What's on @ my library Fall 2010

A long time ago, I made a few cryptic references to plans for programming and outreach at Rideau. I am still working on a few things for the future (business and legal aid workshops, job workshops for teens, a "how do you get your news?" panel) but a few things have come to fruition for Fall 2010.

If you're interested, you can see our fall flyers for Rideau events here.

I've been thinking very hard about how we promote events over the summer. Our events are on our library's webpage, of course, and in our print library magazine, Preview. Over the past few years, I have commonly brought event flyers to local businesses, including Loblaws and coffee shops; it's hard to tell if anyone has attended programs because of this. Our most effective advertising seems to be word of mouth, either by staff in the branch, or from people who already attend our programs talking to their friends. As a result, I have spent the week telling eeeeeveryone at work about what we have going on this fall. We also usually get great exposure from a local community paper, IMAGE (in fact, they always find room for an article by me, which is very kind of them), but sadly IMAGE is only publishing two issues this year, so we won't get as much exposure as usual.

I've decided to experiment a bit: I have created "What's on this month" flyers (the ones linked to above) and displaying each month's flyer at the circ desk. I will also e-mail them to community groups that serve all ages, in addition to sending out children's programming info to schools. I am also having a volunteer drop off these flyers at some other local venues, and I am ensuring that all our events are listed in LibraryThing.

Anyone else have great marketing ideas?

I am particularly proud of two upcoming events: the "Coffee with a police officer" event on Sept. 28th, and the author reading with Claire Holden Rothman on Nov. 2nd.