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
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 ([email protected]).
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.