Downloading SD&T Forms for submission

If you click on a document link on the Forms page and your document opens as "View Only," there are several ways to open the document in a form that you can edit.

On the File drop down menu are two easy options.  The first is "make a copy," whereby you can save a copy to your drive. 

You can also "Download as" and save the document in Word or Excel.

Either way, you can save the document/form to your computer, and complete the forms before printing them for submission.

If you have any problems, please contact SD&T.

Working with Patrons from Poverty

Today we held another successful session of the "Understanding and Working With Patrons from Poverty" program.  For those of you who could not attend, or those who might be interested in more information on this topic, here is a link to a curated list of books on this subject:

https://www.bestmswprograms.com/50-best-books-on-poverty/

Many of the books on this list are in our collection, although some are only available as ebooks.

Other books on this topic include Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, and Evicted:  Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, which are both in our collection.

MLA 2018 - ALA Advocacy Bootcamp

I attended ALA Advocacy Bootcamp training at the MLA/DLA Joint Conference. In it, we learned the power of storytelling. There is no more effective tool in communicating the value of libraries to members of your community or to those of the political class. 

Remember – the library story is not about the books, or the computers, or the programs. Who cares? It’s about the hero journey. What keeps you in the seat at the movie theater, not counting the exorbitant ticket cost?  The answer: wanting to know what happens next. To who? The hero, that’s who. For our purposes, our hero is the library user. 

Here’s the story structure. Use it.

1)      Give me a real person.

Ex: Caiden was 3 years old.

2)      Give me the problem

Ex: He stuttered. 

3)      Give me a library intervention.

Ex: The library offered a “Read to Dogs” program.

4)      Give me a happy ending (no Greek tragedies here, people).

Ex: Caiden doesn’t stutter anymore.

5)      Give me one fact.

Ex: Hundreds of libraries offer this program.

6)      Give me a phrase that pays.

Libraries transform lives.

Other phrases-that-pay are Libraries transform communities, Librarians are passionate advocates for lifelong learning, and Libraries are a smart investment.

If you had your choice, people who actually use the library are the best advocates. Look to your Friends group or regulars who love your library and have a story to tell. The process: “Find the advocate. Give them the speech. Let them practice it with you. Book it five times in your community.”

 If you have to tell the story yourself, you now have the structure. Go tell some stories.

Morgan Stanton
Edmondson Avenue Branch