Smart Librarians

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

September 14, 2017

Every Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter. It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, and an occasional shameless plug for the programs I offer. Enjoy!

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Reading is the Basis for ALL other Learning

Library Laughs

We have a winner!

Reading is the Basis for ALL other Learning

I ran across an article recently that describes how a group of schools within a school district in Colorado turned around the downward trend of test scores by focusing on improving reading as the number one priority. To be fair, the story is anecdotal, but it highlights what we all know. Raising good readers improves student outcomes. The library and the services you provide are a key component in improving the love of reading at your school! Keep up the good work!

Library Laughs

We have a winner!

The winner of the “Submit Your Ideas for Promoting Reading and Win a Kindle Fire 7!” contest has been selected. I listed all the submissions (dozens of great ideas were sent in!) and I used a really cool online tool to choose the winner. www.random.org has a free Online True Random Number Generator (OTRNG) on their site and all you have to do is plug in your lowest and highest numbers, and it will choose a random number in that range.

The OTRNG chose idea number 17! That idea was submitted by Christina Badowski, Media Specialist at New Mountain Hill Elementary School in Fortson, GA in Harris County. Christina wins an Amazon Fire 7 in her choice of colors. Congratulations Christina!

See you next week!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call 770-315-3339 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ

Thursday, September 7, 2017

September 7, 2017

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Remember. What You Do Matters!

Library Laughs

Last Call for YOUR ideas!

Remember. What You Do Matters!

My wife’s school, like many others, has had some personnel shuffling this year, including her getting and losing a couple of part time media clerks. Every time a new person comes in to be trained, they always say, “Wow! I had no idea that there was so much going on in here! This is a BIG job!” One of the clerks who was transferred to the office, told her that she was going to tell EVERYBODY that the Media Center was about way more than just checking out books! Always nice to have a cheerleader!

I tell you that to tell you this. There IS a lot going on in your media center! You are in a unique position to affect everyone on the building with what you do! It’s a big job! Fortunately, you are up for the task. Your school is lucky to have YOU in that spot! Keep up the good work!

Library Laughs

Last Call for YOUR Ideas!

This is the last week to submit YOUR great ideas for promoting reading and the media center services. Someone will win a Kindle Fire 7! It could be YOU! Just send me your best idea (or ideas!) and I will draw a name out of the magic hat for one lucky winner. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing the ideas that were submitted. Fame AND prizes! Wow!

See you next week!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call 770-315-3339 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

Thursday, August 31, 2017

August 31, 2017

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Remember. What you do Matters!

Library Laughs

Best Literacy Night Ever!

What She Said

Remember. What you do Matters!

Just read a fascinating (and long) article about motivation students to read. Lots worth sharing, but I’ll only quote this:

“There are two sides to reading. On one side are the skills which include phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, and simple comprehension. On the other side is the will to read. A good reader has both skill and will.”

The classroom teacher has primary responsibility for teaching the skill of reading. The media specialist can have a lot to do with the WILL to read! And having both skill AND will are indicators of how successful that student will be! What you do REALLY matters!

You can read the full article here.

Library Laughs

Best Literacy Night Ever!

Want to have record attendance and enthusiastic participation at you school’s Literacy Night Event? I can help! Just hit reply and say, “Tell Me More!”

What She Said

“You were so easy to work with. You did exactly what you said you would do. You were prepared and on time! Awesome!”

Betsy Simmons, St. Simon’s Island, GA

Time is Running Out

Just a few more days remain to submit YOUR great ideas for promoting reading and the media center services. Someone will win a Kindle Fire 7! It could be YOU!

See you next week!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

August 24, 2017

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

A Couple of Library Quotes!

Library Laughs

Promoting the Media Center

A Couple of Library Quotes!

“I still love books. Nothing a computer can do can compare to a book. You can’t really put a book on the Internet. Three companies have offered to put books by me on the Net, and I said, ‘If you can make something that has a nice jacket, nice paper with that nice smell, then we’ll talk.’ All the computer can give you is a manuscript. People don’t want to read manuscripts. They want to read books. Books smell good. They look good. You can press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket.”

