Want to easily show administration, faculty, parents and community members that your school library is a rockin’ place? An infographic will do the trick. During a district professional development recently, I showed my fellow librarians how to use Piktochart to create their own infographic. I saw this idea on a #futurereadylibs chat.
We discussed the importance of actively promoting our libraries and helping our communities understand how valuable our school libraries are. As a librarian, you have to tell your library’s story. If you’re not telling it, then who is?
What do you want to share about your library?
- Show growth
- Think about what library reports you can access that will show a comparison between last year and this year.
- Total number of books
- Monthly, yearly circulations
- Number of books in a certain section (particularly if that section was an area that was specifically updated)
- Think about what library reports you can access that will show a comparison between last year and this year.
- Show student usage of the library
- My students sign in the library using a Google Form. I can easily access that spreadsheet and determine an average weekly usage.
- Number of books checked out by grade level
- Show usage of digital content
- ebooks, digital audiobooks accessed/ checked out
- devices checked out
- Show your impact
- number of classes taught
- number of professional development sessions led
- number of special events
These are just a few ideas. It’s your library. It’s your story, so include what you want.
Making the Infographic
I used Piktochart to create my library’s infographic.
- I created a free account.
- Create new- Infographic.
- Choose a template. Here’s the template I chose.
- Modify in any way to suit your needs. I used my school’s colors and included a picture of a mural in our library. I deleted aspects and added others. Everything is clickable and changeable. Anything you create can be accessed later in your Piktochart dashboard.
Share your story!
Get the word out in a variety of ways!
- Add the image to your library’s website
- Send it to your administration, PTO
- Include it in a newsletter or email announcements to families
- Print it and display it in the halls.
- Tweet it!
Be proud of what’s happening in your library and put it out there for all to see. This is a simple way to illustrate the strength of the library’s pulse. Is it strong? Does it need a shock?
This also helps you visualize the overall health of your library program and set future goals. I can look at my infographic and know I need to create more awareness of our digital content. My school is growing, and in order to keep the items/ student count, I need to buy more books next year, which I’m happy to do. However, I also know that our district significantly cut the budget for each school. We have more students and less money. I’m sure that’s a familiar story. My infographic helps me plan ways I can show growth next year, and it helps me dream about what I show and share next year.
Happy infographic-making!
