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Present: Greg Crews, Phyllis Davis, Deb Haeffner, Jane Jorgenson, Peggy Kindschi, Kim Ropson, Gloria Rosa, Barb Sanford.

1. Approval of minutes

The minutes of the March 14, 2003 meeting were approved as written.

1a. Introduction

SCLS Associate Director Phyllis Davis was introduced. She explained that she and SCLS Director Peter Hamon had been working with Barb Sanford on a redesign of her position, which is now divided into 3 parts: advocacy, communications and PR/marketing (databases, SCLS products). Priorities stem from the member-driven SCLS long-range plan, which calls for an annual marketing plan that includes library marketing events. Committee activities must also be based on the plan.

2. Library marketing survey

A survey will be sent to member library reference and children’s librarians asking how the system has done in marketing its electronic products and if they have used the publicity materials and tools we’ve provided. We will target specific libraries (small, medium, large, resource libraries, branches, etc.). We will also ask what else they would like the system to provide them. Barb will draft the survey and share it with the committee before sending it out.

3. Marketing of electronic databases & services

The annual marketing plan and how we should market AskAway, LRC, netLibrary and RefUSA were discussed. What library needs are (training, etc.) was then discussed. It was felt that the public should know about libraries and their services. Giveaways at county fairs were mentioned. Product factsheets will be produced. Peggy will give out AskAway items at Carriage Day in Columbus. She will also promote the service in her newspaper column.

Jane proposed off-hours on-location training at member libraries. The wireless lab could be used. SCLS will consider this. Partnerships with Chambers of Commerce were discussed. Portage, Middleton and Monona had RefUSA business breakfasts at Chamber meetings. Deb mentioned that publicity and press kits for AskAway and RefUSA contained color pieces; a special effort was made to promote these products.

Training and how it is used were discussed. Phyllis pointed out that librarians didn’t buy into WorldCat and netLibrary and asked how we can solve this. Gloria said that time was a big factor; librarians are overwhelmed. She suggested presenting programs at county meetings. Phyllis noted that LRC training is offered several times a year.

Kim asked how to deal with the media when approached and how to approach schools. A possible workshop on the media and PR basics will be discussed. It was agreed that we must have fresh, new ideas to promote things differently. Testimonial soundbites are effective. Jane said that if the media are interested, they will respond. The product must click with them. Phyllis noted that an ongoing relationship with the media and having online information for them are important. We must promote both library and remote products.

Greg talked about the importance of the system and its cost-effective services and products. We want the public to know about this. Deb suggested advertising electronic product logos on our Delivery trucks. Online templates for calendar announcements and news releases were suggested, along with recommending different types of events for different times of the year.

4. Evaluation of existing pieces

There was no discussion of existing PR folders and NLW placemats.

5. Review new materials

SCLS bookbags were discussed. Barb held up the Mid-WI 4-color bookbag that the committee had wanted to emulate and distributed a draft of the copy for it. It was decided that member libraries have their own bags, which we would not want to compete with. We would also have to order a large quantity to get a substantial discount, which would involve making a large upfront investment.

6. Other business

None

7. Next meeting

The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Friday, September 12, 2003 at SCLS Administration, Room B.

SCLS Public Library Advisory Committee
10 a.m. Friday, March 14, 2003
SCLS Administration, Conference Room C

Present: Pat Chevis, Greg Crews, Phyllis Davis, Deb Haeffner, Peter Hamon, Jane Jorgenson, Deb McCabe, Gloria Rosa, Barb Sanford.

1. Introductions

SCLS Director Peter Hamon and Associate Director Phyllis Davis were introduced.

2. Committee Charge

P. Hamon reviewed the System Plan, the role of PLAC, and the mechanism for committee elections. The committee charge drawn up by B. Sanford was reviewed and accepted. PLAC must now officially accept the charge. There is no elected place for Board members, but G. Crews can be an ex officio member of the committee. Rather than have representatives from all member counties, libraries of different sizes will be represented. The election process, with one vote per library, will be held at the beginning of 2004.

P. Chevis recommended putting out a list of committees that people are on and post in on the SCLS Web site. The voting process was discussed. Member libraries, not persons, are elected.

3. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the September 27, 2002 meeting were approved as written.

