Libraries matter. at ALA in Chicago

With two new products in hand and a corresponding new order form on the website, Alliance Library System staff manned Libraries matter. display table in the Sirsii/Dynix booth in the exhibit hall at McCormick Place.

"We greeted thousands of folks who were interested in the campaign," said Kitty Pope, Executive Director of Alliance. "Many were already familiar with the campaign, so we simply answered questions about the web-based philanthropy aspect of the promotion and provided an opportunity for librarians to examine the products. We sold many promotional items, as well."

Lapel pins and self-adhesive labels were the two new items introduced at ALA. "The pins make marvelous recognition gifts for volunteers, Friends, and Board members," said Pope. "We plan to use the labels on folders at our Annual Meeting and we’re sure other libraries will have similar uses for them, since the label’s tagline invites people to 'Support your local library.'

Moments after the opening exhibit ribbon cutting, Carol Brey-Casiano was at the booth picking up a few wristbands to pass out to the Opening General Session speakers. Senator Obama accepted his blue band on stage at the conclusion of his remarks Saturday evening.

More than 6,000 Libraries matter. pocket cards were distributed by ALS staff during the four days of the conference. Each card invited librarians to join the campaign that is now in Norway, Canada, the Virgin Islands and 42 states.

There has been a flurry of hits on the campaign website and an upswing in orders since everyone returned home from the conference and found the Libraries matter. pocket cards in the bottom of their exhibit shopping bag.

"We’re well on our way to topping 80,000 with our wristband sales. We shipped more than 1,100 today. Now pin and label sales are also adding to our scholarship fund," said Pope.

Go to the website to view the new product page and place your order soon!

Libraries matter. Offers 2 New Promotional Tools in Chicago

In just a few weeks the American Library Association hosts its annual conference in Chicago. Libraries matter. will be there! Watch for us on the exhibit hall floor.

This is the only time that you will be able to purchase individual wristbands from Alliance Library System for $3 apiece or $15 for a six-pack.

We are bringing 15,000 wristbands to Chicago, so be sure to stop by the Exhibit Hall early to get yours. With 30,000+ potential customers, not everyone will get a band. But what a statement we will make in a city where it is still “cool” for adults to wear LIVESTRONG bands to work.

You will be able to post your cause to the Libraries matter. website, when you place your online order right on the Exhibit Hall floor, too. Three weeks later, your bands will arrive at your library. No need to worry about stuffing hundreds of bands into your suitcase. They will be at your library just in time for the end of Summer Reading programs, the start of school, and Library Card Sign-Up Month. Imagine the ways you can use the bands with students, teachers, and school administrators!

Several new Libraries matter. products and promotional tools will be unveiled at ALA. What will the 2 new products be? Guess you’ll just have to stop by the Exhibit Hall and find out. All I can tell you is that they will definitely fit into your suitcase.

Do Libraries Still Matter?

While it’s true that some library budgets are threatened today and we must work harder than ever to make the value of libraries known, the overall trend is toward library growth.

I’ll let the report, Do Libraries Still Matter? from the Carnegie Corporation in New York, speak for me this week.

“Libraries are thriving. Today America’s roughly 16,500 library outlets outnumber McDonald’s, and thanks in part to new and expanded facilities built to serve burgeoning suburban and Sunbelt populations, materials circulation and library visits are up sharply per capita since 1990. Indeed, the Internet boom notwithstanding, the past 15 years have been something like a golden age for new library construction, with a number of cities and suburban communities building modern new libraries.”

Wristbands' Many Roles

It's National Library Week. Several libraries have shared their plans for incorporating Libraries matter. into the week’s festivities.

Wristband as Conversation Starter:
Aurora Public Library (Illinois) hosts a "Meet the Library Board and Staff" event on Sunday afternoon. Wristbands will be on sale and post cards will be available for customers to fill out – "Why ‘Libraries Matter' to YOU." The library invites people to wear a band and start conversations about the library among friends who notice the band.

Wristband as Reward:
Several libraries are using the bands as gifts to library supporters in the community. You'll find a photo of one such library friend - East Peoria mayor, Charles Dobbelaire – in the Libraries matter. photo gallery.

