Keeping in Touch

At the Summer Library Program workshop, Becky Arenivar shared a great idea she used last summer to keep families in Prescott up to date on programs and special events at the library. As part of registration for the SLP, she collects a family email address and permission to send a weekly reminder via email.

Attendance jumped! People were more likely to remember to attend programs and they remembered the deadlines and details for the reading and reporting part of the program. It fits with the old Rule of Seven marketing adage (people need to see things 7 times before it sticks).

In talking with Tami Richardson, from Rice Lake, I found out about a cool, free download to make these emails look a little more attractive: Mail Chimp. Tami uses Mail Chimp for an email newsletter she sends out to co-workers and professional contacts. It would be pretty easy to adapt this for regular contact with patrons. Do any of you do this?

(Photo from flickr: The Touch by Eugenius D80)

Fundraising webinar

Here's a webinar that might be interesting to those of you trying to figure out how to continue to provide quality programs with a dwindling budget. The title makes me a little itchy (corporate sponsorship has some drawbacks), but I think you might get some good ideas here about how to work with local businesses to better serve your community.

It's All About the Money: Corporate Fundraising for Children's Programming in Public Libraries

March 8, 2 pm, presented by 2 youth services librarians from California.

The webinar is put on by Infopeople. If you want to attend, you must register on the day of the webinar! If you are just interested in looking at sample letters of request, etc., those are available now.

Bloomer Kids Make Kids' Area Bloom!

Kids participating in after school activities in Bloomer used hand prints to help Kathy (the children's librarian) create a hungry caterpillar collage for the wall in the children's room. The collage has transformed the room with its colorful presence, and the kids who helped are over the moon to have contributed to the atmosphere in such a positive way.

(top) Painting the letters and (above) creating hand prints on ovals of butcher paper

The finished product!

from flickr: The Foreman by Oliver Mayer

TERC is a not-for-profit education research and development organization dedicated to improving mathematics, science, and technology teaching and learning, based in Cambridge,MA. One of their great projects, Mixing In Math, has terrific resources and ideas about how to incorporate fun and interesting math into everyday activities, after school programs, and library programs! They even have developed some resources to help with the Dream Big Summer Library Program.

TERC is also hosting two free webinars about using their free resources on Monday, March 19th from 10:30-11:30 and Monday, March 26 11:30-12:30 EST to discuss ways to use Mixing in Math to explore math through summer reading crafts, stories, and family events.

To register for the March 19th webinar, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VN36VWD.

To register for the March 26th webinar, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VF7TXL6.