Good ideas for school libraries: 20. Holiday Borrowing part 2

As promised, the rest of our holiday borrowing spin'n'marketing plans....

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Double Borrowing Passes

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Some of the most voracious readers pointed out to me, quite reasonably, that our normal limit of four items per borrower just wasn't a fair or happy thing, when faced with all that a voracious reader would need to stay happily reading.  OK, I said, what can we do?  Let us borrow MORE! they said.  OK, I said, good idea.  What about a double borrowing pass?  YES! they said.  So I got typing with Microsoft Publisher, and our Library Colour Paper (the duplicating room doesn't have this teal):

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And of course one should give credit where credit is due; and and my dear papa always says there are TWO sides to a piece of paper (given the propensity of children to only notice one, and thus run through paper at a rate of knots), so here's the back:

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Much better to use it this way than leave it blank - who knows who'll read it, and what good it might achieve for the library, quite apart from bringing a happy smile to the kids thus acknowledged.

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How does this work?  My basic rule has been, you can have one as long as you haven't got any overdue books.  Juniors with a pass can borrow up to 8 items, seniors with a pass, up to 16; but it's been mostly the juniors who've wanted them.  When I announced this initiative on the whole school assembly, there was an audible buzz of enthusiasm, which was lovely to hear.  The passes are mentioned on the staff "I'm reading" badges, and on the quizzes, and we have a sign at the desk reminding students that they are available.

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We didn't do any resetting on the borrowing system; if a kid produces one of these passes, we just override the usual limit.  This way, there's nothing to re-reset after the holidays.  If they end up with a couple more than eight, well, it's probably not going to be a problem.  We'll just do the usual overdues and worry about the rest if it needs worrying about.  Our focus is on facilitating borrowing and encouraging enthusiasm for borrowing.  One result has been kids happily borrowing whole series (eg Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began), because they can, and they can then read the lot in one go.

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Worth doing again?  Oh yes.  Cost nothing beyond the paper, and ties in with other marketing passes/coupons/cards the kids are familiar with - a freebie, a short-term opportunity, a bargain...

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Bookmarks

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If you've read this blog before, you know we do bookmarks - always have them on the borrowing desk, a varying assortment depending on the season, what we're promoting and so forth.  So holiday borrowing bookmarks are a given.

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These are the same green (the light fell differently), the same lime used for the teacher badges etc, our 'colour' for this holiday borrowing promotion; the fancy font is the one I've used for this too, along with our standard library font.  The bookmarks serve as an extra reminder of when books are due back (from the point of view of look how LONG you have rather than BRING THEM BACK YOU LOT, which is a kinda anti-marketing tone) as well as featuring really really bad slogans and being a helpful little freebie. 

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I made up the bookmarks in Microsoft Publisher, as I usually do (using ordinary Publisher clip art).  The images below are the generalised version I sent to the NSWTL list; our school ones feature our school name.

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For those in the northern hemisphere who might be a tad puzzled, Easter is autumn (fall) here, not spring.

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The Lucky Draw for Borrowers

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This is an idea I've borrowed from a colleague (who knows who she is); only I'm meaner than she is... This has been running during the two weeks of holiday borrowing.

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A student gets one entry form per loan, that goes into the draw.  The prizes are EITHER Easter Eggs, or A Toothbrush!

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No, the students don't get to specify their choice of prize... Toothbrushes are from a two dollar shop, cost $1 each; Easter eggs from Aldi, $1.67 per bag.

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Here are the slips, another Microsoft Publisher piece (figured I'd make them small, for economy; it asks what they borrowed, although I'm not sure if I want to read this many...

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The draw will take place on the whole school assembly tomorrow...in two stages.  Stage 1: twenty winners drawn from the above.  Stage 2: twenty winners come out the front and draw to see if they win Easter eggs or a toothbrush.  Should be fun! - and amusing, and happy associations for the library.  Or so I hope.

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If you have a devious mind, you might be wondering if devious minds among the kids have worked out that they could get a double borrowing pass and borrow up a storm to get lots of entries in the draw.  Not a problem.  Any really blatant borrowing not appearing to involve any sort of reading, I would have a moment about, but it hasn't happened (or it's been subtle enough not to come to my attention).  Also, it's only one prize per person (I decided - heck, I get to make up the rules as I go along, as necessary!).  And, if you're showing the school how much the library is being used and loved, what's not to like about increased borrowing figures?

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I'll sum up the holiday borrowing for this term in another blog entry.  Have you tried any of our ideas?  How has it gone for you?

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