Elevating the School Library: Building Positive Perceptions through Brand Behavior

by Susan D. Ballard, Sara Kelly Johns

Branding isn't just for companies and celebrities. Your school library is a brand too, and this book will show you how powerful the concept of branding can be. You will learn how to use it as a tool for articulating the value and importance of the school library while also better defining and delineating to stakeholders who school librarians are and why having a school librarian matters. Complete with a list of guiding questions at the end of each chapter to help you put its concepts into practice, this book includes templates, checklists, and worksheets to assist you in undertaking school library branding, a rebrand, or a brand rehabilitation; offers concrete guidance and techniques for engaging effectively with your community by creating a strategic communications plan; walks you through incorporating the use of data and community demographics analysis to improve your practice and thus increase positive perceptions of the impact of your work; shows how to use existing AASL personas as well as how to develop additional learner personas (such as trauma-sensitive, special groups and non-users) through a brand audit; presents a focused exploration of brand behavior, emphasizing the impact, influence, and integrity of brand credibility; analyzes the work of Jim Collins (Good to Great), John Kotter (Our Iceberg is Melting), and others to shed light on the importance of the "business" aspects of the school library; and spotlights successful and unsuccessful examples of branding from the realm of both business and libraries, connecting them to the AASL Standards.

Genres: Nonfiction, Professional Development, Adult, Education

184 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[Susan McGilvray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough new here for me.

[Karen Gedeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elevating the School Library: Building Positive Perceptions through Brand Behavior written by Susan D. Ballard and Sara Kelly Johns, published by the American Association of School Librarians. Ballard and Johns bring a marketing perspective to school libraries in this short and succinct edition. Marketing terms are discussed from a school library lens with a handy glossary in the rear. Each of the eight chapters include reflection questions for the reader to not only reinforce the chapter’s topic, but also so the reader can begin looking at their libraries differently. Included are checklists and resources for further information. Some readers will feel intimidated by the plethora of suggestions, however nothing in school libraries is a one size fits all and all readers will leave the book with both short and long term goals.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find many of these library-published books to be not always to the point with tons of anecdotes - which make it interesting, but longer than it needs to be. Some relevant info helpful for school librarians.

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm thankful I didn't spend my hard-earned money on this book. I feel like I'm being spoken down to, all while old ideas and common sense are presented as fresh concepts. A useful training session would have been time better spent.

[Deborah Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for any librarian who wants to improve their library to meet the needs of all their patrons and stakeholders.

[Brian Seadorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for the school library crowd

[Patti Sabik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old stuff presented in new packaging. Good for those new to the profession.