What I didn't realise when I first began this was that by promoting the media centre, I was also promoting my own work. So many staff members at a school are unseen - teachers in their classrooms and admin staff in their offices...and librarians behind their desks.
As a result of my newsletter, I have colleagues stopping me in the staff room or in the corridors to chat about a new book, or to comment on the girls' artwork on display or to ask if I could pull out some books for a project they were working on. Students dash into the library at break times because they have just read in the newsletter that the next book in their favourite series is out, or to offer to review a book (they're always keen to see their names in print!)
Suddenly my work was visible to everyone. Sometimes this has its disadvantages when there's criticism over something I've done, but for the most part, feedback has been nothing but encouraging. It's also been a great way of keeping a running tab on what I've been doing in the library when I put together my end-of-year review. And because I often use visuals of the library in my newsletter, our marketing director has taken to posting these photos on our school Facebook page, so now my work is really out there!
What do you do to promote your work (and yourself!)?
(Below is one of my email newsletters sent out earlier this year. Note how I put the new DVDs at the bottom of the page - this means the students have to scroll through the books to get to them!)
I really like this idea, Philippa. What format do you send the newsletter out in? And do you read and review every book that you mention in the newsletters?
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Hi Nella - I use MailChimp (mailchimp.com_) - quite user-friendly. I don't review the books for the newsletter - I use their blurbs, unless there is something particular I want to say about the book, such as a recommended age or if it's new book from a well-known author,etc . I do try and read every book we get in, even if it's a skim-read, and some of our Grade 8 and 9 girls love doing reviews, so I get emails in from them every now and then, which I'll add to the newsletter.
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