Ray Bradbury

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

Oscar Wilde

Library Laughs

Promoting the Media Center

Several great ideas have been submitted and about a third of them involve using food as a theme to promote reading! But, I still need YOUR ideas! For the rest of August and until my birthday on September 12, I will be collecting YOUR best ideas for promoting reading and the services of the media center. I will give away a brand new Kindle Fire 7 in the color of your choice to one of you who submits an idea. (I’ll do a drawing, since I know they will all be amazing!) Hit reply and send me an idea! Or several! Every idea submitted goes in the drawing as a separate entry.

And thanks to those of you who have already responded. Wow! What great ideas!

See you next week!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Thursday, August 17, 2017

August 17, 2017

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

No WONDER Everyone Loves This Book!!

Library Laughs

Promoting the Media Center

No WONDER Everyone Loves This Book!!

I just finished reading the amazing book Wonder by RJ Palcio. Wow! If you have not read it, you should. There are so many things I could say, but the thing that most stands out to me is how reading teaches empathy in a way that few other things can! I was reminded of this quote by James Baldwin:

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.” — James Baldwin

Just one more reason that what you do MATTERS!

Library Laughs

Promoting the Media Center

Several of you have responded, but I still need YOUR ideas! For the rest of August and until my birthday on September 12, I will be collecting YOUR best ideas for promoting reading and the services of the media center. I will give away a brand new Kindle Fire 7 in the color of your choice to one of you who submits an idea. (I’ll do a drawing, since I know they will all be amazing!) Hit reply and send me an idea! Or several! Every idea submitted goes in the drawing as a separate entry.

See you next week!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Thursday, April 6, 2017

16 Minutes of Your Spring Break Well Spent

Every Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter. It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, and a shameless plug for the programs I offer. Enjoy!

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

It's Spring Break for a lot of you, so I'll make this brief. Children's author Mac Barnett has an absolutely wonderful and inspiring TedTalk that I promise you is worth the 16 minutes it will take for you to watch it. You don't have to thank me. But you probably will!

Watch it here.

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

You are not going to BELIEVE what she called you!

If you are new to us or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And, please; tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

A Little More Name-calling!

If They Only Knew!

This Just In!

A Little More Name-calling!

Here are a few more titles that have been bestowed upon you and your tribe of book loving masters of the media center!

Catalog Queen

Dewey Diva

Book Warrior

The Book Keeper (MY personal favorite!)

That Book Lady

And the most submitted? Library Goddess! (with thanks to Carmen Deedy!)

If They Only Knew! – Marketing your Media Center (continued)

Marketing is everything you do to place your products and services in the hands of people who would benefit from using them.

There are three steps to marketing effectively

1. Discover what your clients need and want – we’ve talked about this one. We covered that one!

2. Offer a great product or service that meets their needs and wants – you’ve got that covered! YOU have that one covered!

3. Get your message across in ways that make it stick

I have effectively marketed my business using four very “sticky” ways to get the word out. The first is VISUAL ADVERTISING. The second is Viral Marketing – intentionally getting specific teachers (mavens & connectors) to tell other teachers. Identify the leaders in your school. Not the principal or this year’s team leader or grade level chair, but the people in your school who others watch and listen to. No need to be sneaky about it. Tell them that you realize that they are people that others look up to and you’d like to harness their influence for good. It’s easier if that person is already a fan, but even if they are neutral about the media center, they can usually be brought on board with good information about the value of your program ad resources. Ask that person or persons to tell their friends about the services you offer. People will respond and all will benefit!

For more about Mavens and Connectors and harnessing the power of influence, check out Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point.

If they only knew what you offer, and how it would benefit them, they would take advantage of it! Next week, we will look at the third sticky way you can get the word out.

THIS WEEK, identify a maven or connector and have a conversation with her! She’ll probably be happy to help!

This Just In!

May is a great time to reward your readers and encourage reading all summer long. It’s after the BIG test and you really want the kids to see the value of reading all summer. I can help. Take a look at the website and see how you can make a difference with your readers with just a simple phone call or email! I’m looking forward to coming to your school!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!