players on the basketball team, while the librarian is dealing with
1000 kids. Plus your customer group is constantly changing hour by
hour whereas teams are usually set for at least a season. You do
not have guaranteed access to every student and every teacher. What
are your goals to overcoming these barriers? Slide 18 Conduct your
own informal & formal market research Patron satisfaction and
appreciation are the highest forms of measurement for success of
the program. (Canton McKinley coach compiled a very successful
31-16 record, secured three wins over rival Massillon, and led the
team to four playoff appearances in four yearsbut was fired.) What
worked yesterday may not work tomorrow --- or ever again. Find a
library mentor who can be used to bounce ideas off. Survey the
staff in your building. What qualities make a viable leader in the
building? Slide 19 Identify your approach 24/7 administrators: one
of those called me into his office to report that he had a
complaint about the library. My response? Wow! Only one?! The
library served over 8000 students and staff last month, so Im
impressed. Slide 20 Identify the substance in their style What
makes people listen to them? How do they ask the hard questions
without burning down the entire building? How do they respond to
challenges? How are they able to articulate their knowledge? Its
their APPROACH. Take the best qualities from each and every coach.
Slide 21 Power mongers. How do you make patrons welcome in the
library? Coaches greet/talk to every kid every day. Slide 22 Build
your own team. We will have seasons in both our personal and
professional lives which means that things go from extremely active
to eerily quiet. Example: 8 th grade orientation with student
volunteers. Provide your own tour guides for the library. Slide 23
Students: Live for the moment. What were you thinking? Technology
is overwhelming their lives. Everything is faster than the speed of
light. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier. Even while
on vacation, we are not AWAY from technology. Background TV is
potentially a chronic environmental risk factor affecting most
American children, said Marie Evans Schmidt, a research associate
at the Center on Media and Child Health at Childrens Hospital. (New
York Times, July 16, 2008) Slide 24 Recommendations Who would you
go to for a recommendation? Coaches know whom they can call in a
crisis. Teacher Administrator Student Who will be your teacher?
Evaluation tool Slide 25 Evaluation tools: Coaches all have
end-of-the-season or end-of-the-year evaluations in which they are
required to provide a summary of the seasons events. Do you? If
not, schedule one. Several school evaluations are available through
North Carolina = http://it.ncwiseowl.org/standards/pro_standards
http://it.ncwiseowl.org/standards/pro_standards Indiana =
http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/~brancoli/assess-plan- info-lit.html
Slide 26 Tools or techniques are the causes of the most conflict:
Who would go to a doctor who was still using leeches? Are you using
the latest (free) technology? QR codes Slide 27 Professional
responsibility To be a member of a professional organization Your
coaches will be members of the regional association, the state
association, and the national association (such as AFCA) Slide 28
Promote program at all levels Just as a coach networks with a wide
variety of people, a librarian needs to network with professionals
at the elementary, middle school, and high school in your district.
Connect with other professionals in the area as well as the state
and the nation. What you can do: local public libraries, academic
libraries, and school libraries should make connections. Slide 29
Publicity ideas Coaches are visible and are forced to become
experts at public relations. Have you confined yourself to just the
four walls of the library or of your office? Work with an advisory
group: both students, parents, and local businessmen. Host special
programs. Take pictures of EVERYTHING. Slide 30 Focus on kids, not
tasks Advocate for what matters. Coaches advocate for kids first.
Too many librarians are focused on TASKS. Have kids or volunteers
design bulletin boards and displays. Slide 31 Actively seek to
improve skills Coaches attend a variety of professional workshops
as well as talk to other professionals in the field. Attend
multiple professional development sessions to improve their skills.
Network with peer group. Slide 32 Marketing plan You cannot
communicate your vision too often or in too many different ways.
Align your idea with what is already happening. A good politician
will have a catchy phrase. If you cannot communicate your vision in
five minutes or less AND receive an understanding process, then you
have a problem. Slide 33 Marketing is an ongoing process. Just as
collections are diverse so should the marketing processes should
be. Different stakeholders need to be approached in different ways.
There is no one size that fits all. What is happening in your
community that you can leverage to your advantage? Targets could
be: Student Council with an anti- bullying theme or school
newspaper, PTA, etc. Slide 34 Questions: Are you proud to be a part
of your library program? How busy are you? Name the three best
things about that library. Are you breathing just a little and
calling it a life? What do you do for yourself on a daily basis?
What library services are under-utilized that could be a part of
your targeted marketing? Slide 35 RESOURCES: Fejgin, N. (1994).
Participation in High School Competitive Sports: A Subversion of
School Mission or Contribution to Academic Goals?. Sociology Of
Sport Journal, 11(3), 211-230. Hawkins, R., Cleveland State Univ.,
O. r., & And, O. (1992). Athletic Investment and Academic
Resilience among African-American Females and Males in the Middle
Grades. Research Report #3. Helms, K. E. (2010, January 1). Campus
Recreation Program Involvement, Athletic Identity, Transitional
Loss and Life Satisfaction in Former High School Athletes. ProQuest
LLC. Jordan, W. J. (1999). Black High School Students'
Participation in School-Sponsored Sports Activities: Effects on
School Engagement and Achievement. Journal Of Negro Education,
68(1), 54-71. O'Bryan, S., Braddock, J., & Dawkins, M. P.
(2008). An Examination of the Effects of School-Based Varsity Sport
Participation and Parental Involvement on Male Academic Behaviors.
Challenge: A Journal Of Research On African American Men, 14(2),
1-27. Rees, D. I., & Sabia, J. J. (2010). Sports Participation
and Academic Performance: Evidence from the National Longitudinal
Study of Adolescent Health. Economics Of Education Review, 29(5),
751-759. Ward, J. E. (2008). Athletic Expenditures and the Academic
Mission of American Schools: A Group- Level Analysis. Sociology Of
Sport Journal, 25(4), 560-578.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.librarymediaconnection.com%2Fpdf%2Fl
mc%2Freviews_and_articles%2Ffeatured_articles%2FHartzell_May_June2012.pdf
Slide 36 Professional reading An opinion piece in the June 2012
issues of LMC: The Need to Shift and Widen School Library Advocacy
Efforts by Gary Hartzell.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2F
www.librarymediaconnection.com%2Fpdf%2Flmc%2F
reviews_and_articles%2Ffeatured_articles%2FHartzell
_May_June2012.pdf https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2F
www.librarymediaconnection.com%2Fpdf%2Flmc%2F
reviews_and_articles%2Ffeatured_articles%2FHartzell
_May_June2012.pdf Football literacy: 4 part white paper at
www.abdopublishing.com