Thursday, November 4, 2010

"Only fools look to cookies for words of wisdom."

A recent article pointed me to a promotional tool used by staff at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire’s McIntyre Library - fortune cookies! Now, I'm not an academic librarian, but these were too great not to post about. Seems they handed the cookies out during library orientation during the fall, and then again near finals. They ordered them online with (brilliant) custom messages. In the fall, they read:
  1. Right now your parents are remodeling your bedroom.
  2. Today you will meet someone new. Why not make it a librarian?
  3. The greatest danger could be your stupidity. Use McIntyre Library.
  4. Worse things are yet to come. Befriend a librarian.
  5. Only fools look to cookies for words of wisdom. Look to the library.
During finals week, they read:
  1. You came to the library and all you got was a lousy cookie.
  2. I cannot help you, for I am just a cookie. But a librarian can.
  3. You will wait until the last minute. McIntyre will be here for you.
  4. You will survive the final exams with the help from McIntyre.
  5. Your final exams will be canceled.
  6. The stapler’s over there.
Here's the source for the article:
Jennings, Eric and Kathryn Tvaruzka. "Quick & Dirty Library Promotions That Really Work." Journal of Library Innovation 1.2 (2010).

Thanks to Bookpusher for the link!

1 comment:

  1. wow, why not?
    maybe I should do fortune cookies for my book clubs...and then each member gets a different message in link with the book we're discussing...heehee:D
    or when doing outreach in schools, one could hand out fortune cookies with the library info inside!!

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