Quatrefoil Parkland Regional Library Fall 2013 - Issue 28

2 Director’s Desk

3 Looking Ahead

4 News & Notes

6 Tech Talk

10 School News

11 Library News

14 Consultants’ Corner

16 Back Page

Inside This Issue

A Few Highlights:

Gaming in Libraries

Christmas Hot-Picks

PRL Job Opportunities

Hacking, Making, & Creating Recap

Snapshot Day photos

Winter—knitting, curling, skiing, reading, fireplaces, snacks, Christmas, festivities, crafts, a season of love and warmth despite the cold weather. PRL wishes you a happy holiday season! If you haven’t heard about it, you’ve been living in a

snowbank—we’ve launched Zinio, an online eMagazine service. It’s the cat’s pajamas! Learn more on page 4

Network Administrator, Tim Spark, has ensured that libraries will have reliable high-speed internet until 2017. Learn how on page 6

Get to know some of our staff a little better by examining their bookshelves. What does yours say to others? On page 7

Karyn Goodwillie presented at NetSpeed this fall; read all about the conference on page 9

Learn how to create a strong social media strategy on page 14 and find out how to include statistics in your advocacy stories on page 15

LAA has grants available for library staff and boards to go towards professional development on page 16

‘Snow’ Better Time to Read page 4

page 5

page 6

page 8

page 13

Courtesy of Camrose Public Library

PAGE 2

The Quatrefoil is a quarterly publication of: Parkland Regional Library 5404 56th Ave Lacombe, AB T4L 1G1 Phone: 403.782.3850 Fax: 403.782.4650 www.prl.ab.ca

Send submissions or comments to Meredith at communications @prl.ab.ca

Ron Sheppard, Director

Director’s Desk Highlights of projects and developments at Parkland and beyond

Election of Board Chair & Executive

The PRL Board has undergone some big changes

after the recent municipal election. We are

welcoming 37 new members and 20 returning

members. As of November 7th, there are only 4

municipal members that have not named

representatives. This is the largest board

turnover in recent memory.

Budget Approval Update

The 2014 PRL budget has been passed by 45 out

of 65 municipalities with 93.4% of the regional

population represented.

Allotment Policy Changes

PRL has created an allotment policy regarding

unspent book allotment. Following best practice,

member libraries are expected to spend their

allotment within the fiscal year in which the

allotment is issued. If allotment funds belonging

to member libraries are not spent by the end of

June of the year following the year which the

funds were issued, PRL reserves the right to

move funds to Parkland’s own library materials

budget lines where the funds can be spent on

collections that will benefit all libraries.

Member libraries are doing a good job of

spending their remaining allotment. To date,

allotment dollars are 25% on order, 67% spent,

and 9.9% in available funds.

Thank you to all for doing such an excellent job of

spending your allotment. I’m sure your library

patrons will thank you as well.

Letter to Municipal Affairs & Treasury

Board – Funding Request

On September 24th, PRL attended a council

meeting in Blackfalds. It was decided that

together with the town, PRL would prepare a

joint letter requesting an increase in library

funding based on current per capita population

statistics. Mayor Melodie Stol deserves special

credit for her support of both local and regional

library service.

Hobbema Public Library Update

Parkland attended a meeting in Edmonton on

August 30th with Public Library Services Branch

(PLSB) staff and Kevin Dodds, the Director of the

Yellowhead Regional Library (YRL). All parties had

been contacted by Manisha Khetarpal, Head of

Library Services at the Maskwachees Cultural

College at Hobbema, about opening a public

library on the First Nations reserves at Hobbema.

There are a couple option for setting up a public

library on the reserve—by contract or the same

model used for the Kainai Public Library in

Chinook Arch Regional Library System. The big

question is who will fund the library as there are

four nations in Hobbema. In addition to other

complexities, Hobbema straddles areas covered

by two regional systems, PRL and YRL.

At the meeting, it was decided that no action will

be taken by the PLSB, PRL, or YRL until a tribal

council or school authority from the reserve

requests a meeting about setting up a library.

No request has been forthcoming as of yet

though we would welcome one enthusiastically.

