Is your budget tight? Space limited? Have great ideas just need help getting them going? The library world is full of great thinkers and creative people. Through talking with other libraries across the country, here are some great ideas that were done on a small or no budget at all. Attend this webinar for tips on how to get your next BIG idea implemented. We will discuss everything from program ideas to cool tech solutions.

1. BIG IDEAS ON
A SMALL BUDGET
Brian Pichman | Director of Strategic Innovation | Evolve Project
October 16th 2013

2. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD….

3. MUST HAVE RESOURCES
Before we begin, lets start with defining a solid foundation

4. WHAT YOU MUST HAVE
Be A Risk Taker
Have Passion and Motivation

5. WHAT YOU MUST HAVE ACCESS TOO
• Equally Motivated People
• Volunteers
• Staff
• Patrons

6. ACCESS TOO - VOLUNTEERS
• Don’t give them “busy work”
• Ex. Cleaning Books
• Give them a tangible product, that they can be excited about
• Start a new program
• Help setting up for an event
• Ask them for INPUT

7. ACCESS TOO - STAFF
• Have motivated and positive staff
• Staff members who want to do more than just “check in and out books”
• Staff Development Days
• Get them involved with programs / decision making
• Skill Assessment
• Staff members all have unique skills / hobbies
• Create badges / shirts that help identify the staff members with those specific skills

8. ACCESS TOO - PATRONS
• You probably know the needs of your patrons
• But do you know the skills of your patrons?
• Identify which regular patrons have which skills
• You will be very surprised how willing they are to help start a new program at
your library!

9. TOOLS YOU MAY NEED
Technology:
Buying Refurbished is OK
• 1saleaday.com
• Woot.Com
• Ebay

11. MARKETING!

12. DESIGNING YOUR SPACES
Some great ideas for redesigning your space – at low costs

13. FURNITURE FOR YOUR LIBRARY
• Maker Spaces
• People pay a membership to be part of a
“MakerSpace” where the tools are
provided for them to build
• Community Out Reach
• Ask your community for help
• Ask local businesses to make monetary
donations towards new furniture/rooms
and let them advertise on it
• If Fifty People Donate Fifty Dollars =
2,500 = Very Nice New Couch.

15. ART FOR YOUR LIBRARY
• Have Patrons create your art work
Justin Hoenke – Patron Driven Art

18. COLORS FOR YOUR LIBRARY
• Use Bright Fun Colors
• Ask Staff to help

19. SHELVING IDEAS
• Find books that covers are colorful, and choose the books that coordinate
with that season
• Red and Green Books = Christmas
• Orange and Black = Halloween

20. NEW CIRCULATION IDEAS
Improve your circulation by doing these cheap projects!

21. BUY USED DVDS/BLU-RAYS
• Speak to your local renting Video
Store
• Or Red Box Kiosk Owner

22. CARD CATALOG – SEED LIBRARY

23. COUPON SHARING

24. MYSTERY BAGS

25. THE “POP UP” LIBRARY

26. REWARDS
• Simple Badge / Reward System
• Stickers
• Cheap Prizes
• Flair
• Game of Books

27. OFFER OTHER ITEMS FOR CHECK OUT
• Guitars
• Patrick Sweeney was able to get
guitars donated for circulation
• Also started a program with them
• Fishing Poles
• Pots and Pans

28. NEW PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Great New Program Ideas

29. ZOMBIES

30. MINI-GOLF

31. MUSIC
• Ask your local artist to…
• perform at your library
• teach others how to play
• Do a “Battle of the Bands Event”

32. MOVIE NIGHT
• Check out Amazon for Movies
• Sometimes can show a screening before movie theaters do
• Start a “Film Festival”
• Encourage local talent to create or share a movie the created and play it
during the film festival

33. VIDEO GAME NIGHT
• Ask local Video Game stores to borrow equipment to set up a gaming night
• Ask your patrons to bring in video games

34. MINIATURE EVENT

35. A LOCK IN
Lock-In Ideas: http://tinyurl.com/otmqfuz

36. GARDENING SPACE

37. TEDDY BEAR LOCKIN

38. SNAPCHAT
• Have people add your library snap
chat
• Create a “Guess What This Is”
Game
• Take a picture of something close
up
• Set the timer for 5 seconds.
• Allow people to post on
twitter,facebook, etc to your post

