Selling Your Library

On Monday, November 16th, some of the staff attended a workshop on “Developing & Presenting the Value Proposition” by Maggie Weaver. The session was intended to help library management develop a presentation and demonstrate the value of their services.

The workshop provided the reason for developing value propositions, a formula for developing the propositions, and specific steps for presenting the pitch.

Some of the recommendations may appear obvious, such as focus on how your library service is going to “accelerate or increase gains” instead of “reducing costs.”

Other suggestions, such as “small samples” being acceptable for making conclusions, and how to measure anything, particularly services, may be new to many librarians.

If you want to know whether or not to use a pie chart or bar graph, then this workshop is right for you; it gets to this detailed level near the end.

Another upcoming workshop some of the SydneyPLUS staff librarians will be attending, if you happen to be in the area of Vancouver, BC:

Sales Techniques for Non-Sales People Seminar offered by the Simon Fraser University (SFU).

As librarians, taking courses on marketing and sales techniques can only better serve our profession. Marketing our library services has never been more important.

Every Month is Library Month

How many months, weeks, and days are celebrated by libraries? A lot. Here is a chronological list of "library months" with a bias for Canadian and US activities to limit the number:

If you feel your month is not represented in this list, which is not intended to be exhaustive, then post a comment. Clearly, we have a lot to celebrate as librarians.

With some regret, we could not find a Library Vendors' Month. Perhaps that month exists, and we simply could not find it at the top of the search results.

Has anyone created a calendar with every library month, week, and day on it?

FEBRUARY

Library Lovers' Month [Friends & Foundations of California Libraries]

There are several public libraries that seem to have a "library month in February."


APRIL

National Library Week [ALA]

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School Library Media Month

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April 13

National Library Workers Day [ALA-APA]

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April 14

National Bookmobile Day

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Banned Books Week [ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom]

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April 15

Teen Literature Day [YALSA]


SEPTEMBER

Library Card Sign-Up Month [ALA]


September 8

International Literacy Day [UNESCO]


OCTOBER

Canadian Library Month

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International School Library Month

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National Medical Librarians Month

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Fourth Monday in October

National School Library Day [e.g. British Columbia Teacher-Librarians'Association]

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Theological Libraries Month [American Theological Library Association]

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National Information Literacy Awareness Month

There are many, many more library months, weeks, and days to celebrate.