ILS Symposium

A symposium is being organized by TAL to

examine whether a single ILS is a possibility for

the Alberta library community. The symposium is

being planned for the spring of 2014.

Wishing staff and patrons happy holidays

and a merry new year!

Looking Ahead PAGE 3

Mark your calendar

Dec. Lacombe County libraries review county borrower records for Jan. 2014 reporting

1 Budget Estimate due to municipal council

15 Postage reimbursement forms due to Parkland

Jan. Early GST Rebate filing for July-December 2013 (if applicable)

Mid Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners announced TD Summer Reading Club order forms sent to libraries

17 Annual Report & iPac Attack Workshop at Parkland

20 Annual Report & iPac Attack Workshop at Parkland

27 Family Literacy Day

Feb. 1 Young Canada Works Summer Work Experience applications due

14 Deadline for submissions to Spring Quatrefoil

15 2013 Minister’s Awards for Excellence & Innovation in Public Library Service - nominations due

23-Mar 1 Freedom to Read Week

27 PRL Board meeting at Parkland (1-3pm)

28 Annual Report and Survey due to Municipal Affairs

Pinning the Library Love Pinterest is a fun social

media tool that is a visual

bookmarker/archiving site to

save all your favourite “finds”

in internet world.

Pinterest’s audience is primarily women, es-

pecially those with young children. If this is a

demographic you would like to connect

with—Pinterest could be an ideal online pres-

ence for you!

Word of advice: It’s easy to fall into the Pin-

terest time vortex! Schedule time and then

get out ;)

PAGE 4 News & Notes

PRL will be adding mobile video games labs to its lending services. Libraries will be able to reserve computers to

offer programming within their local library. Our aim is to provide a variety of game choices that are interesting to

different age groups. Many of the selected games will allow users to play against each other. These games will

complement technology programming for kids, tweens, and teens in the libraries across the region. There are

eleven games included in the computer labs for a variety of age ranges:

Historically video games have been viewed by some as time wasted. Research shows that video games can actually improve motor and cognitive skills. Additionally, gaming with others can build social skills, as well as problem-solving, strategic thinking, computer skills, and literacy. Of course, they are fun as well!

Video Games & Gaming Labs for Libraries

Since launching Zinio on November 1st, it has been accessed over 1385 times and is

quickly becoming our most popular digital service.

Zinio for Libraries features over 100 magazines that can be accessed on your computer,

smartphone or tablet. Digital magazines look just like print ones, including full colour

pictures, but also come with interactive elements such as audio, video clips, and the

ability to search within the magazine.

Parkland patrons get unlimited instant access to complete digital magazines. Best of

all, there is no due date, so you can keep the magazine as long as you want.

Zinio: Access to +100 eMagazines

Castle of Illusion Quake IV Minecraft Trine 2

DuckTales:

Remastered

Tomb Raider Red Orchestra 2:

Heroes of Stalingrad

Dragon’s Lair 2:

Time Warp

Scibblenauts:

Unmasked

Need for Speed:

Hot Pursuit

Transformers:

Fall of Cybertron

PAGE 5 News & Notes

Christmas Book Picks! Too many, not enough

time…

Didsbury Municipal Library

All of these get rave

reviews from our

patrons!

Forestburg Public

Library

I love, love, love The Orenda. I

just read Piper Kerman’s

book—it was a great read!

Coronation Memorial Library

The Duck Dynasty books

seem to be really hot

this year!

Brownfield Public Library

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Young Adult).

Young love between two “misfits”. It will break your heart and leave you

crying. Hard. Doesn’t hurt that it takes place in the mythical land of 1986.

Five stars. Two thumbs up. Whatever the rating scale, it was incredible.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (young adult)

A story of two young women during World War II (a pilot and a spy). Again

with the crying, stars and thumbs.

Camrose Public Library

The three Christmas book “must-haves.” Don’t ask anyone else—these are ‘it’ -

totally the all time top three!

