{"id":21074,"date":"2019-05-19T22:12:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T02:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=21074"},"modified":"2019-05-19T22:12:48","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T02:12:48","slug":"revisiting-your-summer-elevator-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2019\/05\/revisiting-your-summer-elevator-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting Your Summer Elevator Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memorial day is around the corner, and for those of us who work in children\u2019s services at public libraries, this means Summer Reading. Traditionally, summer is a time we encourage children to read (often for prizes), \u00a0help children meet their page-total goals, and ramp up our child-centered program offerings. It\u2019s one of the most fun, exhausting, and rewarding times of the year to be in this field. Because of this focus in children, it\u2019s also an excellent time to advocate for services to children and their families. We have a myriad of positive stories to share, as discussed in a<\/span> blog post<\/span><\/a> from last summer, and often a willing and eager audience in the many families that visit our libraries. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sharing our stories is vital. \u00a0It is even more vital in light of the 2018 OCLC report <\/span>From Awareness to Funding<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the report, \u00a0the belief that \u201clibraries just aren\u2019t as important in kids\u2019 lives as they once were\u201d has risen from 24% of respondents in 2008 to 36% of respondents in 2018. \u00a0In the same vein, those who see the library as \u201can excellent resource for kids to get help with homework\u201d has fallen from 71% in 2008 to 51% in 2018. <\/span><\/p>\n

The rise in the perception of the library\u2019s irrelevance to children\u2019s lives is startling. \u00a0We are still providing the essential services we were a decade ago, and expanding our offerings and partnerships all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my library, and libraries across the country, we don\u2019t simply offer readers advisory and prizes during the summer. We have free snacks and lunches, free tutoring, and free camps on top of our more traditional programming. These initiatives provide children most in need access services traditionally filled by schools when those schools close for break. \u00a0We are meeting a vital need in the community. Feeding children who would go hungry is not irrelevant or unimportant. It is quite the opposite. <\/span><\/p>\n

We know our services are just as vital as they ever were. So how do we lower that 36%? \u00a0\u00a0One ways is through summer advocacy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before you dust of your trusty Summer Reading elevator pitch, be sure to look at the breadth of services you offer and the positive outcomes those services have for children. Summer is not simply about books and reading goals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Everyday Advocacy<\/span><\/i><\/a> has a great formula for an elevator speech. You can find it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI help [target audience] [verb phrase] at the library so that [proven\u2019expected positive outcome for target audience.]\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When someone at the grocery, park, or community council meeting asks \u201cwhat do you do,\u201d don\u2019t just say \u201cI\u2019m a children\u2019s librarian.\u201d Talk about some of the amazing programs and services your will be offering your youngest patrons this summer. Try \u201cI help children get a nutritious meal in order to combat childhood hunger and thus lessen the summer achievement gap.\u201d \u00a0Practice your elevator speech. Summer will be here before you know it, and, if your library is anything like mine, you won\u2019t have a shortage of fantastic initiatives about which to speak. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bridgid Gallagher-Sauter, Advocacy and Legislation Committee<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Memorial day is around the corner, and for those of us who work in children\u2019s services at public libraries, this means Summer Reading. Traditionally, summer is a time we encourage children to read (often for prizes), \u00a0help children meet their page-total goals, and ramp up our child-centered program offerings. It\u2019s one of the most fun, exhausting, and rewarding times of the year to be in this field. Because of this focus in children, it\u2019s also an excellent time to advocate for services to children and their families. We have a myriad of positive stories to share, as discussed in a blog post from last summer, and often a willing and eager audience in the many families that visit our libraries. Sharing our stories is vital. \u00a0It is even more vital in light of the 2018 OCLC report From Awareness to Funding. \u00a0 According to the report, \u00a0the belief that \u201clibraries…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[270,102,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-advocacy-and-legislation-committee","category-summer-reading","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}