Minutes of the Marketing & Programs Advisory Committee

March 23, 2004, MHLS Auditorium, 10:00am-1:00pm

Present: B. Flach, M. Keefe, A. Jordan, K. Lustiber, M. Quick, R. Smith, M. Steinberg

Guests: M. Advocate, J. Cohen, B. Haymann-Diaz, K. Litwin, L. Muffs

Minutes of October 29^th meeting

Motion: Maria, Kara

Discussion: none

Vote: unanimous

Old Business:

• Advisory Committee Responsibilities Review: M. Quick reviewed the mission of the committee for 2004 and addressed the reporting structure for committee members.

• Statewide Performers Database progress: M. Keefe reported that her department will contact known performers from the mid-Hudson region inviting them to input their contact information to the database (http://performersandprograms.com/). Users will ultimately be able to search by region of NYS, cost, type of program, performer and audience level. M. Keefe asked committee members to recommend performers to invite to participate in the database. The database should be usable statewide by the end of the summer; additional performers will be continuously added. Performers will be responsible for the upkeep of their information in the database.

§ Shared publicity: R. Smith reported on the progress of the shared publicity opportunities with the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS). Detailed information below.

• Default Web Page Re-Design: M. Advocate showed the committee a “close to final” draft of the new “default” pages that 32 member libraries use. Managed by MHLS staff, these web pages provide a web presence for libraries that are unable to maintain their own sites. The committee felt the enhanced sites were excellent and that a number of libraries currently struggling to maintain their own may take advantage of this new resource. The committee asked that the new design be shown at the next Director’s Association meeting.

New Business:

• MHLS Grant Project Updates & LSTA grant proposals for 2004-05
• Health Information Project: M. Keefe reported on behalf of project coordinator, Bobbi Clapp. The project is proceeding as planned and the project leaders plan to continue the current course of the project for next year.
• Raising a Reader Emergent Literacy Project Update: M. Keefe reported on behalf of project coordinator, Tracy Gartelmann. M. Keefe reviewed the funding sources of this grant and updated the committee on the activities of the grant. The grant is based on a PLA initiative using research about how young children learn in their developmental stages and integrating the findings into public library programming. The project has found that libraries have already been doing many of the activities needed to prepare young children for school but now they have solid research to back up their activities and promote the value of the library to decision makers and funders. The project also includes a component for the pre and post testing of participating families, giving us real, local statistics regarding the success of the project. M. Quick reported that as a participating library in this project the results have been terrific. She reported one drawback has been reaching the target families. The committee felt that the length of time the project was in action was a big factor to the success of reaching the target audience. M. Keefe reported a high number of families participating overall. M. Keefe feels the data collected during the project will have a positive impact on area educators,helping them to understand the value of libraries in the preparation of children for school.
• Expansion of the Emergent Literacy Project: M. Keefe reported that MHLS plans to apply for a second year of funding for the Raising a Reader Emergent Literacy project, as it was noted above – word of mouth will only increase the usefulness and scope of the project’s impact. A brief proposal was circulated to the committee. A group that works with migrant farmers is eager to partner with MHLS to develop materials in Spanish. The committee felt this was a worthwhile project to pursue.
• Your Library - Gateway to the Community: K. Litwin reported on the activities to date. A survey of new residents in 10 target communities resulted in over 300 responses and they are using the input from the survey to construct a “New Resident Resource Kit.” A number of resources have been developed and are useful for any member library: a new resident brochure has been developed (bi-lingual), a list of items to be included in a welcome kit, an FAQ for new residents, Welcoming New Residents workshops for library staff offered to all member libraries in 10 locations. The target libraries are also putting together workshops locally for new residents. They also have added their programs to the EZ Library Program Database to share with other libraries.
• K. Litwin proposed two possible ideas for LSTA grants this year:
• Extension of Your Library: Gateway to the Community – This project would extend the project to more target libraries with added technology components. Components proposed included developing a Neighborhood web site, adding local community services to the online public library catalog so that local, related organizations would come up when a search on a particular topic was conducted by a patron, and to create a web portal template for access to county and local information.
• Libraries as Life Options Centers: This idea would develop library services to meet the needs of retirees/seniors looking for opportunities to be highly engaged and productive in the community. This project would build on the findings of the 2022: The Shape of Library Services Project and help libraries develop programming and resources to help this group make choices and enable them to learn on their own through the library.

