Advertising the Library Project - Brainstorming

[Mickie]

Hey Everyone.

I'd like to get some input, and maybe some help from some brave soul(s) willing to put in a little phone time.

I'm trying to figure out a good way to advertise that the library project exists to librarians. I'm looking for ideas.

One idea I had was to advertise in a librarian publication. Ideally we'd get them to do a story about us, but failing that, maybe we could take out an ad?

According to 'People who know' the largest such organization is the ALA (American Libraray Association in Chicago) they have a sub-organization devoted to public libraries and they have a publication. I've tried to get in touch with them, but of coarse my lunch hour exactly matches there's making contact is proving to be a bit beyond my means (it doesn't help that it's crunch time at work). Would someone be willing to try to contact someone there? Find out if they even do ads? Maybe pitch the project to them and see if they have any advice about how to get the word out to librarians?

Or maybe we want to start out a little smaller, or go a different route altogether. What does everyone think? Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? The floor is wide open.

[atlantagirl]

Mickie,

I just browsed the ALA web site and found the page for "American Libraries" their main pub. It appears that from this page you can either place an ad or submit an article for review:

http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=alonline&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=14&ContentID=33152

[harveywhispers]

Disclaimer: I am likely confused as to the goal of this thread.

Consider this...

The story could be pitched to the librarians of America as a move by the Scaper community to promote use of local library branches by the (insert demo here). We could detail the manner in which we have chosen a program which is beautifully produced, appeals to a wide demo base and promotes reading of a variety of literature (i.e. all of those lovely pop culture references. Beyond that, we present the librarians with a fully accessible set of maps indicating EVERY library which we have Scaped. Although I don't know the numbers, I am highly willing to believe that donations by our "little" group are quickly approaching numbers worthy of larger entities.

===
I realize that this is a real spin on things, but I think that we could sell the story in this manner. Were my jounalism skills not quite so rusty, I may have even been willing to take a crack at it myself.

[VBKatLou]

I like the story idea. Also, would it be beneficial to search the web for library and librarian web sites? Perhaps we could also publish the article there. We might have better luck than getting it into a hard copy mag.

I haven't gone out to the ALA site yet. I'll try to check it out this weekend.

[akimbo]

Interesting spin harveywhispers. And besides the places we've already scaped, Mickie has a plan on approaching the rest of the libraries as well.

I like the map idea - think vikingscaper would be up for it? ;)

[akimbo]

Here's the submission information.
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/submittingal/Default604.htm

They have themes for their publication here and advertising information as well:
http://www.ala.org/ala/education/empopps/careerleadsb/2004ratecard.pdf

The themes don't seem to coincide with the spin (maybe it can be respun?)

They have banner ads for $850 a month for "single-month website exposure" (although I didn't see any ads popping out at me) and the rates page for advertising is also in the document.

I'm not a journalist (nor do I play one on TV), so you probably wouldn't want me writing the article. :flee:

We have many fine writers in our midst, though, perhaps we can coax one of them to step forward.

[Mickie]

Would anyone be willing to call around? I'd like to get an actual ala employee's ideas on what would be the best coarse of action.

If we do go the story route, I'd really like to keep the spin to a minimum. I think that what we are doing, using the libraries to promote our show, but adding value to libraries in the process is interesting/newsworthy enough. If anyone wants to write something up and send it to me, that would be great (Personally, as a journalist, I make a great computer programmer). Even if we can't get it published, it would be good to have something like that on hand.

As far as web sites, go, I was actually looked around at yahoo groups. 'Public Libraries' gave me about 300 hits. I also thought of just compiling a list of library e-mail addresses and sending them all information. The thought of doing something that spam-ish makes me rather uncomfortable.

The ala also has a sub-group for public libraries at
http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/pla.htm

[VBKatLou]

Originally posted by Mickie
The thought of doing something that spam-ish makes me rather uncomfortable.


I definitely agree.

[Shipscat]

Mickie, articles are *always* better. It's not just because you avoid the cost of advertisements, which can be considerable, but because people read articles and their eyes skim over ads.

