Promoting Y/A Materials – a presentation prepared for LIS 9364

April 14, 2009.

As I was thinking about this topic it occurred to me that we have been promoting Y/A materials in this class since the beginning of term. We have, for example, visited a library or bookstore and looked at which materials were available and how they were shelved and displayed. We’ve also discussed establishing teen advisory boards so they can help us promote materials. We’ve identified graphic novels as one way to get reluctant readers more interested in books (that, of course, is not their only function – they could be just plain fun!). We’ve discussed book clubs, poetry slams, movies, music, gay and lesbian literature, classics, and awards. And we’ve done book reviews and book talks. We’ve promoted Y/A materials amongst each other and we’ve discussed ways in which they can be promoted to others who are interested.

We haven’t, however, looked at how to promote materials to people who aren’t already inclined to look for them. We haven’t reached out beyond the library walls. While it might be argued that the book talks do just that, I suggest that if an individual is not already interested or looking for information on a book, they will not likely be looking for book talks. I hope that the class will prove me wrong about this.

Nichols & Nichols (1998) suggest that Librarians often feel that a library markets or promotes itself (and its materials) just by the goodwill feeling it projects to the public. Librarians are, after all, enthusiastic about their profession. But, they say, usage still drops as one enters the teen years. One way to work at changing those statistics is through community outreach.

I define community outreach as any activity that promotes the library beyond the walls of the library itself – any activity in which the librarian or someone associated with the library goes out into the community to promote the library as a place of interest to individuals who may not already be using library materials and/or facilities. And here is where I have come up with a conundrum. In this course the focus has been on materials. But I’m not sure that promoting services does not achieve the same end. I found few resources which discuss promoting materials alone and more that discuss promoting services offered by the library and even the library itself. While this may point to a gap in the literature, I wonder if it doesn’t also point to an ideology in which these two types of promotion are not mutually exclusive. I wonder if we don’t do both simultaneously. Perhaps what this gap really suggests is that it’s not really about promotion. Perhaps, it’s about empowering teens (Jones, et al, 2004) – perhaps it’s about being an advocate.

All that aside, how do we promote Y/A materials and/or services beyond the walls of the library? Jones, et al (2004), Crowther & Trott (2004), Pfeil (2005), and Nichols (2002), among others all talk about networking, building relationships with our communities, and partnering. Partners help us reach teens we may never meet otherwise.

The first thing we need to do is make a list of community agencies and businesses in our area that serve youth. Then we need to set up interviews with representatives of these organizations so we can learn about them and what they do for youth. Next we need to be active in our community so we can observe these organizations at work – go to their public functions. We need to make note of opportunities for collaboration. What can they do for the library and what can the library do for them? Perhaps we can supplement our collections with their publications. They might have space in which we could set up a book display that would reach youth who do not visit the library. They may also have meeting rooms that could be used for programming at which we could also promote materials. Or, they may need meeting space and could use the library meeting rooms and we could set up displays that would follow the theme of their meetings (Fisher& Price (2006).

Jones, et al (2004), reminds us that one common element in every community is the teens themselves. Ask them where they go, who they listen to, and how they spend their time. YALSA has also put out an assessment of community resources and services for young adults which is available on-line (see the link below in references) and talks about physical spaces where teenagers hang out, suggesting we look at how they are marketed. It also discusses what agencies or businesses that cater to young adults do to welcome and involve young adults, what agencies you can join as a librarian, and what space is available in these places to deposit collections or displays from the library. The most used partner for a public library is the local school and this is the place you should start and may be the only place you deal with if you encounter any resistance to outreach within your library hierarchy. In the schools you will find a lot of non-library users all of whom are somewhat captive, as well as other adults who can reinforce your ideas. The key is to find opportunities to interact with teens outside of the four walls of the library (Jones, et al 2004). You need what many in the literature have referred to as, face time. That is, you need to make yourself known to teens in the community whether they come into the library or not.

