Broad cast Your Li brary Pro gram
If you feel that you’ve spread the good word as much as pos si ble and that un be liev ers or the un ini ti ated still re main, sim ply do the work of a dy namic li brary pro gram and put all those ser vices and your in for ma tion lit er acy in struc tion into ac tion mak ing cer tain that ev ery one knows about what you can do for them and their stu dents. Take credit for the hard work and in no va tions that you’ve brought to your school; this is no place to be mod est. De vel op ing in - for ma tion-lit er ate stu dents is a goal far too im por tant to risk not hav ing the stu dents, teach ers, and ad min is tra tors un der stand and sup port ev ery means to achieve that end. Take a look at the fol low ing ideas for broad cast ing your pro gram and keep ing it in the spot light.
Cre ate a Li brary Hand book
Cre ate a hand book for teach ers and ad min is tra tors that com pares the high lights of your pro gram to stan dards. High light the ser vices you pro vide that help to meet those stan dards. Up date the hand book an nu ally. Be cer tain to make it vi su ally at trac tive so that stu dents, par ents, and teach ers want to pick it up and read it. If you don’t have the tech nol - ogy or graphic arts skills to pull off the pro ject, ask stu dents to help you. Choose to have them teach you, or have them do the work. Be sure to give them rec og ni tion and let them team with you for other pub li ca tions. They get some thing to add to their port fo lio, and you get a great look ing pub li ca tion.
Send a Mul ti me dia Mes sage
Cre ate a DVD or video of what you do and show or dis trib ute it at the be gin ning of the year to par ents, stu dents, new teach ers, ad min is tra tors, and even teach ers who don’t take ad van tage of what you of fer. Of fer to pres ent your video at the first in-ser vice of the school year, or post it on the Web so that ev ery one be gins the school year with the same in for ma - tion about the li brary. In clude por tions of your in ter ac tion with classes, a dem on stra tion of how to search the li brary cat a log, and an ori en ta tion to li brary rules, ser vices, and re - sources. Not only will it in form in a vi sual and en ter tain ing way, but it also dem on strates how tech nol ogy can be used innovatively. Re cruit stu dents to help pro duce the DVD. Let
them play the lead ing role as nar ra tor and pres ent the li brary from a stu dent’s per spec tive.
If you have a pro duc tion stu dio, a mul ti me dia lab, or a tech nol ogy club in your school, the stu dents can do all the tech ni cal prep a ra tion and pro duc tion, and you can fo cus on the con - tent and your role as pro ducer and di rec tor. Make cer tain that it stays up-to-date and that a new ver sion is ready when needed.
Use an Elec tronic News let ter
Send monthly elec tronic news let ters (Fig ures 9.1 and 9.2) to of fer the most re cently ac - quired ma te ri als, de scribe or of fer li brary con tests and pro grams, high light im por tant re - sources, link to pro fes sional de vel op ment op por tu ni ties, pro vide tech nol ogy tips and tricks, of fer help with les son plans and tech nol ogy. In clude a Ma te rial Re quest form. I rec - om mend elec tronic ver sions in stead of print be cause they can be cre ated more quickly, they have the abil ity to link to sites, and they use no pa per un less in di vid u als print them out on their own print ers (us ing their own ink or toner and pa per). In ad di tion, they are eas ily saved, de leted (ban ish the thought), and they dem on strate an ap pro pri ate and ef fi - cient use of tech nol ogy. Send a stu dent ver sion of your news let ter that informs stu dents of the most re cently ac quired books, con tests, an nounce ments, and links to stu dent-ori en - tated Web sites.
Fig ure 9.1. An elec tronic li brary news let ter is an ef fi cient way to broad cast your li brary’s ser vices and ma te ri als.
Broad cast Your Li brary Pro gram / 101
Fig ure 9.2. The stu dent ver sion of an elec tronic li brary news let ter is adapted for stu dents’ in ter ests and needs.
In clude a stu dent ver sion of the Ma te ri als Re quest Form (Fig ure 9.3) to in vite stu dents to of fer sug ges tions for new ti tles and ask for stu dents to sub mit book re views that you pub lish in the stu dent news let ter. We be gan our graphic nov els col lec tion as a re sult of the Ma te ri als Re quest form and graphic novel book re views, and the col lec tion has caused our cir cu la tion sta tis tics to soar.