flw - big ideas on a small budget

BIG IDEAS ON A SMALL BUDGETBrian Pichman | Director of Strategic Innovation | Evolve Project

October 16th 2013

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD….

MUST HAVE RESOURCESBefore we begin, lets start with defining a solid foundation

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE

Be A Risk TakerHave Passion and Motivation

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE ACCESS TOO

• Equally Motivated People• Volunteers• Staff • Patrons

ACCESS TOO - VOLUNTEERS

• Don’t give them “busy work”• Ex. Cleaning Books

• Give them a tangible product, that they can be excited about• Start a new program• Help setting up for an event• Ask them for INPUT

ACCESS TOO - STAFF

• Have motivated and positive staff• Staff members who want to do more than just “check in and out books”

• Staff Development Days• Get them involved with programs / decision making

• Skill Assessment• Staff members all have unique skills / hobbies

• Create badges / shirts that help identify the staff members with those specific skills

ACCESS TOO - PATRONS

• You probably know the needs of your patrons• But do you know the skills of your patrons?

• Identify which regular patrons have which skills• You will be very surprised how willing they are to help start a new program at

your library!

TOOLS YOU MAY NEED

Technology:

Buying Refurbished is OK

• 1saleaday.com

• Woot.Com

• Ebay

MARKETING!

DESIGNING YOUR SPACESSome great ideas for redesigning your space – at low costs

FURNITURE FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Maker Spaces• People pay a membership to be part of

a“MakerSpace” where the tools are provided for them to build

• Community Out Reach• Ask your community for help

• Ask local businesses to make monetary donations towards new furniture/rooms and let them advertise on it• If Fifty People Donate Fifty Dollars =

2,500 = Very Nice New Couch.

ART FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Have Patrons create your art work

Justin Hoenke – Patron Driven Art

COLORS FOR YOUR LIBRARY

• Use Bright Fun Colors

• Ask Staff to help

SHELVING IDEAS

• Find books that covers are colorful, and choose the books that coordinate with that season• Red and Green Books = Christmas• Orange and Black = Halloween

NEW CIRCULATION IDEASImprove your circulation by doing these cheap projects!

BUY USED DVDS/BLU-RAYS

• Speak to your local renting Video Store• Or Red Box Kiosk Owner

CARD CATALOG – SEED LIBRARY

COUPON SHARING

MYSTERY BAGS

THE “POP UP” LIBRARY

REWARDS

• Simple Badge / Reward System• Stickers• Cheap Prizes• Flair

• Game of Books

OFFER OTHER ITEMS FOR CHECK OUT

• Guitars• Patrick Sweeney was able to get

guitars donated for circulation• Also started a program with them

• Fishing Poles

• Pots and Pans

NEW PROGRAMMING IDEASGreat New Program Ideas

ZOMBIES

MINI-GOLF

MUSIC

• Ask your local artist to…• perform at your library• teach others how to play

• Do a “Battle of the Bands Event”

MOVIE NIGHT

• Check out Amazon for Movies• Sometimes can show a screening before movie theaters do

• Start a “Film Festival”• Encourage local talent to create or share a movie the created and play it

during the film festival

VIDEO GAME NIGHT

• Ask local Video Game stores to borrow equipment to set up a gaming night

• Ask your patrons to bring in video games

MINIATURE EVENT

A LOCK IN

Lock-In Ideas: http://tinyurl.com/otmqfuz

GARDENING SPACE

TEDDY BEAR LOCKIN

SNAPCHAT

• Have people add your library snap chat• Create a “Guess What This Is”

Game• Take a picture of something close

up• Set the timer for 5 seconds.• Allow people to post on

twitter,facebook, etc to your post

SUMMER SCHOOL?

• A library in Kankakee, IL started a summer educational program• They had limited space, and all the spots filled plus the waiting list was

maxed out

• Offered courses on Art, Math, Writing and Video• Art – Walked through the different art forms through the years• Video – Used free Claymation and used Flip Cams (Very Inexpensive

Cameras)• Math/Writing – used iPad apps to engage the participants with learning

VIDEO MARKETING CONTEST

• Chad Mairn of St. Petersburg College LIbrary• Asked the students to create viral video marketing tools• Used inexpensive Flip Cams

“We need YOU to help hype YOUR library! We are planning to video record student testimonials regarding the library's resources and services and would love your input and/or testimonial. And take the video camera away from us! Record your own tour, conduct your own interviews, or do whatever you want to help hype YOUR library.”

SOFTWARE / HARDWAREHere are some great Software / Hardware resources for you to try!

UPCOMING EVENT TICKER

• Typical cost to have an “upcoming event ticker” is in the thousands. But all you need is a • Wall Mounted TV (Buy Refurb)• A Cheap Computer (Buy Refurb)• Hook the computer up to the TV and run a PowerPoint slide show.

ZAC BROWSER

Zac BrowserCost: $0.00 + Hardware (750)

AWE ComputerCost w/ Hardware = $2500+

KURIO TABLET

Kurio Tablet: $99.99-150 iPad: $499.99

SPHERO BALL

• Engagement Tool• Drive it around Schools or other

places• Have people come to you

• Activity• Race

• Obstacle Course• Tag• Golf• Zombie Style Game

PLACES FOR HELPResources for you to help fund a little bit more!

SOCIAL MEDIA

Most of the time, try to remain positive when talking on twitter

When Asking For Things• Sell your idea to them. Don’t let them sell

their product to you. • You are picking their product to be in your

library. • Explain your market share (IE patrons, how

many visitors each day, etc)

CROWD-SOURCE FUNDING

• People across the world group together to fund new projects and ideas

• People are encouraged to donate towards “awards” based off the amount they donate.

• Kickstarter.com

• Indiegogo.com

SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES

BONUSES FOR YOUR PATRONS

• Comcast Internet Access $10 a month (Internet Essentials)• http://www.internetessentials.com

• For the folks in school, using your @edu address get:• Free Microsoft Products at www.dreamspark.com• Free AutoDesk Products at http://students.autodesk.com

• SugarSync.Com• Free 5GB Storage Space for Backing Up Your Data

• http://tinyurl.com/BPSugarSync• After signing up, decline the yearly plan and use the free plan

• If you have to filter internet / protect from web based threats• OpenDNS.com

THE FUTURE?

• Create a “Start-Up” Faire at your library• Make your library a start-up hub

Help someone start a business, and I’m sure they will help promote your library even more AND help with funding

• MARKETING!!!• Market your library. Use Social Media! Encourage users to follow and share• Encourage people to “bring a friend”• Email Newsletters – MailChimp is EASY and FREE!

• Attend as many free webinars and conferences as you possibly can• Most of these great ideas are not my ideas. These are things I heard through

conferences or just by talking to people. I encourage you to do the same!

MORE IDEAS

• Knitting Club – Get people together to knit together.

• "Sniff Off" contest with tea blends from a local tea shop to celebrate National Tea Month

• "Dog Listener" from a local kennel / animal shelter

• Library Literary Speed Dating Program:  bring 3 favorite books to talk about

• "Parkin' lot pickin'” with 20 local musicians in the library parking lot, each performing for 10 minutes

• Jigsaw puzzle exchange

• Dial-A-Story – Set up a voicemail box and read a story for patrons to call in and listen too.

• “Ask A [Expert]” Locate your community experts like Laywers, Accountants, etc and ask them to do a workshop for your patrons.

THOUGHTS?

THANKS FOR ATTENDING!

Brian Pichman

815-534-0403

bpichman@evolveproject.org

@bpichman

Be sure to tweet me and keep the conversation going