South Dakota State Library: Library Development e-Newsletter

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Practical resources available through SDSU Cooperative Extension Service

South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service (CES) provides practical learning resources to address complex problems of youth and families, communities, agriculture, business and industry. CES is part of a nationwide educational network through South Dakota State University. Teams of professional and trained volunteers teach the state’s diverse population to make informed choices and decisions affecting their lives, communities, farm/ranch operations, environment and businesses.

Our faculty and staff strive to stay relevant, responsive and efficient to serve you better. Please visit your county Extension office to learn about the local programs and services available. Also feel free to contact any of the Extension Educators or the Extension Specialists located throughout the state and the SDSU campus for any questions, educational information or programming you would like to see presented.

Programs are generally free and are available for a variety of age groups- from kids to adults!

Past topics have included: What do you do with the mad you feel – An anger management workshop for preschool parents; Science, engineering, and technology camps; Food preservation; Gardening.

If you would like to integrate one of these, or one of the many other low or no cost programs available to you, contact your County Extension office. You can find your local county extension educator here: South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service Website. Explain your needs to your local educator and they will be able to customize a program to fit you.

 

More resources in the news

Prairie Tale Competition highlights South Dakota authors and illustrators

Discover fantastic images for your presentations at Wylio, reviewed by Free Technology for Teachers.

 

What is Library Development reading?

Bite-Sized Marketing: Realistic Solutions for the Overworked Librarian
Reviewed by Jane Healy

This slim volume by Nancy Dowd, Mary Evangeliste and Jonathan Silberman is jam-packed with great marketing suggestions for libraries of all sizes. Written to be eaten as snacks, the advice goes down easily. Each section is empowered with encouragement, making marketing doable. The last line of the introduction says, “The real secret to marketing? Just try.” (pg. xi)

Marketing does not have to involve a grandiose plan. These authors recommend using intentional word-of- mouth marketing, storytelling and electronic methods that include Web 2.0 tools. Chapters on public relations, outreach, advocacy, branding and design make this book a total marketing package. The book concludes with marketing best practices.

Real-life examples, tips, worksheets and checklists fill the sidebars, special gray pages and text. Step-by-step “recipes” for each marketing approach allow librarians to proceed with confidence.

Throughout the book, the authors remind us that the customer (patron) is why we’re cooking. “The caveat is that we will not drive this new era; our customers will. Our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to reach out to our customers to help us promote libraries to existing and potential customers and to develop advocacy networks to ensure future funding” (p.2).

Once you’ve gobbled up the information, you’ll “think of every ad you see or hear as research material” (p.126). Let your staff and board grab handfuls of this book, plan together and see results. This book is available at the State Library or several other libraries in South Dakota.

Winning Library Grants: a Game Plan
Reviewed by Brenda Hemmelman

Tightening budgets and ever-shrinking sources for funding have made winning grants more important than ever before. Winning Library Grants: a Game Plan by Herbert B. Landau is a practical and comprehensive manual that guides you through grant fundamentals. Landau’s game plan will help you:

• Find relevant funders by analyzing eligibility criteria
• Write and prepare grant applications using the winning examples included, and evaluate outcomes to pave the way for success with future proposals
• Increase your chances for success by using additional tactics, such as pre- and post-submission marketing, to sell your institution to a funder

His number one rule of grant writing, “pursue only grants relevant to your institution’s mission” is emphasized throughout the book by reminders to not apply for everything out there despite the need for grant money. Changing your institution’s goals too much in order to fit a grant will only result in time being wasted. Herbert also wisely suggests that institutions create a grant resources file. This file will include information common to all grant proposals such as a description of your organization and its role in the community, IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt determination letter, latest IRS 990 annual filing, organizational chart, articles of incorporation and bylaws and many other suggested documents.

Chapter four covers finding grants and granting organizations relevant to libraries. Landau includes many examples of grant information sources and also highlights the Foundation Center and its cooperating collections. The State Library is a cooperating collection of the Foundation Center and provides the Foundation Directory Online Database for grant searching. Landau also includes samples of various forms that grant seekers may encounter.

Herbert Landau is a library director and has years of experience in marketing, managing, proposal and grant writing, and contract management. He is also the author of The Small Public Library Survival Guide: Thriving on Less (2008). Both of Landau’s titles are available for borrowing from the State Library.

 

 

 

 

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