Killam Public Library

Rocky Mountain House Public Library

Austenland is out on DVD

in 2014!

this

her

Tech Talk

In September, the Parkland Regional Library Board voted all member libraries will have their Fortigate

Customer Edge Devices (CEDs) renewed to have active maintenance and support until January 5th, 2017.

Fortigate CEDs act as the gateway to the Alberta SuperNet for Parkland member libraries. The Alberta

SuperNet is a private network that Parkland utilizes in order to provide all internal and external network

services to its member libraries. The Fortigate CEDs are considered a network appliance, meaning they

perform multiple functions such as switching, routing, and firewalling. The firewall aspect is one of the more

important tasks as it performs duties such as anti-malware scanning/blocking, application control for peer-to-

peer software, traffic shaping, as well as many other security related functions. CEDs are a critical piece of

Parkland's network infrastructure, without them and the Alberta SuperNet, we would not have the ability to

provide the services we do.

Due to adept negotiating by Tim Spark, Network Administrator, Parkland was able to get an exceptional

discount price. The value of the maintenance renewal to member libraries was over $51,000.

Parkland Regional Library Board has chosen to renew the maintenance contracts for all member libraries so

that IT staff can continue to perform software updates/definitions and receive support and warranty services

from Fortinet in accordance with industry best practices.

Fortinet CED Renewals Ensures High-Speed Internet in Libraries until 2017

PAGE 6

SEVEN new tutorials have been added Parkland’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/PrlLibrary) to help library staff navi-gate Horizon. For non-library staff, Horizon is our online catalogue that makes it possible for patrons to search, place holds, request deliveries, and order books from across the region to their local library. Horizon is able to do a lot, the hard part is remembering how to tell the program to do it! That’s where PRL comes in. Quick help tutorials for several troubleshooting issues include:

What is Horizon? Checking Out

Checking In

Fast Adds

Search for an item

Request an item

Ship to patron

Borrower records Two new videos for Zinio users, both staff and patrons, have been posted as well. After watching these videos, you will be flipping through your favourite magazines in no time.

Zinio: How to set up the iPad app

Zinio: How to register and check out a magazine

New! YouTube Tutorials for Horizon and Zinio

News & Notes PAGE 7

Bookshelfies are the new craze in internet book review world. The premise is this:

Take a photo of yourself in front of your glorious bookshelf, tell us a few of the titles in

your shelf, and share!

CBC Books also posed the question - What do your bookshelves say about your per-

sonality? Are you the librarian or the anarchist?

See below to find out what you are… you might be surprised.

The Librarian: the only way to organize a bookshelf is alphabetically and by genres, any other way is futile!

The Anarchist: Who needs order?! You are too busy to organize the stacks. You prefer to rummage around… it will be

found eventually.

The Curator: You arrange books by content and interpretation of the material—Jonathan Safran Foer beside Douglas

Coupland, no problem!

The Designer: Your shelves are a work of art - carefully arranged by colour and size. Gorgeous darling...

The Conqueror: You have separate bookshelves for ‘to read’ and ‘finished’… maybe even favourites. You are goal

oriented and visual.

We would love if you shared your bookshelfie photos with us! It can be on Facebook, Twitter or via email (you might

just see your bookshelfie in the next Quatrefoil—does that sound fun or what?!)

Parkland Staff: Bookshelfies

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Sandie’s bookshelf is full of library books!

PAGE 8 News and Notes

PRL hosted an Education Institute webinar on November 19th. Staff from

libraries across central Alberta were invited to attend this free session, paid for

by Library Association of Alberta (LAA).

Presenter David Lee King is the Digital Services Director at Topeka & Shawnee

County Public Library. David began the session suggesting that communities

need more than what libraries have been doing up until now, giving them the

book and letting them do it. Today libraries need to proactively provide the

tools (or access to them) and ensure the social aspects of collaboration to

support many new technology trends.

Many libraries have established different kinds of maker spaces with

community labs or spaces for digital media creation (videos, music, podcasts),

woodworking workshops, machine shops, print on demand, and collaborative

writing projects. Libraries have also developed lending collections of musical

instruments, seeds, and tools to name just a few. Another angle for maker

spaces is simply to provide space for local home-based businesses in the

community where entrepreneurs can collaborate or simply work in a space

where other people are working.

