New England Library Association...

You can find out alot about what happened at the conference from the comfort of your computer.  Many of the presentations and handouts are available here

Louise visiting a state of the art library

Got Brand? @ the Library - NELA Conference 10/16/12

Hello My Esteemed Colleagues,

Yesterday I attended the NELA Conference in lovely Sturbridge, MA. It was a day filled with programs, exhibits, and an author luncheon with Dennis Lehanne as the guest author.

I would like to share with you a program that I found to be very interesting and of importance to our library and libraries in general. It was called "Got Brand @ the library" with Walther Briggs of the Brigg's Advertising Agency. Of course being part Library Assistant, part Graphic Designer I couldn't help myself but be interested in this topic and what Mr. Briggs had to say.

Mr. Briggs started the program by stating that "You are sitting on a gold mine, so what's the problem"? We have people visiting us daily, happy with our product(s) and giving us (mostly) positive feedback. A marketers dream. Corporations spend millions on branding and marketing but we already have the majority of the population happily utilizing our services. He stressed that branding takes time but is very important. It evokes Fact, Emotion, Memory and Expectation. Branding is an essential survival tool that helps you to judge quickly. (ie Nike Swoosh, Starbucks logo).  

Brand Mantra is a tool that enables you to realize your mission statement. That is 3-5 words to describe the personality of the library. This is internal and not a slogan. Here is an example of a Brand Mantra: Starbucks. "Rich, Rewarding Coffee Experience". Brand Essence is that people are coming into Starbucks for the experience. How to develop a Quick Brand Audit??? Briggs says to "Gather everything you have -- public and internal and spread it out on the conference table. What do you see? Look for visual and tonal consistency. How does it reflect your brand"? Brand (including logo) should NEVER be a design that is not you at all. Know what your personality is!

In the end you have the Brand Essence -- the core. Everything else you develop is built on that. Everyone involved (ie team members), needs to agree on what you mean before you move forward. A lovely brand example that the Briggs Advertising group developed is the Curtis Memorial Library. Take a look at the beautiful logo treatment and web site. They even went a step further and created sub-logos for the children's department, teens etc. (loved it!). Of course if would be extremely costly to hire an advertising firm to develop your brand and identity. Libraries can take the DIY approach or the pro way.

Either way, Bragg states that "someone has to be in charge of the brand, making sure that flyers, facebook newsletters, ect. are "on-brand and consistent". Ideally, the final "key deliverables" should include the following:  
* Brand Mantra 
* Logo and or Type Treatment 
* Brand Standards Guide (PDF doc of guidelines re: logo fonts, logo color pallet etc.)  
* Web Site
* Templates -- can create them for all departments to use as a uniform standard so everyone is on the same page (so to speak).

I hope you enjoyed this look into Branding and the importance of Branding @ the library!

Doreen Buchinski :)

History of Dallas and JR!

While in Dallas, I did get to visit a few museums during some down time. Of course, there was the aforementioned Sixth Floor Museum. I also visited the Old Red Museum and Southfork Ranch.
The Old Red Museum is featured in an old court house and tells the history of the city of Dallas. The building is beautiful. (In fact, the architecture of the entire city was very interesting. Aside from New York City, I dare say Dallas had one of the nicest skylines I've ever seen). The museum featured very serious aspects of the city's history, such as its role in the Civil War, the racial history (both the negatives and positives of it), and Texas's role in the oil industry. There were also lighter sides to the history, such as the history of the 7-11 Slushee, Frito Lay, and the history of the Mary Kay company. You could even watch clips from the show, Dallas, and Jim Lehrer's Dallas based news show. I found this museum by accident and I'm very glad I did.
For those of you who were not paying attention in the spring of 1980 when JR was shot, Southfork is the home of the Ewing family from tv's Dallas. It is an actual ranch right outside of Dallas, and was featured in the majority of the exterior shots on the tv show. That pool that Cliff Barnes was pushed in at JR and Sue Ellen's second wedding? That's there. The balcony in which Kristin made a swan dive to her death. That's there. The patio featuring those wonderful breakfasts that no-one ever finished? That's there, too. My librarian friend, Molly, was a very good sport and accompanied me. I have to admit it was a lot of fun, and disappointingly not as cheesy as I thought it would be. I, for one, was disappointed that the gift shop did not sell "I Shot JR" t-shirts.

