Never Hurts to Ask

So I was sitting down to write a blog post, and I was thinking that I didn’t have too much to write about. But, then I took a look at my calendar, and I realized I had done a whole bunch this week.

Ka-Boom was this Monday, and it was encouraging to get a full group again. Last month, we only had 4 kiddos, which kind of scared me. Do they not like the program? Did I not let people know? But, having 10 people again this month told me that last month was a fluke instead of the rule, and I like that.

We also did a slightly different set-up this time. Instead of doing a bunch of experiments, I just had some things set out, and the kids could experiment with them as they wanted to. There were some books to search through, a potato and a hammer to experiment with balance, and a microscope. Kids still seemed to enjoy it, and mixing things up is always fun.

On Wednesday I went to a workshop. The Inland Northwest Council of Libraries does an annual workshop, and this year it was on creating customer experiences. David Lee King, the Digital Branch & Services Manager at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library (kind of a mouth full), was the presenter. He had some great ideas on using your website and your building to create a better experience for our customers; you. In addition to his great ideas, David encouraged us to think about the material being covered, so my mind was stewing on how I could take his suggestions and make them work for my library.

Another aspect of my week was promoting our summer reading programs. Last week, I sent out an email to some of my contacts at the schools, and several of them have gotten back to me on ideas to promote summer reading. I guess it never hurts to ask, because you might actually get what you ask for.

One idea was creating video spots for video announcements at the schools. For one school, I’m creating the spot, but for another school, the video production class is going to create the spot. So, to give them the idea, I got to discuss my programs with some middle school video makers on Thursday. It was exciting to be in the schools, and to know that a whole bunch of kids are going to be hearing about the programs through the announcements.

That’s about all for this week, so I’ll catch you later.