Any Maker activities you develop should be based on the service responses identified in your library’s Plan of

Service. FYI: Making is the theme for the 2014 Summer Reading Club.

BIG Upcoming Changes to PRL Online An overhaul and upgrade of PRL’s online services, from Horizon to the

website, will begin in the upcoming months.

Starting in December, PRL will begin to implement eResource Central, the

next generation of electronic resource management for libraries. eRe-

source Central will bridge the gap between providers and users, enabling

libraries to manage and deliver eResources seamlessly. eBooks, eMaga-

zines, digitized collections and other eResources will be available in one

single interface for our users - so for example, patrons will be able to

download eBooks directly from our catalogue. Our new catalogue will

also offer search suggestions to help patrons with their searching, and libraries will be able to have their own custom searches

in their profiles.

Our website and member library sites will be upgraded from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7, and we plan to add some great new fea-

tures. We'll also be redesigning the themes to be mobile-friendly, which is vital because of the rise of mobile devices such as

smartphones and tablets. The migration will allow us to keep up with technology trends and offer new functionality that isn’t

available on Drupal 6. We are also improving the process for booking PRL-owned items, including computer equipment,

eReaders, tradeshow banners, and Children's Programming Boxes.

Hacking, Making, & Creating at the Library!

PAGE 9 News & Notes

The focus of all the Netspeed sessions I attended this year could be summed up in one phrase: we're not just

consumers, we are creators. Libraries have traditionally provided media to watch and read, but many new initi-

atives focus on providing space or opportunity to create.

The keynote from Nora Young, of CBC’s Spark, focused on the changes to the

information - particularly the personal information - that is being created. For

example, people want access to information on traffic patterns and tracking

their health. But how can libraries help people access and control how their

information is used online?

Margaret Mackey shared her research leading to a new way of looking at readers' advisory. She divided readers

into two types. The flow reader is the type who has a huge to-read list and consistently has a book or two on the

go. The event reader has trouble choosing books that work for them, so they often aren't reading unless they

get a specific recommendation or a book gets a lot of buzz. Also important to note was her emphasis on the way

that people are participating more in writing books and discussing books, engaging in literature as writers, and

as active participants in the literary world.

Carrying on the participation theme the next session I attended was on the

maker spaces being developed at Edmonton Public Library (EPL) and Red

Deer Public Library (RDPL). Neither space is completed, the RDPL space has-

n't even been started, but Peter Shoenenberg (EPL) and Cory Stier (RDPL)

shared what was going to be in the spaces and some of the planning in-

volved. When looking at creating a makers space, consider what space you

have available, how you will fund both the initial start-up and continued

costs (especially staffing), what type of equipment will be purchased, and

whether your library will provide programming or unscheduled use. Remem-

ber that maker spaces aren't just about high tech gadgets; cooking, sewing,

woodworking, and art can all be part of maker spaces too.

Another way to engage people in creating at the library is using Minecraft, a computer game where users can

create a virtual world. Using the program at Olds Municipal Library (AOL) as an example, Brian Lin from TAL and

Carson Statham (AOL) shared some of the possibilities of the program for contests, crafts, and kids.

Communities already exist where people engage with each other online to cre-

ate around books, movies, tv and other media - fandom communities. If librar-

ies can tap into the ways that fans share their enthusiasm, we can be part of a

wider community that loves telling stories and turning from consumers of me-

dia to creators of new possibilities.

Many libraries already use fan culture in a way: think about Harry Potter release

nights, costume contests, book trailers, and other ways the create based on a

book. The difference would be trying to do this deliberately, to have a fanfiction

writing club where members edit each others' work or a workshop on creating cosplay costumes. There are tons

of opportunities once the connections are there. By Karyn Goodwillie

NetSpeed: We Are Creators

Pictured above: Nora Young

School library staff have free access to the School Libraries in Canada journal online. Check out this great resource available at www.clatoolbox.ca/casl/slic/ and see some of the past few issues.

