October is Library Snapshot Month: Zooming In on US!

by Dorcas Hand

Take advantage of the opportunity to contribute pictures of the great things you do in your library. TLA has a Flickr group (https://www.flickr.com/groups/librarysnapshotday) for just this purpose – easy to join. Let’s see if we can’t make SCHOOL LIBRARIES a major force in Snapshot Month 2015.

Which leads me to an apology – the month started a couple of weeks ago, and I’m very late with this post. Sorry. However, many of us do better with DEADLINES so here is yours: get some photos posted ASAP. You have 2 more weeks in October to make it happen.

To quote the website (http://www.texaslibrarysnapshotday.org/): What happens in a single day in your library? Snapshot Day proves that TEXANS LOVE LIBRARIES.

I also note that the official DAY is Oct. 31, but you can use any single day in October. Choose the most exciting day in your month.

The TLA Snapshot Day website (www.texaslibrarysnapshotday.org ) has all the tips you could need. It also has a QUICK SURVEY (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/snapshotday2015) that will help TLA/TASL compile some data about us all – please take the few minutes to fill it out. Compiled information is stronger when it includes more of us – and it will help both TLA and TASL, even the Texas State Library – help us plan advocacy campaigns. So, collect data and photos. Upload them. Brag on your library.

BONUS: Use the same photos to send emails to your campus & district admins as well as your school board and even your state legislators. Another 30 minutes spreading your good news will be well worth it. This is how you build a relationship with all those folks to remember when they need to decide on funding or staffing for your campus library. Have fun! Show how your students are having fun!