4. PR/Marketing Plan

Marketing of the System’s electronic databases and ideas on what committee members can do were discussed. It was decided that the databases should be pushed at their libraries. A timeline for the year was reviewed and sources of where to market reviewed. P. Chevis suggested asking the libraries how they want the committee to help them. D. Haeffner commented that the System does that and that the committee should brainstorm various options. It was felt that the marketing plan should promote the budget, be issue-based and provide a framework for activities. G. Rosa brought up fundraising ideas, providing 4-5 big ideas for Friends, etc., with a tool kit containing samples on different issues for teaching and empowering libraries: a checklist to revitalize Friends groups, publicity message, program checklist, etc. It was suggested that we ask the libraries what they want 2-3 times a year.

5. PR Folders

J. Jorgenson will submit information on Cookie Month. G. Rosa sent information on Hobby Month, and P. Kindschi will submit something on Family Fun Month. A question on whether the folders are used could be added to the "what libraries want" survey. G. Rosa suggested adding an online calendar to the SCLS Web site. The YS and professional pages could be promoted on the calendar. G. Crews recommended sending out a reminder to check the calendar and PR folder for events to publicize.

6. Culver’s Program

An update on the Culver’s "Draw a Picture for National Library Week" program was given. This year’s theme is "Celebrate @ Your Library!" Everything is in place for an Apr. 1 start. K. Stabo is doing an excellent job as program coordinator. The program is now sponsored by the WLA PR Committee.

7. NLW Placemats

D. Haeffner and B. Sanford commented that the placemats are a large job for the MPL printer. Approximately 60,000 were requested, and he doesn’t have time to print them. They are still being printed. P. Chevis suggested charging for them beyond 2,000 free placemats, per our normal policy. A 4,000 cap would be instituted. D. Haeffner will determine the charge. A backup proposal is sending libraries a master to have printed. Senior centers and nutritional sites were mentioned as possible venues for the placemats in addition to restaurants.

8. Other Business

A survey asking questions about the PR folders, placemats, Culver’s, etc. was proposed. LINK publications were reviewed and recommendations made. Samples of plastic bags were looked at. The committee liked Mid-WI’s 4-color bag with a map and list of services. SCLS will design a similar bag. Libraries will buy them and can then sell or give them away. We will aim for an October distribution date.

9. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Friday, June 13, 2003 at SCLS Administration, Room B.

Joint Meeting w/WLA PR Committee
10 a.m. Friday, September 27, 2002
SCLS Administration, Conference Room C

Present: Greg Crews, Jane Jorgenson, Peggy Kindschi, Gloria Rosa, Barb Sanford, John Thompson.

Joint meeting with WLA PR Committee:

2. Culvers ’03 Program

Kris Stabo volunteered to be the new coordinator for the Culver’s program. John Thompson reported that the library PSAs being produced by DPI will not have a Culver’s connection. The theme of the 2003 program was discussed. "Celebrate! @ Your Library" was selected. Posters and entry forms will state: "Celebrate your favorite book by drawing a picture about it. It can be a character, event or scene–or anything you liked in the book." Kids could celebrate NLW, special events & holidays, birthdays, books, etc. YSS will again produce the bookmarks, which SCLS will print (4-color, per evaluations). They will have self-esteem ("celebrate yourself"), USA, birthday and holiday themes. The program will now be for kids 10 & under. The front of the entry form will have two lines for the title and author of the book on which the drawing is based. The copy on the back of the entry form will have larger logos and be moved to the middle of the page to avoid confusion with the drawing side. The poster will say "April 2003" and could have a confetti, party hat and balloon design in keeping with the theme. Barb Sanford will contact Culver’s re: items offered next year and if a book donation will be made. She will also contact ALA re: posters. All publicity will be online at the WLA Web site for easy access.

PR Advisory Committee meeting:

1. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the June 25, 2002 meeting were approved with one correction, the correct spelling of Peggy Kindschi’s name.

3. PR/Marketing Plan

The committee’s PR/Marketing Plan was reviewed and accomplishments checked off. Barb Sanford will present a report to PLAC at its 10/3 meeting. There is a need for a CE on marketing plans (how to take an idea and carry it out). Barb stated that this was a choice on the CE ballot. A SCLS coordinator to set up program series (example, Small Business Administration speaker) at a group of libraries was requested. Ideas could be generated at county meetings, which Barb could attend. Libraries could be emailed re: interest and available dates. SCLS would produce posters and news releases. A listing of special events (not storyhours, etc.) at all member libraries on the SCLS Web page is wanted, with links to the libraries’ Web pages. Libraries would submit this information to SCLS.

4. NLW Placemats

The placemats are popular, except at MPL. Candace Gallant, the children’s librarian at Mt. Horeb, designed the placemat last year. Barb Sanford will ask her if she would like to do it again. If not, it was suggested that a volunteer designer be sought via kidslist and that a sample of this year’s design be sent as an attachment.