Wristband as Incentive:
Businesses are stepping up to show their support for libraries by purchasing quantities of wristbands that the library can then use as incentives and prizes during school visits and Summer Reading programs.

Wristband as Customer Gift:
One organization is using the band as a free gift for orders from their catalog. For every wristband shipped they give $1 to the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Wristband as Good Visual:
The TV stations that have featured Libraries matter on the ten o'clock news, have taken footage of the bands and the sales displays at libraries. Feel free to copy the Libraries matter. logo from the website to create interesting signage. Please be sure to keep the colors and proportions and slogan "as is."

Wristband as Advocacy Tool:
Illinois librarians and Ohio librarians will take the bands to legislators in their state capitols.

Wristband as Patriotic Symbol:
In partnership with the local newspaper and in respect for local residents serving in Iraq, Galesburg Public Library is selling wristbands at $3. The proceeds will be used to send local newspaper subscriptions to the three Galesburg National Guard units serving in Iraq.

No matter which of the ideas above is used, once the bands are worn, they create an opportunity to start a conversation about a local library and its impact. The bands also point the way to the website www.librariesmatter.com and the library causes listed there.

The Strength of the Campaign – You!

I stopped by Borders this week. Nearly walked right into a five-foot tall display sign that was planted in my path at the entrance. Guess what it was promoting? – The new wristbands that went on sale just this week. The bands, for sale at Borders, support “Care” and are much thinner (and tighter on the wrist) than the “Libraries matter.” bands.

So the trend expands again!

Many organizations have the part about the wristband and the cause down “pat.” The small profit from each wristband sale goes to a specific cause.

But “Libraries matters.” does not plan to stop there. All along we’ve challenged you to think bigger than that.

“Go ahead and dream about a worthy cause that your community or school needs…and that only the library can fill,” we’ve encouraged. Then post that “cause” on the “Libraries matter” website.

Now just sit back and wait for your wish to come true. Not!

Wishing won’t furnish a library, support summer reading programs, or refurbish a library devastated by floods. Only the efforts of committed, passionate people will.

That’s where phase two of the campaign begins. We’re ready to seriously begin phase two now.

The librarians in Canton and Carthage have begun this stage. You can see their “Success Stories” about television and newspaper coverage for “Libraries matter.” on the front page of this site.

Now your action and passion are needed. Now is the time for local librarians to take the campaign to significant people in local communities. National Library Week gives us the perfect opportunity.

As you set up your media interviews for National Library Week be sure you send a wristband to all of your media contacts.

Are you planning to have the mayor sign a proclamation for National Library Week? Why not give him (or the entire city council) a wristband?

Will the daily school announcements mention National Library Week and National School Media Month? Will the school administrators wear wristbands to show their support of the library? Why not have contests in the library for students to win wristbands?

Alliance Library System has all the bases covered for maintaining the website and delivering thousands of wristbands to libraries in 35 states. But we cannot possibly have the impact that person-to-person contacts at the local level can have. The true strength of the campaign, as it reaches its peak during National Library Week, depends upon you.

Illinois librarian will show up in strength at our State’s capitol on April 13th sporting the wristbands and carrying the theme of “Libraries matter.” to our legislators – in person.

What if each of the 193 libraries that are currently in the campaign had ten people make just one personal contact during National Library Week? That’s 1,930 contacts! Or what if each of the 35,000 wristbands wearers sent just one friend to the website? Currently people from more than 800 cities have pointed their browser to the website.

Perhaps one of them will be the would-be philanthropist who eventually contributes to your library’s cause.

Stranger things have happened! Smaller ripples have generated waves of change! Ask the author of “The Tipping Point” who inspired all of this! Malcolm Gladwell, we hope you’re wearing that blue wristband a school librarian gave you at ALA in Boston in January.

Two Trends Together

Wristbands are still all the rage. Since beginning the Libraries matter. campaign in January, LIVESTRONG has sold nine million more wristbands. No indication that the trend is ebbing yet. So we continue to "ride the wave." Our sales become stronger with each passing day. March 17th was our busiest day ever with sales of 1,300+.

Libraries matter. is based upon another current trend, as well.

That trend involves philanthropy. There are indications that charitable giving is on the rise in the US.

