The Library Outreach Cookbook collects 110 recipes full of activities, strategies, plans, and tips designed for librarians of all stripes working within a variety of institutions, budgets, and needs. The Cookbook is divided into four sections:
Getting Started with Outreach. Topics covered include marketing, planning, logos, slogans, spaces, mobile, visual media, newsletters, swag, displays, and assessment. The ideas and strategies here will work in almost any context. Campus-Focused Outreach. Here we look closely at ways in which you can focus on people at your own institution—specifically, students, faculty, staff, and the broader campus community. Community-Focused Outreach. This section provides ways in which you can better connect to those folks that may not be formally connected to the institution—specifically, K-12 schools, local professionals, middle-aged and older adults, veterans, and the general community. General Programming Activities and Events. These are interesting opportunities for those that interact with your library, with examples covering library orientation, food, stress relief, therapy dog programs, exercise, multicultural events, human libraries, making, themed events, and end-of-semester activities. You can use the ideas as written, adjust them to match your own situation, or mix and match a variety of these concepts to come up with something entirely new. The Library Outreach Cookbook provides different approaches, formats, and solutions that lead to successful outreach.
Ryan L. Sittler is an associate professor and the instructional technology/information literacy librarian at California University of Pennsylvania. He received his MSLS from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, MSIT from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and PhD in communications media and instructional technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Sittler has co-edited multiple books on both information literacy and Springshare’s LibGuides platform. Among these are The Library Instruction Cookbook (2009), Using LibGuides to Enhance Library Services (2013), Innovative LibGuides Applications (2016), and The Library Outreach Casebook (2018). Dr. Sittler is also part of a team that developed the educational information literacy game, "A Planet in Peril: Plagiarism," which won the Caspian Learning 2010 Serious Games Challenge. His current research interests are instructional design in educational games and media effects as they relate to information processing. He also happens to be a huge Doctor Who fan.
Terra J. Rogerson is an instructor of information literacy at Duquesne University and an online reference librarian for American Public University. In her past librarian positions in both academic and public libraries, she directed outreach and marketing efforts. She received her MLIS from Florida State University. Rogerson also co-edited The Library Outreach Casebook (2018) and has been excited to work with so many innovative librarians. Her research interests are primarily in using social media and graphic design to influence library user behavior.