Committee on Literacy -- Subcommittee

I went to this meeting mainly to hear about the plans that the Committee on Literacy has regarding its summer session at ALA Annual about Digital Literacy. The discussion on digital literacy was very interesting. The point was made that in order to achieve digital literacy, adults must be functionally literate. The discussion also continued, with the chair of the group stressing that libraries have to be part of the conversation when it comes to literacy. We also had visits from the President Elect of ALA, Maureen Sullivan, as well as a member of the ALA executive board. Maureen is a large proponent of the work the Committee on Literacy is doing. We were also again encouraged to sign the White House petition to include school libraries in the re-authorization of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Have you signed it yet?

Great author panel

So, with the exception of today which is only in the 50's, the weather has been beautiful here. Yesterday was in the high 70s and tomorrow promises to be another gorgeous day. In other news, I hear that you're all getting snow. That's a shame.
I just came from a great author panel: "Well, Slap my Knee: What's so Funny about Murder?", featuring authors of humorous mystery novels. The authors were Joanna Slan, Rachel Brady, Maria Hudgins, Rosemary Harris. They were hysterical and all had a great rapport with one another. For some reason, there was a large discussion about keeping dead frozen animals in the freezer, which may sound odd, but I thought was very enlightening. One of the authors mentioned that others will give mystery authors odd looks when they all discuss the various ways in which to murder people. Another author mentioned that her husband is extremely well behaved, knowing that she knows how to off people! (Obviously, this was all done in gest). I ended up finding myself sitting near former Channel 7 reporter, Hank Phillippi Ryan, herself a mystery writer. She actually is appearing on other mystery author panel. It was exciting to recognize a Boston celebrity in Dallas!

Attending YALSA Committee Meeting and OLOS

Last night from 8:00 - 10:00, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the committee meeting for Fabulous Films for Young Adults. The group presents an annual list of films based on a theme in helping with collection development, "readers" advisory (would that be viewers advisory) and presenting programs for young adults. Friend to Waltham Public Library, Sarah Sogigian, is chair of this committee was very nice to let me sit in. While I can't reveal what was discussed at this meeting, since the list has not been completed, I can say that I really enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say. It was fun to be at a meeting with YA (or YA friendly) librarians, again. It had been awhile since I had. It was also fun to chat with other YA librarians around the country.
This morning, I sat in on the meeting for the advisory committee to the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services. There was more discussion about the Adult literacy toolkit. I also learned about other toolkits available through the office, such as "Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your Library". Some of the libraries cited for having great programs for seniors include Alameda County Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Old Bridge Public Library.
A member of the ALA executive board, Michael Porter discussed some talking points, including e-content and libraries and ever changing landscape involving that.
Okay, I'm getting a little tired so I'm going to head over to the exhibit hall so more to come, later.
See y'all.

ALA Washington Office

The ALA Washington Office consists of two branches, and is mainly there to represent libraries to Congress. Among some of the happenings an Capitol Hill:

• Senate Bill (S.1328) aka the SKILL act is an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education, in which libraries are included as an important part of the education experience. Its sponsor is Senator John Reed, from Rhode Island. (our neighbor to the south)
  
• House Bill (HR 1891) aka the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act repeals 42 education programs that the sponsors of the bill deem unnecessary.
  
• House Bill (HR 1616) aka the WILL act is an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act to include public libraries.
• ALA is stressing the importance of including school libraries in the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary School Act. (aka the No Child Left Behind act) The senate committee voted on changes without ensuring that school libraries are included. Read more about it or sign the petition, if you would like. Having access to school libraries can strengthen children's information literacy skills, which includes the ability to do research, evaluate information, and to use any type of library. Learning these skills makes them better information consumers as well as better library users.
  

