Vermont libraries are embracing the video! The Mount Holly Town Library urges townspeople to Vote YES on Article 7 in a YouTube video created by two high school students at the local public access TV station. Like the Manchester videos, Mount Holly has users like parents, a painting group, and an audio book listener speaking on behalf of library services. Great year for pre-town meeting publicity in Vermont!
Posted in Advocacy, Brochures, Video Clips and Bookmarks
Tagged Belmont, Mount Holly, Town Meeting, video, YouTube
Manchester Community Library is using Vimeo to encourage voters to Vote Yes on town meeting day, to support the public library. Take a look at their Channel to see what they’ve created.
The videos are displayed on the MCL website, in newsletters, and of course at the MCL channel on Vimeo. The campaign includes stickers and a strong message, Vote Yes on March 1. Not voting is the same as voting no, a citizen tells us– and that means cuts in hours and services.
The messaging in “I’m cheap” is particularly appealing– a senior citizen who lives on a fixed income supports the library because he likes to save money. While walking and driving around Manchester, our hero talks about the library and how he saves by attending lectures, borrowing magazines and books, and taking his grandchildren in. He calculates what the Library cost him in taxes– $47, or less than a dollar a week.
The scripts for these videos are carefully written to appeal to many audiences, parents, seniors, small business owners. The images are appealing– happy faces, the clean new library, the cafe where people have their heads together. Each video is well-edited and short, with “I’m Cheap” under two minutes.
Why Vote Yes is a page on the MCL website that gives the numbers– what the Library costs and how it’s been used this year. The total amount from town taxes is increasing; the share of the total library budget is dropping because of other sources of support. The usage statistics are easy to understand: people using computers. Nice job!
–More than 1,300 brand new members joined the new library.
–Over 50 community groups held meetings at MCL.
–Over 800 preschoolers and their parent/caregivers attended story times.
–People logged on to the public computers nearly 6,000 times in the first year of operation.
–More than 300 members took advantage of free 1-on-1 tech tutorials, eager to take advantage of enhanced their understanding of technology.
Rutland Free Library is hosting a local author book signing on a Saturday afternoon. Director Abby Noland says Facebook and the local newspaper brought authors to her door– easy program and built in audience if every author brings her fanbase.
How DO we promote local authors, who may be poets, memoir writers, short story penners, sometimes unknown beyond the family? Here’s Rutland’s charming brochure, with a photo or illustration for each author and a thumbnail of their work. Bravo!
The Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury has dreamed up a Valentine for the community. The Digital Media Lab, a collaboration between the Library and Middlebury Community Television, is holding an open house Tuesday evening, February 10, for patrons and guests to visit the Lab and film brief video Valentines.
According to a story in the Addison Independent, the Lab is designed to support the creating of digital media and the digitization of audio, video and photographic sources. The Digital Media Lab has equipment for video conferences, Skype calls, podcasting and video editing. Patrons can sign up for access to the room and get specific training for their project needs. Imagine taking old photographs or a home movie in and being able to walk out with a digital record. Awesome!
Susanna Kahn from the Charlotte Library has created these helpful instructional pamphlets for ListenUp! Vermont patrons. These can be downloaded as PDF or Word documents so you can personalize them to your own library.
Posted in Brochures, Video Clips and Bookmarks, Training
Tagged Audio book, Charlotte, Charlotte Library, ebook, iPad, kindle, ListenUp!, Nook
Vermont State Parks, Vermont Historic Sites, and the Echo Museum have created passes for public libraries. Many libraries also have passes to local museums and historical sites around the state available for lending. To advertise the passes and explain reserves, policies and usage, Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol created a brochure for patrons.
Lawrence Memorial staff contact area museums by email or letter and most supply a free pass. In return for the free pass, the Library tracks use and reports to each museum. Two sites, Chimney Point and Mt Independence, gave permission to the Library to design a pass for the site allowing admission. The Library works on this project in the spring, before families come looking for weekend entertainment.
A gift
Directors may want to have a lawyer review and offer background so the board is prepared to work with donors. The Vermont Community Foundation offers support to organizations like libraries who are setting up contribution vehicles. Contact them for help managing an endowment or creating planned giving.
Use the Scribd link to read the brochure, particularly the inside. A donor could make the gift without doing anything more than filling in the form.
The Department of Libraries recently added two Flip 
cameras to the circulating collection, like other libraries around the state. Some libraries giving patrons access to equipment such as cameras, Kindles, MP3 players, and CD players have patrons sign a form assuming financial responsibility for damaged or lost items in case. Here are two examples of these forms from Dan Greene at U32 High School.
More promotional video from a Vermont library: Springfield is offering a contest. The public is invited to identify the characters in the story.
Posted in Brochures, Video Clips and Bookmarks
Tagged contest, promotion, Springfield, Springfield Town Library, video
The Friends of the Wardsboro Library have created a brochure that explains their history, their mission, and what they are doing to help the library. Also included is a list of their annual fundraisers.
Good Ideas from VT Public Libraries 