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Keeping up the Good Fight
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Keeping up the Good Fight
1:13 PM EST 3/23/05
I wanted to pass on this interesting article I read recently in the 3/15/05 issue of Library Journal. It's called "The Good Fight" by Anne Marie Gold of the Sacramento Public Library. I recommend everyone read it to hear some great war stories regarding referenda. There is an interesting table of information of building referenda that passed or not in each state for 2004. The link is at: <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA509760">http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA509760</a>
Enjoy!
Max
Re: Keeping up the Good Storytelling!
1:16 PM EST 3/25/05 as a reply to Max Anderson.
Thanks, Max, for pointing us to this good information resource. While not all the news is good in this article's summary, it is encouraging to read that "America's voters continued to support libraries at high rates ..."

This bit caught my attention:
"A notable new trend that surfaced for the first time this year is the use of web sites to reinforce campaigns." Take a look at the example given for the [url http://www.yeslibrary.org/ ]Georgetown Library fundraising campaign[/url].

The March 2005 issue of American Libraries has a good article titled "Fundraisers R US" about a library that brings in $225K annually in addition to municipal funding. This topic really belongs in the Plural Funding discussion (with potential pro's and con's), but the part I want to emphasize here is this notion:
"One of the benefits to constant fundraising --besides the influx of money-- is that it creates endless opportunities to tell your story." !!!

This theme of telling your story to your community is reflected in the LJ article section on "The Message Matters." "How libraries told their stories to voters had an influence."

Keep telling those success stories - no matter how big or little. Tell them here and tell them to your community in a creative variety of ways.
Re: Keeping up the Good Storytelling!
9:28 PM EDT 4/19/05 as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
I'm hoping that this is the start of a long thread of library funding success stories. I have my radar tuned to them as an antidote to all the "death of the library" dirges that keep tolling.

This one is in the April issue of American Libraries. "Success the Second Time Around" tells the story of a small Colorado town that broke ground on a new 31,000 sf library on April 2nd, pulling off the $7.4-million bond issue with 59% approval after an earlier defeat. The author looks like just the kind of enthusiast who knows the best recipe for "library lemonade."

The article is peppered with good ideas and suggestions for conducting a successful campaign. Visibility is key, especially with library supporters, who tend to "use the library as a solitary activity" and therefore don't have the cohesive voice of other interest groups. "Person-to-person contact turned out to be key." In contrast to the trend noted above about online campaigning, the Louisville PL did not have a website -- they succeeded on the 'keep it simple' principle.
Re: Keeping up the Good Storytelling!
10:26 AM EDT 4/21/05 as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
Awesome Betha! Thanks for posting this.
Max
Re: Keeping up the Good Storytelling!
5:07 PM EDT 4/23/05 as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
Library success stories seem to be sprouting up all over. Is it just because it's spring? Or is it that, once I 'tuned my radar' toward success and away from doom-n-gloom, these stories are coming into my focus?

This one is from the UK. [url http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1468358,00.html ]New libraries turn tide of decline[/url] affirms the idea that "the decline in library use is the result of financial neglect rather than an inexorable flight from reading." The concept of the library in England is being reinvented and freshly funded.

The Gosport Library, Hampshire, is promoted as the [url http://www.discoverycentres.co.uk/ ]Discovery Center[/url], a space that combines traditional library services with "associated learning opportunities and facilities, including local history zones, museums, art galleries, free internet access, and cafés."

Weekly user-figures have increased as much as five-fold since reopening. "More than 1,000 members joined in the first month, 40% of them under 17. Sessions on the centre's increased internet terminals have risen to 4,700 a month compared with about 2,000 in the old library."

It's not clear to me where the funding came from for Gosport's ~$4m rebirth, but the project seems to be primarily government driven.