The Display Team has recently started learning to create LibGuides. Formerly the role of librarians, the creation of guides to supplement displays will become another means by which technicians engage with users and showcase the library.
Online display initiatives (contests, LibGuides, and Social Media) open new doors for tracking the impact of promotional initiatives. While “books borrowed” remains one metric to determine the effectiveness of a display, initial assessment of Twitter activity allows us to better understand which library initiatives students are responding to, and to plan for more effective online communication and community-building.
Scope of responsibility cannot continue to grow unchecked and is not without stress, and workload must be managed in order to remain feasible. Recent displays have be designed to create reusable components, so that future displays will take less time to put together. And, just as librarians have shifted Social Media, signage, and now some LibGuide work to the technicians on the Display Team, the Display Team is involving Library Clerks in weekend tweeting, Table Displays, and the Children’s Collection. Ideally, everyone finds both meaningful and challenging work in the shared process of putting the library’s best face forward.