The Fall 2013 edition celebrates science and technology. To quote editor Derrick Grose:

“A democratic society should not chain and muzzle science; instead it should promote critical discussion that

enables citizens to make informed decisions. There was a time when a school library was the place where stu-

dents would go to find answers. Today, with the Internet at their fingertips, the school library has a more im-

portant function. It has become a place to go to learn how to ask questions and to reach beyond the boundaries

of particular disciplines.”

Even though National Science and Technology Week has passed for this year, Sandra Corbeil’s article includes many

links to science and technology sites of interest to students and staff. Consider adding some of these in your school

newsletter!

Other articles discuss environmentalism, the importance of science for kids, transforming library spaces, and notable

Canadian science titles and more.

School News PAGE 10

Breaking news: Scientists have recently made a remarkable discovery. They have identified a force, commonly found in classrooms and libraries, that makes people think more clearly, understand more deeply, and remem-ber more accurately. This force has the power to transform struggling students, and to lift high-achieving stu-dents to a new plane. It’s called interest, and the scientists who have begun to study it often describe it using the words of an authority named Dewey: Interest, he notes, means “being engaged, engrossed, or entirely tak-en up with” a particular subject.

The Science of Interest by Annie Murphy Paul in School Library Journal, Nov 2013

According to the author, scientific researchers have begun studying the topic of interest and have found that it matters, a lot, to learning. Interest is defined as “a psychological state of engagement, experienced in the moment and also a predisposition to engage repeatedly with particular ideas, events or objects over time.” It is both a cognitive and an affective state that generates positive feelings and has a significant effect on the way we read. When interested, students’ comprehension and recall are improved, regardless of genre or length of text. It can influence life choices. And research indicates that passionate interests can even “allow students to overcome academic difficulties or perceptual disabilities.”

"Librarians are ideally positioned to become cultivators of students’ interests, “ says Paul.

Read more about the research in the School Library Journal or watch for Brilliant: The New Science of Smart, available in 2014.

Free Access to School Libraries in Canada Journal

Central Alberta Regional Consortium (CARC), partnering with Parkland, will be hosting a school library confer-

ence at Crossroads Church in Red Deer on April 10th, 2014. A great selection of speakers (teen tech trends,

transforming school libraries, hot titles, comics, Online Reference Centre news, and more) and vendors are

planned for the day.

Note the later-than-past-years date to avoid the crazy snowstorms that seem to plague the conference when it is held in

March.

School Library Conference: Stone to Tablet

PAGE 11 Library News

CPL patrons get busy with Busy Bags

Putting together the Camrose Busy Bags was a blast! We had $2077.63 of grant money to use for these backpacks and out came 25 of them. First, we looked for toys or games and then found three corresponding children’s books to go along with each one to create a theme. For example: ‘Rainy Days’ is a theme of one of our backpacks and it includes the books, I’m Bored, 365 Things to Make and Do, and And Red Galoshes. In this set, Angry Birds Knock on Wood is included for an interactive game. To finish, I made tags with the theme name, a barcode, and the titles of the books, the name of the game (and its contents) and also found a picture to go along with each theme. When we had about 12 backpacks ready, we shipped them off to Parkland Regional Library to be processed and entered into the system so patrons throughout the system would be able to sign them out. When we got them back, we hung the backpacks up right away and after the third day, there were only 4 left! They have been a huge hit, and there are more to come! It has been great seeing the kids signing the backpacks out and getting excited about what’s inside and also hearing the parents express their excitement as well.

Submitted by Kaylin Velema (CPL)

Thank-you to all of our member libraries who sent discarded books to headquarters for a new art project that two Parkland

employees, Tabby Bennedbaek and Jana-Lee Patton, are creating.

The response was overwhelming and we closed the call for donations after two days. We are looking forward to unveiling

the finished product to you soon!

“Secret” Parkland Project: Call out for Old Hardcovers

The long-awaited Alberta Wide Borrowing initiative is almost

here! A virtual account, patrons will be able to register online

to borrow at other libraries in person.

After the initial pilot project between Edmonton area librar-

ies, Parkland was invited to be the first library system to join

this new service. Over the next six months more Alberta li-

braries will come online.