If you've ever done any kind of community play or charity benefit or anything, you know that you get a lot more attention from an article than you do from ads. You stick your ad in the paper, or your community notice, and no one says anything..but if you get a write-up, people come up to you and start talking about the event.

[Mickie]

Yep an article would be stellar, I simply don't want to represent the project as something that it isn't in order to meet the guidelines. Thats all.

oh, and I wasn't trying to squash anyone earlier, this is a brainstorming thread and you never know what's going to spark a great idea. I just wanted people to know where I stand. Speculate and suggest away :D

[Mickie]

Poking around while the database is down. Found this site.

http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/ which sounds promising. They also list several library-related journals. I think I'll drop her a note.

[janey_13]

LibraryJournal.com (http://www.libraryjournal.com/
) is an electronic offshoot of Library Journal, the oldest independent national library publication. Founded in 1876, this 'bible' of the library world is read by over 100,000 library directors, administrators, and others in public, academic, and special (e.g., business) libraries.

Published 20 times annually, LJ combines news, features, and commentary with analyses of public policy, technology, and management developments. In addition, some 7500 evaluative reviews written by librarians help readers make their purchasing decisions: reviews of everything from books, audio and video, CD-ROMs, websites, and magazines.

Each issue reviews 250 to 350 adult books, mostly prior to publication, making it a source librarians as well as publishers turn to for early evaluations

Contact information, can be found here (http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=siteInfo&doc_id=19455&crumb=ContactUs).

Specifically:

Press Releases and News Items should be sent to: noder@reedbusiness.com

Video Reviews, Bette-Lee Fox, Managing Editor: 646-746-6802, bl.fox@reedbusiness.com

[Susana]

Reading Rainbow? Levar Burton, is, obviously, a big sci-fi fan ;), and his show is hurting. We could sponsor an episode and get our name up there, with a notice that interested libraries should contact us to get DVDs for their library.

[Mickie]

Originally posted by Susana
Reading Rainbow? Levar Burton, is, obviously, a big sci-fi fan ;), and his show is hurting. We could sponsor an episode and get our name up there, with a notice that interested libraries should contact us to get DVDs for their library.

any idea what this kind of sponsorship would cost? Why is it hurting?

[Susana]

"According to Stephen Lenzen, a "Reading Rainbow" representative, corporate sponsorships are available at several different levels of investment. Sponsors can be recognized in a variety of ways, including: 15 second underwriting messages at the open and close of each show; longer messages and corporate inserts in the VHS and DVD versions of the show; acknowledgement of support in "Reading Rainbow" promotional literature (500,000 pieces of which are mailed to schools and libraries every year); acknowledgement on both the PBS "Reading Rainbow" site and the show's own site; acknowledgement as a sponsor of the Young Writers and Illustrators Contest, the longest running writing and illustrating contest for kids offered by any network; and category exclusivity.]"

No, I don't know, but I figure a couple thousand. It's hurting because it lost funding (sound familiar?). PBS has moved to sponsor shows that can help with their funding via merchandising (Sesame Street, Between the Lions, Dragon Tales), all those shows have characters you can buy and earn money towards the production of their shows. Reading Rainbow made a conscious decision to avoid commercializing their show, so their only funding is through donors and corporate sponsors. PBS granted $2 million dollars towards Reading Rainbow this year, the smallest amount ever, and it's only enough to create 3-4 new episodes.

I would love for this campaign to sponsor Reading Rainbow is some way, and the library project seems a perfect fit. I grew up watching Reading Rainbow, and now my kids watch it. If we can support it, and help get the word out about our library efforts, that would be amazing!

[UTChick]

Janey-13, You're proposing this LibraryJournal? IT sounds very interesting. We would want to get into a publication like that one. Did they have sections on community involvement? I saw the area on reviews (DVD), but I don't know that's necessarily where we'd want to be.

I agree with what was stated earlier about being an article vs an ad. Very true about an article being read, vs an ad just being looked over if even acknowledged at all. HarveryWhispers makes a valid point about tying in the relationship between Farscape & a library. Some people would not get the connection & it should be spelled out for them.

I might be willing to make some phone calls, but I really need a clear direction of what we want the outcome of the calls to be. What questions do we want answers to?

