Men of the Stacks 2012

A few years back I created a calendar featuring librarians dressed in leather perched on Harleys. It was an instant hit. The next year a clever group of Canadian librarians hid behinds bubbles, books and a few other objects to create a calendar that was a bit racier. This year Becky Jones, Sarah Kahn, Sarah Daigle Scott, Trevor Dawes, Megan Perez and some incredible men have given us a calendar that is sure to go down in library history. My favorite is Mr. August - Trevor, I didn't know you were such a cooking enthusiast! :-)

Calendar Dedication
Locke Jeffries Morrisey was the Head of Reference and Research Services at the University of San Francisco Library, and one of the driving forces behind the creation of this calendar. Although Locke is no longer with us physically to see the finished product, we know that he would be happy with the result. Anyone who knew Locke personally, or knew of him, would tell you that he had an incredibly generous spirit.





I can't say it better than the said it, so I'll let the men speak. Go to the site. Order a dozen and support the creativity, talent and cause behind this project ....

"We know what people think: Dewey, glasses, shushing, books, hairbuns, Party Girl and card catalogs. Yes, we know what people think. We know that the American, library profession is approximately 80% White and 72% female; and we know that tens of thousands of librarians are expected to reach age 65 in the next 5 years. We also know that this is not us.

There is an entire population of professional librarians out there who disagree with the way the library profession is perceived in contemporary media outlets and in the historical consciousness of the American mind. Different people and different associations will use different means to try to change those perceptions. This is ours.

The Men of the Stacks project was first conceived a couple of years ago after learning of the publication of another library-themed calendar. Our first reaction to that calendar? “Well, cool but…where are all the men?” There was another, earlier calendar that featured only male librarians, but we felt it didn’t quite capture the way we saw ourselves. In both cases, either the stereotype was reinforced or it didn’t go far enough in breaking free of it.

One of our models, Von, captured the spirit of this calendar beautifully:

“We can’t just leave it to others to tell the people who we are; that’s why the stereotypes about librarians continue to flourish. We have to be the ones to go out there and tell people who we are. It’s not enough to complain about inaccurate images of librarians; we must be able to present alternative, positive images in movies, books and, yes, blogs.” — Filipino Librarian

Now, he adds, calendars should be added to the list. So, who are we? What do we want to tell you about who we are? What are these alternative images? Easy. We are, or course, professionals. We are educators, programmers, project managers, entrepreneurs, program coordinators, contractors, consultants, and speakers. We are academics. We are authors, diversity officers, historians, administrators, deans, professors, and researchers. We are creatives. We are musicians, bakers, painters, and storytellers. We are athletes, yogis, gym-rats, runners, and hikers. We are passionate. We are dog-lovers, radicals, conservatives, Christians, and Buddhists. We are in our twenties. We are in our forties. We are in relationships. We are perpetual bachelors. We are privileged beings who try to use their advantages to better the lives of others.

Who are we? We are The Men of the Stacks."

** oh.. and here's a picture from the calendar I did back in 2003 featuring librarians in leather on Harleys. This is my old boss Elaine- she was always game for fun!

A Conference Just for You!

Who wouldn't want to visit beautiful Arcadia University in the fall?

Are you tired of seeing library conferences just for technology, management, and other specialties, but none just for the PR and marketing folks? Well I've got good news! There's going to be a 2-day conference in Philadelphia next month that's been custom-built for us. It's the Inaugural Conference of a new organization called The Association of Library Communications and Outreach Professionals (ALCOP). 

As the website explains, ALCOP "is dedicated to promoting the work of the men and women who are responsible for delivering the message of a library's importance to the community through public relations, special events, fundraising, and program development."  This fledgling organization and conference have been put together by Bob Kieserman and his associates at The Communication Group. 

This event will be Oct. 9 & 10, on the campus of Arcadia University just outside Philadelphia. The program is extensive and the price is affordable, especially if you book by Sept 26. And there are two great keynoters: Chris Olson of Chris Olson & Associates, a long-time library marketing guru; and Kathy Dempsey of Libraries Are Essential, who happens to be the person writing this post.  ;->  

Please check out the program and try to make it to Philly for at least one of the days. Bring along members of your Friends or Board. Let's get a conference of our own off the ground! (If you do register, please indicate that you heard about the ALCOP conference from me, b/c I'll get credit for promoting attendance. Hmmm, I think that would be "marketing the marketing"!)

Come on out October 9 - 10 to meet me and lots of other colleagues, to learn from each other, to enjoy great camaraderie, and to strengthen our specialized group of library employees and advocates. Libraries depend on us for their success; let's push our skills and strategies to the next level. 

PSAs from ALA

Check out these 15- and 30-second public service announcements that ALA created to run on the Lifetime TV channel. 

