Don't Stress...Finals Week Activities

Looking for a creative activity to offer during finals weeks? Here's an idea offered by Buffalo State students in CRS303/Creative Leadership. This innovative group set up in the library and provided stress management activities for fellow colleagues. Stressed-out students were encouraged to take a study break and create “stress balls” using balloons and markers (moustaches were optional). A fun afternoon was had by all! Free refreshments (coffee, tea, cookies) were also provided to students throughout the week.

New Year...New Space: Change is Good

We recently took advantage of holiday "down time" to reorganize our Information Commons space. We had been running into issues with the location of the Equipment Loan door being outside of the help desk area.  So, we put our creative caps on (along with our sneakers) and moved the desks around a bit. The new area now features a "waiting area" in between the Reference and Computing Help/Equipment Loan desks.  So far, the response to the new arrangement has been great.  This is just one example of how a simple change in the use of a space (A.K.A. moving stuff around) can make all the difference!

The Olmsted Parks Poetry Project

Posters from our most recent programming endeavor-- the Olmsted Parks Poetry Project.  The series included author talks, workshop activities, and a display of the library's Olmsted collection.  The majority of the events took place IN the surrounding Olmsted parks. For more on the series, see the Rooftop Poetry Club's blog.

We're Listening

As Coordinator of Library Communications, I'm often asked to come up with creative promotional ideas for large projects within the library.  Currently, we're participating in LibQUAL+...and we needed a really clever way to get folks to participate.  We decided to use cute loppy-eared animals along with the simple slogan,"We're Listening."

In keeping with the "We're Listening" theme, we also ordered ear-buds with the Butler Library logo, and created a series of animal bookmarks. Students have been very receptive to both of these creative marketing tools...

We're so excited to introduce yet another vinyl sign!  We were searching for a way to advertise our new Help Desk area, which offers assistance with research, computing issues, and equipment loan.  This large vinyl sign, created in a metallic grey color, really fits the bill. Need help? Ask us.

Free Tools to Create Infographics

Wouldn't it be great if you could design professional looking infographics for your library? If only you were a REAL designer, right? Well, you might just be in luck! Take a look at what you can do with these free sites.

Visual.ly allows you to "tell stories with data."  Don't just talk about it...show it! Here's a great example:

http://visual.ly/american-public-libraries-community-internet-access

http://www.easel.ly/create/?id=https://s3.amazonaws.com/easel.ly/all_easels/5404/__library_survey&key=pri

Easel.ly is another amazing tool you can use to create infographics.  Why not share your next LibQual results through a graphic?  I just love this idea.

Also- check out this free tutorial on creating infographics from School Library Journal.

Many thanks to my tech-geek colleague, Ken Fujiuchi, for sharing these sites with me. Thanks, Kenny!

Create a Meme!

This idea comes from Katie Bertel, one of our librarian interns. She created clever marketing posters using the Meme generator (http://memegenerator.net/).  This is a fun way to use popular culture and the possibilities are endless.  Check out the site and see what you can create. (Note: I think this would make a great student contest-- providing the proper guidelines are in place.)