The LibraryYOU Project

LibraryYOU: A take on community publishing at the Escondido Public Library
Nate Hill interviewed me for the PLA blog.

Interview: Nate Hill, Web Librarian
Nate Hill was interviewed about his vision for the DPLA and mentioned helping to expand LibraryYOU.

Does digital spell doomsday for the public library?
Ken Hall of the Fond Du Lac Public Library ponders the future of libraries in the digital world and gives a shout out to LibraryYOU.

Only 3 staff members at our library are working on LibraryYOU, but all the staff needs to know about it so that they may answer questions and promote the project (and hopefully be as excited about it as we are).

Here’s what we have done to make sure all staff know what’s going on with LibraryYOU:

• Hosted a Recording Studio Open House
  Once we’d completed clearing out the office that was to become our Recording Studio and had stocked it with equipment, we held an open house one morning to give staff a tour. We bought donuts and answered questions and showed off the computers and cameras. Staff who were unable to make it were invited to schedule a tour at a time that worked better for them.
• Scripts and business cards
  I made to provide business cards and a script of how to explain LibraryYOU for staff at the Information Desk. I followed that up with an email to staff to make sure they knew the cards were there and to encourage them to tell interesting patrons who may identify themselves as a local author or expert about our project.
• Poaching presenters
  Every time I get CCed on an email about a possible program presenter, I pipe in with: “Have you told this person about LibraryYOU?” Some staff are beginning to get the idea and are making sure they extend an invitation to these folks. LibraryYOU contributors are also program presenters and vice versa. A local photographer giving a presentation on his recent trip to Uganda has been invited to turn his slides into a short LibraryYOU video. A LibraryYOU contributor has expressed an interest in giving a presentation on gardening to children at the library. Library events and LibraryYOU can benefit one another.
• Regular invitations and updates
  We have an email newsletter for staff that is sent out on a weekly basis. I make sure to occasionally include a little blurb about our latest LibraryYOU content  and invite staff to check it out.
• Screenings
  We haven’t done this yet, but we will be screening LibraryYOU videos for staff on one of the flat-screen TVs on the library floor. We hope by playing a continual loop of videos in the hour before the library opens, many staff will have a chance to stop by and catch a few videos. Probably a good idea to provide donuts again, too.

Any other ideas? We’d love to hear them.

LibraryYOU has been getting some attention on library blogs recently:

• LibraryYOU – Sharing Local Knowledge – Walking Paper

• Community (is greater than) eBooks – Justin the Librarian
• LibaryYOU shoutout – janineveazue

• The new library project – The experience of youth services in foreign libraries (Russian)

We’re happy you like our project. Thanks for talking us up!