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Marketing Guide: Outreach

For staff, a marketing libguide where all marketing tools and information can live.

Community Contacts

Lois Bronze Children's Center (2017)
Tanya E. Johnson
Director of Education
761-5461 ext. 320
tjohnson@lbcc4kids.org

TDYCC (2021)
Dave Reginna
Director of Programs
914-989-3610
Dreggina@greenburghny.com 

Chelsea Senior Living Facility
Linda Peters
917-833-9115

Resources

The Mayor's Guide
A set of strategies for engaging with the community

Project Outcome
PLA Toolkit for Measuring the outcome of community engagement, economic development, lifelong learning, etc. 

Outreach - Best Practices

Genie's Outreach Experience and Recommended Best Practices
As the digital experience librarian most of my outreach visits are geared to training patrons on using our digital collections. I visit assisted living facilities on a regular schedule.
 
A. Supplies & Equipment
  1. Rolling crate to pack and transport your supplies. It's essential to have a cart with a lid.
  2. Computer Equipment
  • A laptop
  • A hotspot - this is good because I don't have to share a wifi connection, giving me great response time. Most locations have a guest network, but the password is changed frequently. It's a waste of precious time to get the new password.
  • iPad Pro
  • 1 Surge Protector with an 8' cord and 4 AC Outlets and 4 USB Ports
  • 1 USB A wall chargers 
  • 1 USB C to USB A Cable (6ft)
  • 1 Android to USB Cable (6ft)
  • 1 Apple Lightning to USB A Cable (6ft)
3. A small loose leaf notebook.
This is very helpful because I see mostly seniors who forget their usernames, passwords, library cards, etc. I also keep track of my own demo library cards and demo account info.
4. Handouts
Current calendar, library card applications, digital collections brochure, welcome to the library handouts, and any program flyers I think will be of particular interest
5. Business cards, umbrella
6. General Office supplies - pens, post-it notes, staples, paperclips, rubber bands, etc.
7. GPL pens/stylus - these are super important for me, seniors really benefit from the stylus. The last batch of pens were purchased from Janway. The pen feature is very cheap and often fails. We should find a better product in the future.
8. Sign holder - I use this for visits to the MPC or Town Hall. Places where people might just be passing by and don't know who I am and what I'm doing.

I have storage bins to hold all these items and the bins if in the crate.

B. Visits
My outreach visits to the assisted living facilities are more like home visits. I get to know individuals and they come back to see me often. I also offer one-on-one appointments to these patrons here at the library.
For my one off visits, I used to bring several library tablets and set them up with different digital collections, like a salesperson. I don't have most of those tablets in my office anymore.
 
Summary of my pre-covid visits:
  • Town Hall. This was a very successful visit because I helped town employees and they spread the word about the value of the library.
  • Library lobby and Children's library. I did this when we had a popular evening program.
  • Large coop apartment complex. I can't remember the name of it, but the bookmobile used to visit. I had one patron, but I was visiting during the work day, a weekend visit might be more successful
  • Assisted Living Facilities - The Knolls (my most successful visit) and Brightview. The interest from Brightview was mostly from the health aids.
  • TDYCC - this was a tricky place. During the day it was mostly seniors, who were not very interested in digital library services. In the evening the kids and their parents are at the Center, but they are very busy doing drop offs and pickups. I might try to go back and see the employees, like at Town Hall.
  • Back to school night at Highview with Joanna - this was very successful. The school was mobbed with parents, I was able to help Joanna, and gave out many Tutor.com flyers to parents. I would definitely do this again.
  • Presentation on Tutor.com - for staff at RJ Bailey and at Greenburgh central to department heads. I thought this was somewhat successful, but there wasn't much follow up from the teachers.
  • Health Center - there wasn't much interest here, people were focused on visiting the doctor, however, I think dropping off a copy of the children's event flyers, calendars and a collection of books in the pediatric waiting room would be beneficial. This location needs Spanish language materials about the library.
  • Newcomer's Reception - this is a very important event.
Pre-Covid, I was planning a visit to Regeneron, the big pharmaceutical company in Greenburgh, but Covid hit just a week before our planned visit. At the time Regeneron had a staff farmer's market once per month. The library was offered a table at that event. If they start the farmer's market again I will try to get a visit scheduled.
 
C. Coordinating with other departments
It's very helpful to let the circulation department know that I'm going to do outreach. When someone does not have a library card I want to get them a card at the moment to keep their enthusiasm going. I call circulation and have them issue a card on the spot. I also call the circulation department because many patron's need their pin reset or their card has expired, etc. Adrianna handles online applications. She is always willing to give me support. If she's not available I talk to Laura.
 
D. Scheduling
When you schedule an outreach visit submit a yellow out of building form. Add some time for travel and setup/breakdown at the beginning and end of your outreach schedule. Consult with Kathy about managing your time clock punches.
Plan on spending time after your visit for unpacking your cart, restocking supplies, and followup with your colleagues and the patrons you met. I frequently come back to the office with questions from patrons that I need to research. I also like to get back in touch with the person at the facility to share and receive feedback.
 
D. Future plans
  • Visit the new assisted living facility near TDYCC. I just learned about this place. I don't know if it's even open yet.
  • Visit to The Chelsea. Linda did not seem very interested in regular visits, but I'm going to follow up with her soon. Even if the residents are not interested, the health aides and visiting family members might want library service.