It's a sticky subject in the library world: is it appropriate for public libraries to charge a fee for patrons to participate in programs?
I'm not trying to take sides, but rather illuminate some of the reasons why libraries might charge fees and to start what I hope will be a productive dialogue about this emerging dilemma.
My library is in the tiny town of Fenton, Iowa. To garner a bit of perspective about just how tiny we are talking, the nearest gas station is 13 miles away, groceries and job opportunities are 30 miles, and we are equal distance from Des Moines and Minneapolis/St. Paul, which will take you 2.5 hours of interstate, if you don’t stop to see the sights.
No school in town. No elder care facility. No bustling main street. Remote, yet we still pursue quality programming.Â
At a small, rural library with no paid staff, one person (me) is in charge of all library operations: collection development, program implementation and marketing. I make use of as many free resources as I can to keep our library relevant.
In this webinar, Chelsea Price (Meservey, Iowa) discusses fun, easy and cost-effective programming ideas drawn from her ALA Editions book "209 Big Programming Ideas for Small Budgets."
Participants in this session will hear ideas for outreach, marketing, fundraising, partnerships and more.
Toot, toot! Do you hear that? That’s the sound of me tooting my own horn. Not something I love to do, but I’m doing it anyway because … I wrote a book! It was not easy, and toward the end I never wanted to look at the manuscript again. But now that it’s here, I’m pretty excited about it and wanted to share it with you.
Seeking out and applying for grants is time-consuming work, but the work really begins long before you start drafting that budget narrative.
Below are a few things you can start doing today that will make your next grant-writing endeavor go more smoothly (and, we hope, successfully).
When Palos Verdes Library District was charged with creating a large-scale, grant-funded program series for older adults, we knew we would have to be at the top of our marketing game. After all, big programs call for big marketing.Â
As much as we love fliers and posters, we knew that this time, they weren't going to meet our marketing needs. Your marketing plan really needs to match the size and amount of programming you’re doing, and it needs to be tailored to the audience you're trying to reach.
In last month's post, "8 Ways to Save Money on Programming in a Tiny Library (Part 1)," I offered four strategies that have helped me stretch my small programming budget to its limits. I talked about looking to friends and family for free programming; tapping resources in your community; partnering with other organizations; and turning your own passions into programs.
Meservey, Iowa, is tiny — fewer than 250 residents — and the library’s budget is tight. Despite this, the Meservey Public Library has managed to triple its program attendance in the past few years and create many memorable, budget-friendly events.Â
Drawing on her experience as director of the Meservey Public Library, Chelsea Price will share ideas for hosting "big" programs on a small budget and discuss how partnerships can be an invaluable resource for programming.Â
Participants of this session will:
I believe in the value of public programming, and I derive great satisfaction from both attending and planning them. Therefore, I was excited to be asked to speak at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference about “Creating Dynamic Programs and Events at Your Academic Library.” When an unavoidable conflict took away this opportunity, I opted to share my firsthand knowledge via the secondhand means of a video, available here.