Instructions are available online for staff (prl.ab.ca/mestaff)

and patrons (prl.ab.ca/me). Watch for more to come.

PAGE 12 Library News

Too Busy for Snow in Innisfail Winter arrived, but we were moving too fast at Innisfail Public

Library to notice. In September we started up with a full program calen-

dar with StoryTime three days a week and ABC’s for preschoolers on

Monday afternoons. Our Lego Club is so popular we now offer it two

evenings a month.

On September 28th, we had a wonderful Arts Fest in honour of Alberta

Culture Days. Five area authors read from their works, including Manag-

er Laurie Hodges Humble and performances by local music students.

The talent was truly magnificent and stood Alberta proud.

In October, we introduced Beginner Robotics, which is a huge hit. Adult

& Youth programmer Melinda Mercer decided to try two MineCraft

events, and they too were full before we had time to advertise. Melinda

also has rotating Saturday programs of Youth Arts n’ Crafts, Science Saturdays, and Book to Movie Club.

This November will also be a 2-part Introduction to Cooking for teens.

The November read for the Evening Book Club

was ‘Shore Girl’ by Lacombe’s very own Fran Kim-

mel. Fran accepted our invitation, and braved

the hazardous roads to attend. The end of this

story was that the ever gracious Ms.

Kimmel was a huge hit and we had the best book

club meeting ever! Bravo to Fran!

In October we also had Red Deer YA author Avery

Olive come and do two more writing workshops.

This is the third series of workshops Avery has

done for us, and she is always a welcome facilita-

tor. The comment sheets said, ‘Please come

back and do more workshops!’

So, as you can see, the snow isn’t piling up at the Innisfail Public Library. We’re too busy to let it stick!

Leading from Any Position Leading from Any Position will be offered as a pre-conference session at the Alberta Library Conference

(ALC) in Jasper in 2014. It is sponsored by Alberta Public Library Administrators Council (APLAC,

www.aplac.ca/) with support from Public Libraries Services Branch, Municipal Affairs. The Leading From Any

Position initiative challenges all staff to think of their jobs differently: about how to work together and to

better serve our communities.

This highly successful program has been integrated into libraries across the continent, including Edmonton

Public Library.

The full-day session will be offered at a very reasonable rate and limited spots will be filled quickly. We will

pass along information about the session as soon as details are available. If you are interested in attending

the full day, you will want to register as soon as you are notified that registration for ALC is open.

PAGE 13

Snapshot Day & Library Month in Parkland

Library News

This year, 36 local libraries participated in Snapshot Day during Canadian Library Month in October. Thank you

to everyone for participating. Photos and comments are posted on the Q:Drive for all to share.

Take a look at the photos and feel proud of what your library does for the community!

Let’s not beat around the bush, a social media campaign requires quite

a bit of work and attention. And, it doesn’t feel so cool and exciting

when you can’t think of new content to share. Social media has incredi-

ble potential to share your services with the community and connect

with them in a personal way. The best way to get a steady footing in

the online world is by planning and strategizing.

1) Put together a strong social media team, ideally 2-3 people.

Look for people who are interested in social media and the library world. Life will be easier if you have team

members who are already participating in social networks and fluent in the language and etiquette. Members

should be naturally social and sharing personalities who are always on the lookout for a good story. Including

someone who is eager and not intimidated by the learning curve can also be great.

It’s also important that members are able to multitask and enjoy trying new ideas and strategies to attract oth-

ers with different interests. Teamwork and reliability are also vital skills to have on your team.

2) Create a schedule

Try creating a schedule for a 4 month block. To keep it fresh, brainstorm one or two focus points to highlight

your services, programs, staff profiles, local events depending on your focus. 1-2 retweets or mentions (for

Twitter) is also great.

To share with other members of the team, create a calendar or document with the weekly planned posts. This is

a working document, so it can be easily updated and changed. If you have an eager team, a rotation schedule for

social media responsibilities may work for you.

3) Create Guidelines and a Strategy Plan

Guidelines and a strategy are essential for the social media team. Guidelines ensure consistency in all your mes-

sages. Guidelines also help establish what is considered acceptable for the library’s social media “personality.”

