Our Bansky mouse

In the 1930s during the depression, drifters used a secret visual code to tell about the people in a house.  They would scratch a picture image on the fence to show what kind of person lived inside.  Would they be a generous person who would trade some chores for a meal?  Or would they be uncharitable?

Our Banksy mouse tells the local artists that we're into modern art.  It's a joke for the students at the art college nearby, to show we're hip and interested in the visual arts. (kids like it too)   Banksy is an amazing graffitti artist who lives in London, England.  When one of his images appears on a wall, Londoners flock to see them.  They're visually strong and thoughtfully ironic. 

If you're curious about Banksy and graffitti art, you might want to check the DVD "Exit Through the Gift Shop" out of your local library.  Tell them a little mouse sent you!

Happy bats

These cheeful bats advertised a kids' program.  Their 3rd dimension and flying off the bulletin board edge made people notice unlike yet another regular poster, and the program filled up.

More birds

A vintage bird salt and pepper collection on display

We found some great kids' drawing paper with gold frames printed around the edge.  With some coloured pencils and a sign asking for birds, we scattered the paper on some tables in the childrens' area.  Soon we were bursting with beautiful drawings!  This was the staff favourite- an owl wearing a tiara.  She won a home made cake with a shredded wheat bird nest on top.  Inside were Kinder Eggs.  The happy little girl had invited her friends over for a special tea party the afternoon she picked it up!

Just ask

All we had to do was ask.  We put up a poster and spread the word.  The library needed art.  A dozen artists lent us pieces to hang in the branch for four months.  It was supposed to be community art, but a teenage girl from a town 200 km away heard about it from a friend on Facebook.  She talked her mother into driving down with her painting because she was so excited to have somewhere to hang it. 

There are also three lovely owls.  A photograph of a snowy owl in a tree.  A lovely owl quilt for the program room.  And this fine screech owl carved from reclaimed wood and painted.

Graffiti birds

Two ideas we're playing with:

1/ branch themes to build some buzz
Our fall library system theme was arts, and there was a great course on building a birdhouse.  We riffed on that and did all kinds of bird programming.  We asked our artist customers to lend us bird paintings, and we put a collection of salt and pepper birds in the Cabinet of Curiosities.  One of the customers had a Youtube video of herself doing a bird drawing speeded up, so we burned that to DVD in a repeating loop and played it on the big TV.  We even made some bird nest cupcakes out of coconut (the only one who didn't like those was the cleaning lady)

2/ spontaneous participative activities
We put out some great drawing paper with gold frames printed around the edge for kids to draw us some birds.  We also put out some felt pens designed for windows along the ledge  in the foyer.

The two ideas came together with some sanctioned bird graffiti!  We got a whole flock of birds, a poem, an "I love books", and some random scribbles. 

More bird images to follow...

Part of the community

The community association held a community cleanup day with a give and take table, and recycling bins. (I banned my husband since he came home with a couch last year) We took some library program guides over and our excess worn out paperbacks.  The community association helped carry back 4 wood chairs and a table for our new patio!  Recycling at its finest

Enticing people in the door

Problem: how to get non users in the door?
Solution: coax them inside to buy a discarded book, and then dazzle them with a big display of new DVDs.

The sign reads, "BUY US INSIDE  And borrow a DVD while you're here"  Two DVD rental stores in the neighbourhood have closed, so we're targetting people who don't realize we loan them.
(There was no noticeable theft from the booktruck, which was locked to a bench with a bike cable.)

Beatles ear worm

Promoting a class again outside the front door with chalk- I hummed Yellow Submarine all day long

Choose yer own

We just had a festival in Calgary called Choose yer own.  I like the interactive sense.  Here's our customer engagement poster- Choose your favourite Beatle.  Drumming up a little interest in an upcoming program...

My favourite Harry Potter spells

·         Finite Siblario

Makes siblings disappear. 

·         Tome Prefecto

Picks perfect library books. 

·         Pattochip-agonam

Turns things into potato chips. 

·         Aquam Frescus

Turns water into pop. 

·         Nazz

This spell makes people’s eyebrows fall off!

·         Abra-ca-stinky coo-coo-cuss 

Make the book come to us! Kaboost!

Makes the monster book fly through the air to Lucas.

·         Odomavante

A spell to make time in the car on a road trip go by faster.

·         Carrots & peas

Peas & carrots

Make it

Disappear

For me!

It dissappears healthy choices from your plate and it takes them back to the fridge.

·         Turtorcirous

Turns anything  into a turtle.

·         Corpus Minimus (shrinking Charm)

Causes a person’s body to shrink down to a tenth of their original size. Counter.charm is “corpus regulus” causing a person’s body to return to their original size. The opposite “corpus maximus”, causing a person’s body to enlarge 10 times their original size.

·         Camophlagio Totalis

Makes me blend in case somebody wants to get me.

These were my favourites in the Harry Potter contest I wrote about earlier.  The other judges were a little more serious than me... I love the goofy ones.  I've been thinking "Nazz" when I run into irritating people.

Dumpster diving + Wifi

My neighbour upgraded to Adirondack chairs, and put these perfectly good chairs in the garbage.  My dumpster diving husband brought them home (not quite the score as the stash of gold jewelry he once found- but that's another story)  Since our library had a little empty patio at the side of the building, I put them out there.  The bonus feature is that the Wifi access extends so you can use your laptop.  Now the chairs are rarely empty.  Everyday I look outside my window to see someone sitting there enjoying the sun.

Advertising in Unexpected Places

With posters everywhere and little children in tow, most moms and nannies are too overwhelmed to see our storytime ads.  Here's a perfect spot to send our message when there's nothing else to look at!

Harry Potter Cabinet of Curiosities

Pop goes the library!

There’s a great book called Pop goes the library that discusses ways to use customers’ interest in pop culture at the library.  Knowing the impending interest in Harry Potter because of the last movie, we created the Harry Potter Cabinet of Curiosities.  In a garage sale cabinet, we displayed memorabilia from three staff members.  There’s a spell contest to invent a new spell to win Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.  There have been 26 entries in the 3 weeks the display has been up.   Stay tuned for the winning spells!

The ease and appeal of chalk

The quickest way to promote an upcoming program is to drag out the sidewalk chalk and do a little advertising on the pavement outside the front door.

Fun way to advertise a contest

This MARC record advertises a Harry Potter contest held at our library.  It appeared in the catalogue during the duration of the contest, during the peak of Harry Potter nostalgia when the last movie was released.

The Monster Book of Monsters : [which you can win by visiting Riley branch!]

Title:

The Monster Book of Monsters : [which you can win by visiting Riley branch!]

Variant title:

Harry Potter's Monster Book of Monsters

Publication info:

Calgary : Riley Branch, c2011.

Physical description:

58 p. : noisy, may bite fingers.

General Note:

This toy book from "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" can be won by submitting a name for a new spell at Louise Riley branch. Two runner up prizes are a Chocolate Frog and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Come check out our Harry Potter cabinet of curiosities!

Held by:

RILEY

Added author:

Flourish & Blotts

Make it Fun!

Calgary has a tradition of painting cartoon cowboys on commerical windows during the Calgary Stampede.  Fresh from the royal wedding, Kate and William are visiting Calgary, and the city is enthusiastic.  My husband did the drawing and I painted by number.  I added the corgi and a Banksy rat too.  We used tempera paint sealed with hair spray.  The best part is that when the automatic door opens, Will walks behind Kate!