While it's the right message for the right audience, I'd love to know how that Lifetime target market (middle-aged women) was chosen. I suspect that mothers are a core group that already visits libraries often with their children. Personally, I'd love to see ads aimed at 40- to 70-year-old businessmen, since they frequent public libraries much less often but hold more of the positions of power where their votes affect funding.

Still, it's nice to have these available for use on your own websites. Use them for all they're worth!

Target could teach us a thing or two ...

We often talk about branding libraries. " It's tough."  "How can we differentiate ourselves?"  We are always asked those comments and more. Sure it's tough. But think about what life would have been like trying to brand a box department store named Target 12 years ago. Because it was back in 1999 when Target hired Peterson Milla Hooks, Minneapolis as their ad agency. Before it become the highly stylized Target that we now know, it had been just another box store. They used the familiar "Target" logo but there was no real branding.  Look at a commercial from before PMH came on board:

It could have been any box store.

In 1999 PMH creative director Dave Peterson decided to make the brand's bullseye logo the heart of an unabashedly playful campaign with a distinctive design sensibility. Target and its PMH  have parted ways after an amazing 12 year success story. If you look back on their commercials over those years, fond memories will be rekindled.  Peterson was  a master storyteller. And the story he told? Ours.  Here's that very first commercial:

Check some the best ads to come out of the partnership! My favorite is the MOMA one.

Here's a couple more that I just had to include. Thanks Peter for a fantastic run!  :

Source:  http://creativity-online.com/news/target-and-peterson-milla-hooks-a-look-back/229589

I  think this commercial is great concept for libraries:

Running for Dollars

The following is a Guest Post by Nancy Ellor, who has a degree in marketing and loves libraries almost as much as she loves running.

The Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library of Vincentown, NJ, is like every other library across the nation struggling to stay open these days. However, the staff there has been thinking outside the box to raise funds for the last 20 years. They created a 5k (3.1 mile) Race and 1 mile Fun Run called "Stop the Jade Run" to reach outside the township lines for donations. Each runner "donates" a registration fee of $20. The money raised from this race was typically used to buy books and implement programs, but these days it is being used to help keep the library in operation because of the budget cuts.

To publicize the event, the library mails out a race application to members of its mailing list, and posts the event on the township website and of course on its own site and in the library as well. Runners are a tight-knit group, so word spreads fast through the running community once races are announced. This one is held in early Spring so it's a good warm-up for the running season, and the scenic route makes it popular.

Once again this year, I participated in the 15th “Stop the Jade” Run. That morning, I picked up my race number in front of the Children’s Library, chatted with a few friends, and then had to decide between a long-sleeved white cotton t-shirt with a great picture of the library on it or the race's signature tie-dye. (I decided on a little adventure and selected the tie-dye.)

The race director, Ed Moore, was on hand to explain the name of the race to those interested. "Stop the Jade Run" is the name of a nearby stream that flows into the Rancocas Creek northwest of Vincentown. With a name like that, you can imagine the interest and creativity it generates. Naming a running race after a "run" (alternate name for "creek" or "stream") is a fun play on words. I found a post recently with various explanations of the origin of the name. Odd names provide unique opportunities to get people interested in your library!

This year's race had a total of 64 runners so it raised more than $1,000 for the library. Congratulations to the volunteers and organizers who help to support my local library and keep it on the map. Why not try something like this in your town?

Tying it all together

Princeton NJ was washed out in the hurricane, but that didn't stop the public library from offering services. Staff that could, came in and with a little creativity were able to offer wifi when the rest of the town was down. They put movies on for the kids, offered electric and wifi for everyone else. Meanwhile Janie Hermann began tweeting updates about the storm and hooking into some bloggers that had community connections Marketing director Tim Quinn's son, George, filmed the whole thing and put together a video that says it all. They even decided to stay open later than usual. They had over 4500 come to the library that day. But more than that, they secured an even stronger commitment of support  from the community. People wanted to tell the world how much they loved the library. Janie shared this comment from a visitor: 

“Yesterday was a fantastic day in Princeton!  1-day post-hurricane Irene and mobs of people swarming into the Princeton Public Library, many unbathed, frantically looking to recharge their tech devices and retrieve their email.  The staff at our beloved library an amazing, truly healing, supportive, gracious force.  I cannot express fully the profound gratitude I felt/feel for all of you.  I moved yesterday, so my stress level was a bit higher than usual.  I found being at the library for an hour or so to be a balm for my ragged spirit."

Ingredients for success?

• Staff who believe their library should be helping their community in crisis
• Leaders who are open to out of the box thinking
• Continual communication through all communications channels
• Partnering with bloggers and tweetheads to get the message out
• Listening to the needs of customers throughout the day
• Filming the event to capture the feeling of the day and then sharing that through all channels 

Marketing on the fly: Find the need, fulfill the need, communicate the offering, communicate  the result
Nice. Very nice.