Avoid overly restrictive guidelines; you don’t want to limit creativity.

In the social media strategy set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-

based). Outline how you intend to measure results and who carries out tasks; it will help keep the team focused.

4) Target your audience

Be sure to keep track of what posts are the most popular among your audience - it could be photos, local events,

writing tips, etc. Keep giving them more of what they love, but not so much that they get bored. Be sure to in-

clude posts about library services to keep followers informed on the latest.

Check out the Q:Drive to see PRL’s social media materials for inspiration or contact Meredith

(mbratland@prl.ab.ca).

Creating an Effective Social Media Presence

PAGE 15 Consultant's Corner

Consultants’ Corner PAGE 14

Library Advocacy: Working with Numbers to Create Insight

In advocacy and marketing, measuring the efforts of community outreach is often the hardest part to figure out and

plan. Stephen Abram, public library advocate, recently shared many great ideas in his webinar entitled The Lion’s

Story.

He states, “You need to share measurements about your impact, NOT raw statistics that show funders where to cut.

Raw circulation numbers don’t tell a good story.”

How do measurements differ from statistics? A

measurement, in this sense, is when two or more

statistics are compared and contrasted to see

what the impact is. Once you’ve created the

measurement that shows insight into your

community, the fun part begins.

What are the learning, economic, and social goals

of our communities and how to we do libraries

affect them?

Once you have measurements, you will want to

display them in the best visual way possible – such as using infographics or photos of people engaging with one an-

other. Infographics are a visual representation of data or knowledge and intended to present complex information

quickly and clearly.

“Libraries don’t have a simple message, except at the individual level. When we try to connect with everyone in a

single message, we often overwhelm the audience.”

Look closely at your data to identify who and where your patrons and

potential patrons are. It’s important to use the same language your

audience uses in messages to connect with them on a personal level.

Don’t forget that the profile of virtual users usually doesn’t match that

of in-person patrons; message and tone will have to be adapted for

different audiences.

To truly make the most of the data, use the insights you’ve gained in

the process to build relationships, connect with influencers, and to

share measurements in your library’s marketing.

Your messages should reach out to the community and give them in-

formation to share. In order to pinpoint who the library should be con-

necting with ask yourself:

1) Who are our on-going partners and stakeholders in the community?

2) What are the current challenges in our community?

3) Can we build strategic partnerships with others? What can we offer

them?

PAGE 16 Back Page

LAA Grants Available for Continuing Education The Library Association of Alberta has several grants available for library staff as well as trustees, who belong to LAA. This is an opportunity to offset some of the costs of professional development for volunteers and staff alike. For more information about these grants, contact Christine Sheppard (info@laa.ca).

Subsidy to pursue further formal library training (up to $500) A subsidy to applicants wishing to pursue further formal library training. Application deadlines: February 15th and September 15th Eligibility:

must be a personal member of the Library Association of Alberta prior to applying;

must have already completed some formal library training; i.e., librarians with a BLS wishing to attain an MLS, library technicians or library science students entering a second year of study, distance education students or other formal library training activities;

training must be at or through a Canadian institution with preference given to those studying in Alberta. Criteria:

currently active in library activities in Alberta

career goals lie within the library field Application to contain the following:

proof of previous library training

description of proposed training with costs

assessment of benefits from this training

career goals

proof of enrolment (may be sent subsequent to application) Disbursement of funds: full amount of award upon receipt of proof of registration.

Subsidy to attend conferences, workshops and seminars (up to $500)

A subsidy to assist students and library employees in the form of travel grants and fees to attend conferences, workshops and seminars related to library and information science. Application deadlines: February 15th and September 15th Eligibility:

must be a personal member of the Library Association of Alberta prior to applying. Criteria:

currently working or studying in the library field; applicants who are not receiving any other funding for that specific event will receive priority.

Application to contain the following:

description of the event

description of current employment activities or course of study

one letter of reference supporting the value of event in relation to current activity

Disbursement of funds: full amount of award upon receipt of proof of registration.