39. SUMMER SCHOOL?
• A library in Kankakee, IL started a summer educational program
• They had limited space, and all the spots filled plus the waiting list was maxed
out
• Offered courses on Art, Math, Writing and Video
• Art – Walked through the different art forms through the years
• Video – Used free Claymation and used Flip Cams (Very Inexpensive Cameras)
• Math/Writing – used iPad apps to engage the participants with learning

40. VIDEO MARKETING CONTEST
• Chad Mairn of St. Petersburg College LIbrary
• Asked the students to create viral video marketing tools
• Used inexpensive Flip Cams
“We need YOU to help hype YOUR library! We are planning to video record
student testimonials regarding the library's resources and services and would
love your input and/or testimonial. And take the video camera away from us!
Record your own tour, conduct your own interviews, or do whatever you want
to help hype YOUR library.”

41. SOFTWARE / HARDWARE
Here are some great Software / Hardware resources for you to try!

42. UPCOMING EVENT TICKER
• Typical cost to have an “upcoming event ticker” is in the thousands. But all
you need is a
• Wall Mounted TV (Buy Refurb)
• A Cheap Computer (Buy Refurb)
• Hook the computer up to the TV and run a PowerPoint slide show.

43. ZAC BROWSER
Zac Browser
Cost: $0.00 + Hardware (750)
AWE Computer
Cost w/ Hardware = $2500+

44. KURIO TABLET
Kurio Tablet: $99.99-150
iPad: $499.99

45. SPHERO BALL
• Engagement Tool
• Drive it around Schools or other
places
• Have people come to you
• Activity
• Race
• Obstacle Course
• Tag
• Golf
• Zombie Style Game

46. PLACES FOR HELP
Resources for you to help fund a little bit more!

49. SOCIAL MEDIA
Most of the time, try to remain positive when
talking on twitter
When Asking For Things
• Sell your idea to them. Don’t let them sell their
product to you.
• You are picking their product to be in your
library.
• Explain your market share (IE patrons, how
many visitors each day, etc)

51. CROWD-SOURCE FUNDING
• People across the world group together to fund new projects and ideas
• People are encouraged to donate towards “awards” based off the amount
they donate.
• Kickstarter.com
• Indiegogo.com

54. SCHOOLS, COLLEGES,
UNIVERSITIES

55. BONUSES FOR YOUR PATRONS
• Comcast Internet Access $10 a month (Internet Essentials)
• http://www.internetessentials.com
• For the folks in school, using your @edu address get:
• Free Microsoft Products at www.dreamspark.com
• Free AutoDesk Products at http://students.autodesk.com
• SugarSync.Com
• Free 5GB Storage Space for Backing Up Your Data
• http://tinyurl.com/BPSugarSync
• After signing up, decline the yearly plan and use the free plan
• If you have to filter internet / protect from web based threats
• OpenDNS.com

56. THE FUTURE?
• Create a “Start-Up” Faire at your library
• Make your library a start-up hub
Help someone start a business, and I’m sure they will help promote your library even
more AND help with funding
• MARKETING!!!
• Market your library. Use Social Media! Encourage users to follow and share
• Encourage people to “bring a friend”
• Email Newsletters – MailChimp is EASY and FREE!
• Attend as many free webinars and conferences as you possibly can
• Most of these great ideas are not my ideas. These are things I heard through
conferences or just by talking to people. I encourage you to do the same!

57. MORE IDEAS
• Knitting Club – Get people together to knit together.
• "Sniff Off" contest with tea blends from a local tea shop to celebrate
National Tea Month
• "Dog Listener" from a local kennel / animal shelter
• Library Literary Speed Dating Program: bring 3 favorite books to talk about
• "Parkin' lot pickin'” with 20 local musicians in the library parking lot, each
performing for 10 minutes
• Jigsaw puzzle exchange
• Dial-A-Story – Set up a voicemail box and read a story for patrons to call in
and listen too.
• “Ask A [Expert]” Locate your community experts like Laywers, Accountants,
etc and ask them to do a workshop for your patrons.

58. THOUGHTS?

59. THANKS FOR ATTENDING!
Brian Pichman
815-534-0403
bpichman@evolveproject.org
@bpichman
Be sure to tweet me and keep
the conversation going