K. Litwin asked the committee for input. J. Cohen mentioned that the state library has indicated they will be looking for technology components in all LSTA grants this year. A. Jordan asked if the two ideas could be integrated into one project. She suggested integrating seniors into the project by using their skills and experiences to reach out to new residents (as trainers, greeters, and through programming). The committee discussed how to involve a new set of target libraries to amplify the impact of the project. M. Quick expressed concern that a combination might be taking on too much. The committee ultimately agreed that they would like to see an extension of this year’s grant incorporating a number of technology components that will make the project accessible to a maximum number of libraries. K. Litwin will pursue this recommendation as well as further exploring the feasibility of integrating features from the Life Options proposal and the possibilities for sharing the project statewide.

• Marketing Activities: R. Smith reported on the status of the various PR activities.
• Poughkeepsie Journal: “On the Shelves”, a monthly column written by library directors, began last month. Rebekkah would like to hear feedback regarding the column to make the best use of this opportunity. There are still openings for 2004 for any interested directors.
• Chronogram Ad: At the suggestion of Kingston Director, Bruce George, MHLS has purchased ad space in the Chronogram Magazine - a popular magazine available throughout the Hudson Valley region. The ad promotes getting your library card and the resources available using your card. Similar language to the recently distributed library card posters was used. Rebekkah reminded the committee that library card posters are still available through the MHLS web site <http://midhudson.org/outreach/poster.htm>, or may be customized with your library’s name through Print Services Manager, Deb Begley, for a small cost.
• Shared Press Releases with Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS): R. Smith distributed the RCLS press release list and schedule. RCLS has graciously agreed to share their general press releases with MHLS libraries. Most will be distributed centrally through MHLS to media outlets, others will be available for libraries to customize locally and send to their area papers. R. Smith will be providing RCLS with a menu of generic press releases on a variety of topics in return, a list of which was distributed to the committee. These press releases will be incorporated into the Story Ideas Web Page on the MHLS web site <http://midhudson.org/funding/marketing/story_ideas.htm>. MHLS will explore the possibility of a similar arrangement with the Westchester Library System.

• Partnerships with School Districts
• Side by Side newsletter: A bi-monthly newsletter has been developed jointly with Ulster BOCES School Library System to encourage networking and resource sharing between Ulster County public librarians and school media staff. This effort will begin with Dutchess BOCES SLS next fall as well, with hope for extension into the BOCES which cover Columbia, Greene and Putnam counties in the future.
• Both Putnam/N. Westchester and Ulster BOCES and MHLS have planned dinner/workshop meetings for the spring at which school media and public librarians will meet and make better connections for future collaborations. The Putnam gathering is April 20 and the Ulster one is May 6.
• Mid-Hudson Teacher’s Center presentations: On March 12 Merribeth Advocate and Rebekkah Smith gave a presentation at the Marlboro School District In-Service Workshop which covered using the public library catalog, NOVEL databases and other public library resources to help teachers better use their public libraries in the course of their work. On May 27 this same presentation will be made in the MHLS auditorium for school and public library staff in Ulster and Dutchess counties. In addition this PowerPoint presentation is available for any public library to use in their community to do a presentation for their local school personnel. A brochure outlining public library resources of interest to school personnel is available, along with bookmarks which cover the various databases libraries have available through NOVEL.