Susana, interesting point about reading rainbow - only question - how many librarians watch the show - who would pick up on the sponsorship by FarscapeFans? What is the target of the sponsorship?

[janey_13]

Butterfly in the sky
I can go twice as high
Take a look
It's in a book
A Reading Rainbow

I can go anywhere
Friends to know
And ways to grow
A Reading Rainbow

I can be anything
Take a look
It's in a book
A Reading Rainbow
A Reading Rainbow

I also was a huge fan of Reading Rainbow growing up, if we can help them and Farscape at the same time that would be great!

[Susana]

An article about RR's pending cancellation: http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/05/29/reading.rainbow.ap/index.html

As to how many librarians watch? Well, the quote I just posted stated that print ads were sent to 500,000 librarians... so, I'd say quite a few :). Reading Rainbow is in every library, even adult university ones. This is major, but, I don't know the cost. You'd (meaning Mickie ;)) have to call Mr. Burton or his representative, and explain what we're doing (I doubt she'd have to explain who we are ;)), and see what we can do!

[Susana]

Oh, and basically, they show a 15second frame (like we did for the movie theaters), and it would read, "Reading Rainbow is sponsored by SaveFarscape.com, providing DVDs and VHS to libraries around the world. For more info, contact mickie@watchfarscape.com, or visit http://www.savefarscape.com"

Or some such. If we were in the print distribution, perhaps we'd have a little section saying, interested librarians should contact us for their free DVD.

[Mickie]

UTChick, I'll PM you a bit later.

Susana (or anyone else who might know): Any idea how long the Reading Rainbow sponsor list/ads/whatever is? And what format? If we were stuck in the middle of a list of even a couple of dozen, I wonder how many people would actually read it.

Everyone: General FYI, I want to make clear that we would have to do a separate fund-raiser for any ad we take out. The Library SPF is pretty much dedicated to the purchase and shipping of library materials, any other use would be too much of a bait-and switch. I don't think that this would be a stumbling block, just wanted to make that clear in case anyone was worried about where their donated funds were going to be going ;)

[Mickie]

Anyone interested in writing up a basic article on the library fund?

[harveywhispers]

Hmmm...

It would appear that my wicked little mind is at odds with the thread, as I really do not see my story pitch as a distortion of the facts. Perhaps it is best if I flesh things out a bit more.

It has always been my belief that our community chose the public library system for a variety of well-researched reasons.

Key to said placement was our simple opinion that librarians would be eager to place an award winning program on the shelves. Each episode carries with it emotional reprecussions, beautiful production values and a literacy which is missing from much of the entertainment scape at this time. Farscape, at its core, is an immensely accurate illustration of the struggle we each face in a world in which common ground is torn away daily.

In my estimation, we also provide a unique public service in that we have placed this entertainment in a battle-free zone for both male and female. You see, Farscape is somewhat unique in the fact that it splits nearly 50/50 on its male/female viewer numbers. Perhaps life is different for many, but I have always had a slight problem in simply agreeing on some movies/shows which males of the species may suggest when at the video store. Many perceive that a library wouldn't just carry the typical dren, and may be more likely to take a look at this "artsy" little show bing suggested by their significant other.

Finally, I do not consider it an outright lie that we have placed the series in libaries as a way in which to drive the "young adult" back int the library. It has always been an admitted goal of the library project to give each of us one place to point newbies. While it is true that we can find such individuals in all walks of life, a good many of us have found the non-Scaped at the cons we have all been working. Con attendees tend to be in the age range of 20 - 30. Hence, our placement of the DVD's + the direction of the typical con attendee to the library = driving the young adult back to libraries.

Edited to add:
If I thought that we were just putting Farscape in libraries for the sake of doing it, I would not donate money. I honestly consider the placement to be akin to a public service.

*If my computer was working correctly, I would flesh things further....it isn't...and I can't remember the other points I had hit upon.:( :(

*hw was a journalist loooong ago...*

[MediaSavant]

I did some research at work and found that the Library Journal was the place to go based on circulation to this audience.

Someone else got home before I did to tell you about it. But, it appears to be THE vehicle.