Patrick Jones discusses three levels of partnerships: communicative, cooperative, and collaborative. I prefer to think of these terms as verbs. As librarians we need to communicate with local businesses in our community. We could, for example, make an agreement with a local CD shop to post flyers for our upcoming “battle of the bands” and have books and CDs on display. Or we could make an agreement with the local radio station to make public service announcements such as, meet the author at your local library. Or, meet the DJ and learn how to do it too (using materials from the library). We need to cooperate with local businesses. We could, for example, have teens participating in the summer reading program read three books and receive two passes to the Cineplex Odeon. Cineplex could allow us to put up posters at the theatre. The fact that the coupons are from them, would be advertising for them and an act of goodwill on their part. And we need to collaborate with community organizations. We might make an agreement with the juvenile detention center, for example, to provide materials on STDs.

Another area for outreach that I have not discussed at length in my presentation is the web presence of the Y/A division of the library. Using web 2.0 opens up opportunities to extend the reach of the library beyond its physical walls. Paula Wilson discusses this in her Library Web Sites: Creating Online Collections and Services (2004). She talks about providing a link to Novelist and having a list of teen advisory board “picks”, as well as other reviews. She also discusses on-line book clubs in which you could invite teen input into discussions about books, movies, music, websites, and short stories in a manner like that done by the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Va). Their web site is viewable at www.teenspoint.org. Facebook might be another venue on which to host such a book club simply because of its ability to mushroom out to others.

And the final word – Why did I want the class to read about Tupu Public Library in New Zealand (Dorner, 2003)? Several reasons really, but the one that makes it appropriate to this discussion is the manner in which they brought their community into the planning process for determining what materials and services would be available within their library and designing the space within which they would be held. They spoke with the youth of their community to determine their needs and then addressed those needs. They even had to negotiate with a youth gang! And, of course, the bottom line is, they have been and continue to be successful.

Resources for Outreach & Promoting Y/A Materials (some cited, some not):

Baker, Sharon L. and Karen L. Wallace. (2002). The Responsible Public Library: How to Develop and Market a Winning Collection, 2^nd ed. Colorado: Libraries Unlimited

Crowther, Janet L. (2004) Partnering with Purpose: a guide to strategic partnership development for libraries and other organizations. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Dorner, Daniel D. (2003). Tupu-Promoting ‘New Growth’ through innovative resources and services to youth http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/papers/200e-Dorner.pdf retrieved April 1, 2009, 10:30 p.m.

Fisher, Patricia & Marseille Pride. (2006). Blueprint for Your Library Marketing Plan. Pp. 75 – 89.

Goldsmith, Francisca. (2005). Graphic Novels Now. Chicago: ALA.

Jones, Patrick, Michele Gorman, and Tricia Suellentrop (2004). Connecting Young Adults and Libraries, 3^rd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Nichols, Mary Anne. (2002). Merchandising Library Materials to Young Adults. (pp.101-118)

Nichols, Mary Anne and C. Allen Nichols, eds. (1998). Young Adults and Public Libraries: A Handbook of Materials and Services. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Pfeil, Angela B. (2005). Going Places with Youth Outreach: Smart Marketing Strategies for Your Library. Chicago: ALA.

Ruth, Lindsay, D. & Sari Felman. (1994) “The Whole Service Approach: Plugging the Holes in your Y/A Service” School Library Journal, May94, Vol. 40 Issue 5, p28.

Vaillancourt, Renee J. (2002). Managing Young Adult Services: A Self-Help Manual. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Siess, Judith A. (2003). The visible Librarian: Asserting Your Value with Marketing and Advocacy Chicago: ALA.

Walters, Suzanne. (2004). Library Marketing That Works! New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers

Wilson, Paula A. (2004) Library Web Sites: Creating Online Collections and Services. Chicago: ALA.

A useful website about teen poetry slams is http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/655

Information on outreach school/public library cooperation

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/yalsamemonly/yalsamounder/yalsamotopics/commrsrcsassess.pdf