5. PR Folders

The PR folders will be part of the survey sent to member libraries. They will be asked if they are using the folders. The following highlighted ’03 events will be added: National Hobby Month (Jan.)--Gloria, Family Fun Month (Aug.)--Peggy, and Cookie Month (Oct.)

--Jane, Persons responsible for each event will submit information to Barb by Dec. 1. The information will be posted on the SCLS Web page.

6. Other Business

Peter Hamon suggested that a PR campaign could be done to have people buy a book and donate it to their library. They would be eligible for a tax writeoff and a bookplate with their name would be placed in the book. Gloria Rosa gave an example of a local man donating money to the library for the purchase of books and a newspaper contest encouraging kids’ reading. It was suggested that posters be produced listing what libraries want and asking for dollar or book donations, also in memoriam donations.

7. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Friday, March 14, 2003 at SCLS Administration, Room C.

SCLS Marketing & Public Relations Advisory Committee
10 a.m. Tuesday, June 25, 2002
SCLS Administration, Conference Room C

Present: John Thompson, Peggy Kinschi, Jane Jorgenson, Barb Sanford, Deb Haeffner, Deb McCabe (by phone)

Not Present: Kim Ropson, Gloria Rosa, Greg Crews, Dan Calef (resigned from committee), Pat Chevis, Carol

1. Minutes from September 13, 2001 meeting approved.

2. Culver’s Coloring Contest Program:

Barb S. met with Culver's on Monday, June 24, 2002. This year’s program had 8026 participants. We were given copies of the evaluation responses. They were generally favorable.

This year SCLS received a $5000 grant from Culver’s to cover the additional costs because of budget concerns and because we went statewide. Culver’s has issues with this and wanted to know what the grant actually covered (printing, art, what?) They have given us a check to cover our costs. However, this year we did not receive the money from Culver’s to purchase ALA posters or books as we have in the past. They want us to stay within the $10,000 budget, as they are unlikely to give another grant in 2003.

Because of the cost and amount of work this project requires, we are not sure if Peter Hamon will allow us to coordinate this project in 2003. Barb asked John T. to ask the WLA PR committee if they would be willing to take over the program in 2003.

Culver’s was generally happy with the program and received lots of good press because of it. Next year the new prize option will be a lunchbox that costs $2 more than the backpack. They also suggest we change the age range to 10 years and younger because the prizes better suit that age range.

WLA is doing a series of PSAs that we may be able to piggyback the Culver’s program onto since it promotes libraries without asking people to come in and use the library. With the budget concerns, the libraries are cautious about asking people to come to libraries when they may not have the staff to handle them.

3. PR/Marketing Plan:

Barb wants to test her PR/Mktg. Plan on libraries. John volunteered to be a test case with an emphasis on promoting a new building. Peggy said she’d be interested in that as well, but not in business partnerships at this time.

Barb asked us to look at the PR Guidelines. Committee members felt that we’ve met many of the goals and objectives listed.

"Ephemera" was discussed and it was decided that PR tips would be great–much like Tech Tips Stef sends out. Many consultants are sending their own ephemera and it may remain that way. Members would like to receive PR Ephemera at least once a month, more if pertinent.

4. NLW Placemats

We will ask YS members to design the artwork for the placemats and begin the printing process in November or December, if possible, to give the printer a break in early 2003 as it corresponds with SLP printing.

Diana from Marshall felt there should be more advocacy info on the placemats. It was decided it was a piece geared to children and advocacy didn’t belong there. Also, advocacy was a local issue. We will continue as we did this year.

5. PR Folder

Jane brought National Geography Awareness Week (third week of November) information/ideas to add to folder.

Barb asked if members were using the folder. John suggested maybe sending out a survey to system members to see if and how they were using it and if they wanted to contribute new ideas.

6. Other Business:

CE Topics: We were asked if there were any suggestions for CE programs in 2003 to consider.

John suggested a program on creating individual marketing plans, as it seems hard to find examples of them, anywhere. (Appleton PL has their marketing plan on their website) John recommended Peggy Barber as a possible presenter, having attended her program at WLA. He said the notes were on the WLA PR website. There are also examples of press release and other forms on the web.

It was suggested that Deb H. do a presentation on what SCLS can do for libraries and give examples of color laser and press options. The committee would lso like restrictions on software she can use or how to submit requests.

It was also suggested we put marketing on a training track with beginning to advanced marketing how-tos.

Next meeting: Joint meeting with WLA PR Committee in September 2002. Date & Time to be decided.

For more information about the Marketing & PR Advisory Committee, contact Mark Ibach.

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