• Advocacy: The committee felt that MHLS should suspend the “Support Our Libraries” letters campaign. R. Smith proposed a Letters to the Editor campaign to begin in early April. The committee agreed that this was a positive and effective activity for library trustees to participate in. R. Smith will prepare an action memo and helpful information for conducting the campaign.

• Brochure Review
• Library card brochure: The committee reviewed the brochure and made minor changes. R. Smith will relay the changes to Print Services Manager, Deb Begley.
• Confidentiality bookmark: The committee made minor changes. R. Smith will relay the changes to Print Services Manager, Deb Begley.
• Documentation for the redesigned OPAC: The committee reviewed the bookmarks for Check Your Record and Request-a-Title. They suggested this be one, two-sided bookmark. They made a variety of suggestions to be incorporated by Laurie Shedrick and Deb Begley. The committee reviewed the My Favorite Searches brochure and asked that it be reviewed with the newly redesigned OPAC in mind.

• User Groups
• Teaching Technology (April 7^th): R. Smith urged committee members to promote this event in their respective counties. The committee asked that a second instance of this event to be held in Poughkeepsie be considered.
• Sustaining Public Access Computing: K. Lustiber and R. Smith proposed a Fall 2004 users group topic that would take advantage of a recent workshop held at the PLA Conference in Seattle, WA by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on “Sustaining Public Access Computing.” K. Lustiber attended this workshop and has agreed to assist in presenting the users group. The outline of the event would include an overview of the commonly shared problems and solutions presented at the workshop; time for group discussion on the topic; a summary of solutions; publicity recommendations; and an introduction to the WebJunction.org web site.

Other: none

Tasks for Committee Members:

• Pass along performer information to M. Keefe for inclusion in the new statewide performers’ database;
• Solicit volunteers for the “On the Shelves” column in the Poughkeepsie Journal at the county directors’ meetings;
• Encourage attendance at the upcoming Marketing & Program Users Group on April 7^th

Tasks for MHLS Staff:

· R. Smith will continue to develop the Story Ideas portion of the web site;

· Staff will approach the Westchester Library System about shared PR opportunities;

· R. Smith will convey brochure and bookmark changes needed to Deb Begley and Laurie Shedrick and report back to the committee regarding the print schedule;

· R. Smith will organize a Letters to the Editor Campaign to assist in the system-wide advocacy efforts concerning the NYS budget.

Report to DA:

1) MHLS staff previewed the newly redesigned “default” web page. To be shown at the April Director’s Association meeting.

2) LSTA grant proposals for 2004-2005 were presented to the committee. The committee was in favor of pursuing:

a. Raising a Reader Emergent Literacy Project (2^nd year)

b. Your Library: Gateway to the Community (2^nd year)

3) The committee decided to suspend the “Support Our Libraries” letter campaign. A new activity will be launched this month – a Letters to the Editor Campaign. Rebekkah Smith will provide more information regarding this effort.

4) The committee reviewed the new brochures and bookmarks that will be released soon: Library Card brochure, Confidentiality bookmark, Updated OPAC documentation: Check Your Record/Request-a-Title and My Favorite Searches

5) Upcoming workshops: Users Group on April 7^th: topic of Teaching Technology in the library; Community Presentation workshop opportunities (your chance to learn how to use PowerPoint in an hands-on environment); the second users group of the year is being planned for the Fall, the topic will be “Sustaining Public Computers in Your Library.”

Adjournment
Motion: Kara, Barbara
Vote: unanimous

Handouts:
Advisory Committee Responsibilities

Health Information Project 2004 Overview

Raising A Reader Emergent Literacy Project Update
LSTA Grant Project Proposal: Extension of the Raising A Reader Emergent Literacy Initiative

LSTA Grant Project Proposal:

Chronogram Ad Text

List of Press Releases RCSL/MHLS

PowerPoint used for Marlboro School District Professional Development Day

Side By Side Newsletter

Next Meeting: Thursday, June 17, 2004