[Mickie]

HW, I was reacting more to the idea of 'Spinning the story' rather than any of your ideas (although I do think that claiming Farscape promotes reading a wide variety of literature might be streaching things a tad).

I definitely agree that putting quality tv dvds into the library is in the libraries best interest as well as ours. It's one of the reasons I feel so good about the project. Synergy, gotta love it.

MS: Thanks for the recomendation. I'll definitely be looking into it.

Everyone else, please keep the ideas coming! This is great! (Damn, now I'm going to have to get organized)

[harveywhispers]

Mickie,

I never thought that you were questioning my integrity, I was just having a bit of fun with the idea. You'll have to forgive me, I tend to like fleshing things out in a productive debate. My only goal is to show that it is all a matter of perspective.

===

Farscape itself may not "promote" the reading, but I have researched a good many references after hearing them in eps.

"Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
"Wizard of Oz"
"Freud"
"Oedipus Rex"
"Don Quixote"
"Star Wars";)
"Naked Lunch"
"The Shining"
"Les Miserables"
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - - A stretch

*"Existenz" - - not sure if this is a book

These were all taken from the top of my head, without looking back at any eps.

Edited to add:
Wanders back out of this thread....:)

Whatever is decided, I'm sure that you guys will do an awesome job!

[akimbo]

Originally posted by Mickie
HW, I was reacting more to the idea of 'Spinning the story' rather than any of your ideas (although I do think that claiming Farscape promotes reading a wide variety of literature might be streaching things a tad).

Telling the story with the librarian audience in mind (and the publications goals and themes) is all I ever meant by "spin". Can you start with one aspect of the project's benefits and still get the whole message out? (Including the part where the librarians ask the project for DVDs :ewink: )

Maybe "spinning" just has a bad connotation. To me, the project is the same for scapers at the end of the day: "get more eyeballs".

Doing it while donating to publicly available resources is really a good thing and makes it very attractive to members of the scaper community (just like the military project) because it feels so good. I don't think saying that out loud in an article is a bad thing.

Anyway, I thought the point of the thread was to try to get the attention of librarians and have them tell you that they want Farscape in their library. Doing that by finding a way to reach the librarian audience is the key (whether its paid advertising or an article).

Paid advertising could be a great choice. Get your message out, get librarians in. Articles have the benefit of being cheaper and probably reach more people than an ad.

So if the theme of the publication was community involvement. You might emphasize the fact that individual scapers are taking interest in their libraries. I don't think the project promotes reading either, but it may bring young and old eyeballs back into the library as a resource. Actually this may have been the point of CD, DVD and VCR sections originally. (A little research or a librarian might tell us that.) So if the theme was expanding the usability of the resource in the community and while you have them there, they may even read. ;D The DVD donations really serve that purpose as well.

If they were talking more about how bequests make to the library system stronger, you might lead with the donations the project made "in memory of". That's what I mean by "spin".

And so on....

I checked their themes and a natural alignment didn't pop out at me. Others may see it right away. I'm still not a writer, so I don't think I'm the best choice to write an article. But I'll help however I can if we can agree on an approach.

Edited to fix my frelling spelling.

[Mickie]

Looks like we have two brave Scapers, Blackthorn and Shipscat, who are willing to have a go at writing up an article. Thank You guys.

[BlackThorn]

Another possible angle.

I found a recent article (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA371075?display=FeaturesNews&industry=Features&industryid=1987&verticalid=151) in the Library Journal on how most public libraries across the country are facing budget cuts, and how this is hampering their abilities to buy new material. The thought of angling an article to show how the Library Project could help them gain free material (the dvds) in light of the budget cuts came to mind.

:shrug:


Edited to add: It's a current issue that most librarians are already familiar with, and we have a way to help provide a little relief for them.

[Mickie]

My e-mail appears to be down. So if anyone has e-mailed me recently, I'm not ignoring you (the e-mail server is :) )

[janey_13]

Originally posted by Mickie
Looks like we have two brave Scapers, Blackthorn and Shipscat, who are willing to have a go at writing up an article. Thank You guys.

I'm an awful writer, but I'll help proof it.