In the March 7th issue of Business Week magazine "When Givers Get Together" chronicles the growing practice of New Economy do-gooders who wish to have more of a say in where their charitable dollars are going. So they are forming Giving Circles.

Today there are more than 220 giving circles in 39 states across the country. These new philanthropic endeavors are distinguished by their hands-on approach. One giving circle, for example, holds a monthly potluck in a member's home and donates the amount saved from not dining out - approximately $30 per person - to a cause of their choice. Other circles require members to contribute $100 to $25,000 per year to belong to the circle and gain a vote about the distribution of the circle's contributions.

A quick scan of the projects supported by giving circles indicates that some have, indeed, considered libraries as a worthy cause.

Whether or not an individual belongs to a giving circle or whether they simply wish to have greater personal control over their individual donation and its impact, the Libraries matter. website offers specific causes for libraries in 35 states.

We're sure there are individuals who believe that education or literacy are the most important cause they can support. Could one of the library causes listed on www.librariesmatter.com be a perfect match for them?

Our fondest wish is that during National Library Week, potential philanthropists and the causes on the website will be matched. This will be a win-win situation.

Literacy, lifelong learning, and Libraries matter.

The Experiment in Web-Based Philanthropy Expands

"Libraries matter." is a statement of fact, a wristband-selling campaign, and an experiment in web-based philanthropy all in one.

This is the 8th week of the campaign leading up to the big push during National Library Week!

To date, seventeen thousand wristbands have sold. The website, of the same name, received more than a quarter million hits from over 700 cities in just two months. And those figures do not include the 300+ hits per day to the RSS feeds on the site. One day the site received 24,000 hits, but on a typical day it averages 3,600 hits.

You'd think Peoria would have the most people pointing their web browsers to Libraries matter. Actually, there are ten cities ahead of Peoria in hits - Chicago and Springfield, IL; and cities in Virginia, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, California, Washington, and New Jersey. (And remember, I am reporting this before we made most of our out-of-state shipments of wristbands.)

Orders have poured in from 29 states including Pennsylvania, Maine, Oregon, Idaho, Texas, Iowa, New York, and North Carolina, to name a few. The concept of "Libraries matter." as a grassroots "model project" meant only for Alliance Library System libraries has expanded.

Two shipments of wristbands left our offices this week. They were scheduled for shipment to libraries on April 1st. ...just in time for National Library Week. So we are pleased to say that we exceeded our promised delivery date by three weeks.

Our next shipments are scheduled to go on April 6th. In the meantime, when you send your payment, you can expect to see your library's cause on the website.

"Libraries matter." will be the theme for Illinois Advocacy Day in our state capitol on April 13th. Guess what every librarian will be wearing?

The concept for "Libraries matter." is based upon an article in Business Week magazine. According to BW, the founder of e-Bay started a web-based philanthropy experiment. If it's good enough for e-Bay, we thought we'd try it at Alliance Library System.

Slowly, but surely, librarians are grasping the concept that it's not about wristbands. It's about philanthropy.

Each wristband package points people to the Libraries matter. website, where library "causes" are posted. By posting "causes" we are asking for what we need, rather than lamenting cuts or closings.

Librarians have requested help with flood recovery, new library furnishings, or the expenses of author visits. Summer reading program support is high on the list of "causes."

We will consider the campaign a true success when the first library receives a major donation for one of the causes posted.

You'll notice a section of the website that asks you to report your "Success Stories" that relate directly to the "Libraries matter." campaign. Have you received any donations from would-be philanthropists cruising the web? Let us know. We'd like to post your success story on the website.

Another enhancement of the website is the Photo Gallery. Send us any photo that you would like to add to the gallery. We suggest that for National Library Week you present a wristband to a significant person in your community, like a mayor, woman's club president, or superintendent. Send their photo along with three sentences telling why libraries matter to them. (And their permission for us to use the photo, of course. We can use titles, rather than names to protect privacy.)

We took a "Libraries matter." display to the local mall for a "Book Blast" last weekend. Librarians read stories to youngsters and provided a book stacking contest with prizes. While the kids were busy with these activities, other librarians chatted with parents and gave them a handout "How to Raise a Reader."

We hope you are having as much fun with this campaign as we are.