Little Free Library Collaboration
Submitted by ben.mead-harvey on Thu, 07/07/2016 - 13:52
Type of Pilot Project:
Public Service
Describe Project and Impact:
Distributed marketing and community connections.
Project Description and Expected Outcomes:
We partner with all the Little Free Libraries in town, restocking/replacing their materials on a regular (quarterly?) basis. By doing so, we get to stock books with our donation stamp, and we also get to stock with Info Magazines, card applications, and other fliers.
Costs:
-Books, either donated from the Friends or purchased for this explicit purpose. Approximately 25 books per LFL per quarter? Let's assume 10 LFLs initially. That comes out to 1,000 books, the cost of which would be 0 if coming from the Friends.
-Info Mags/Fliers/Card Application sheets or info: Again, estimate 25 per visit per LFL. 1,000 Info Mags and 1,000 of each other media we add. Unsure of cost: $250 to pick a number out of the air.
-Staff Time: 1 visit per quarter per LFL comes to 40 visits a year. Assume 1 hour per visit. Associated time costs for planning, gathering books/marketing materials, etc...let's assume another hour per visit. Indirect time costs for setting up these collaborations, working with owners of the LFLs, developing documentation to keep track of owners/locations and so on...maybe 4 hours per LFL? Further, some staff time cost from Marketing/Outreach/Other...say another 1 hour per visit? In total, approximately 160 staff-hours per year, or $3,200-4,800 for the year.
Outcomes/Impact:
1) heightened "brand" awareness of the Library
2) the users of the LFLs will get to learn about our services and upcoming events, leading to greater attendance/use.
3) Increased "goodwill" toward the Library on the part of community members in the area
Why should we select this project?:
This project should be selected because it is a natural collaboration, it is clearly in line with our SOaP and the InterReach element of our Strategic Plan, and it requires comparatively little project planning or money to get started. I also think that you would find no shortage of staff around the System who would be interested in taking on this task. Finally, the cost is whatever we make it because it is primarily staff time. We could roll this out with a goal of collaborating w/ 10 LFLs, reflect on its utility a year later, and either shut it down or expand it.
Constraints, Limitations, or Dependencies:
Owners of LFLs would need to be willing/want to work with us. For the costs of the books to be 0, we would need sign-off from the Friends to use some of their donations for this purpose.
Source of Inspiration:
Some months back, I saw Plaza District's LFL asking for donations on social media. More recently, boy scouts in the local area contacted me for a possible donation of books to the LFL they plan to build. I don't know if other public libraries are engaging in this sort of collaboration.
Partner/Supporting Departments:
Development/Volunteer Services
Marketing
Performance Indicators:
Market Penetration
Member Retention
Environment:
Extra-Library
Relationship:
Spark
Experience:
InterReach
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