Big D, little a, little l, little l, little a , little s

Ten bucks if you can tell me the name of the Broadway musical featuring the song with the same name as the title of this post. (Hint, think Guys and Dolls or How to Success in Business without Really Trying and you're on the right track).
Yesterday, I went to meetings for the ALA Literacy Assembly and the Committee on Literacy. There are so many initiatives regarding literacy, thanks to this group and others. For instance, an Adult Literacy toolkit is in the works, which gives libraries tips on working with adults who are not functionally literate. (This refers to native English speakers). After this toolkit is completed, there will be steps to create an English Language Learners literacy toolkit. There was also a discussion on digital literacy. The Digital Literacy Task Force (under the branch of the Office for Information Technology) is working to create a Digital Literacy toolkit as well as working with the government on digitalliteracy.gov. Digital Literacy is something that we can all relate to at our library. The digital divide is very obvious with more and more patrons forced to fill out applications online, despite having trouble grasping the skills needed. The conversation on digital literacy also included a discussion on how it pertains to helping patrons using new devices, such as e-readers. We have certainly seen an influx in patrons asking questions about these devices. (Since Christmas, especially).
Thanks to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, ALA was able to launch the American Dream Starts @ your Library in which literacy programs for those learning English are launched at libraries. The participating libraries have done so many wonderful programs, including hosting naturalization ceremonies for new citizens. (The Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen did this, several years ago.)
We also had visits from both candidates for ALA President, as well as a representative from the ALA Washington Office. I'm going to put his presentation in a separate post.
As JR would say, "So Long, darlin'!"

Greetings from the Big D

Hello and welcome from Dallas, Texas, home of the 2012 ALA Midwinter Meeting. ALA Midwinter is a little different than the annual conference in June in that it is mainly committee meetings. I'm not technically on a committee but I was very impressed with the work of the Committee on Literacy last summer and wanted to see what they would be discussing at midwinter. Among other things, one of their iniatives is digitial literacy and decreasing the digital divide, which is a problem that we certainly are aware of. Another exciting part about ALA Midwinter is that there is a live press conference in which the winners of the Newbery, Caledecott, and Print are announced. This will be the first time I will see the announcement live. My nine year old self would be very jealous, right now. (Well, about the Newbery. The Printz didn't exist, yet.)
If you want, you can follow the conference on twitter (which you can from either our account or your own. I created a twitter account in which I don't post but just so to follow events such as this) To follow midwinter, go to @almamw and to follow the discussion others are having about them type in #alamw12 in the search box when logging into twitter. It's only 140 characters, so some discussions are better than others. (Speaking of Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media, did anyone check out this great photo from the Milwaukee Public Library?)
As for Dallas, I just arrived this afternoon and will go to the literacy committee tomorrow. I just missed gettting my ALA name tag for the next several hours, I am walking around Dallas without a name. I did visit the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which is basically the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his shots on November 22, 1963. My parents who vividly remember JFK's assasination were horrified at the idea of going there, but for me, it's always been a part of history, and an important one for not just our country but for Dallas. I was reading a book about the tv show, Dallas, and there was a mention made that the city had been solely identified with the assasination until the show became a hit. The museum was very interesting and not only discussed the shooting but also JFK's legacy and presidency. Some of the more negative parts were left out, but they weren't relevant to the message of the museum. Those of you who did live through the assasination (like my parents) may very well find it hard to visit a museum like that, but I thought it was fascinating to see places that I had only seen in news footage, including the grassy knoll and Dealey Plaza. It was very surrel, actually.
On a lighter note, I did take a walk around the downtown area and was pleased to discover the building used for Ewing Oil in the later years of Dallas, and the building that JR used when he tried to strike it on his own. Haven't made it to Southfork. Not sure that's going to happen on this trip.