Creating Summer Reader Pizzazz

Yes, you read that correctly - I just said pizzazz.

Summer Reader is a great forum to show a little creativity and to create a site that draws library users in. We provide a few pre-set color combinations, but what if you want to do a bit more? Here are some of our favorite links to graphics and color palettes to help you make your Summer Reader site stand out.

iStockphoto (pay-for service) - http://www.istockphoto.com/index.phpYou have to buy a bundle of "credits" from iStockphoto, the lowest cost bundle of credits being $18 for a pack of 12 credits. The Pay-As-You-Go feature is ideal for smaller libraries that don't purchase new graphics frequently. Take advantage of the Dollar Bin to really stretch your credits. Great for making the Sponsor image in Summer Reader.

Shutter Stock (pay-for service with an exception!) - http://www.shutterstock.com/Shutter Stock has high quality graphics, but depending on your budget, the prices might be prohibitive. One great feature is the "Free Graphic of the Week" and "Free Vector Image of the Week". Take advantage of those to use in your Sponsor Image!

Stock Exchange (pay-for and free) - http://www.sxc.hu/This site sometimes takes a lot of searching, but you can find gems that are both pay-for and free. Again, a great resource for the Sponsor image.

Flickr - Creative Commons (free) - http://www.flickr.com/creativecommonsUse the great images found on the Creative Commons Flickr page to use on your Summer Reader page. Watch the usage licenses carefully to protect artists' rights!

Colour Lovers (free) - http://www.colourlovers.com/Need help deciding on a color palette or are you in need of a background design for your Summer Reader site? Check here! Beautiful color palettes provide perspective on what colors match each other best. And Color Lovers members combine colors and design into beautiful designs that can be set to your background (be sure to use the background image repeat option to fill the background of the Summer Reader page).

Font Freak (free) - http://www.fontfreak.comFont Freak offers hundreds of free fonts that are perfect for creating the Sponsor graphic. It can be tricky to get to the fonts, so follow these directions: Go to the site, click "Enter Here", then click "No Thanks, I'll download them one by one" (unless you want to purchase the full pack of fonts), then on the far left under "Free Fonts" you will see links to Fonts, New Fonts, Dingbats. Click on any of those three depending on what you are searching for.

Happy Font Hunting! Hope these help you in your quest for Summer Reader pizzazz!

Let us know how it goes and what you come up with - and please share great resources you use by posting in the comments section of our blog.~ Christine - Coordinator of Customer Experience

I'm going BALD, to help cure childhood cancer...

As some of you may know my 10 month old nephew Willem died in 2007 of childhood leukemia.  His parents (my brother-in-law Ted, and sister-in-law Chris) decided to start a St Baldrick's Day team to help raise money and awareness for childhood cancer, by shaving their heads.  I've decided to join their effort and their team and put what hair I have left on the line (or to the shears) for this great cause.  

The mission of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is to raise awareness and funds to cure kids’ cancer by supporting cancer research and fellowships.  This foundation will receive 100% of the proceeds of this fund raiser, and you can donate to this worthy cause in Willem's name and in support of my soon to be bald head here.

At the right is my "before" picture from PLA 2008 (the day before Kim and I got married).  I'll post the "after" picture in May after I'm as bald as "Homer" (the cartoon character not the classics writer).  Thank you so much in advance to anyone who chooses to donate, and if nothing else just peruse the St Baldrick's website to learn more about issues involving childhood cancer. 

You can also learn more about our nephew Willem from his CaringBridge site:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/willembolan 

Thank You!

Rob Cullin

CSO / Co-Founder

Evanced Solutions

Bug Hunt Winners Share How They Used Their Winnings

We recently received a note from Manhattan Public Library (Kansas) sharing with us what they purchased with the $300 Amazon Gift Certificate they won as 1st Place Winners of our Bug Hunt Contest. Manhattan shared the first place spot with York County Library System (Virginia).

Here's what they wrote us:

Just thought I would send you and your staff a little note to show you what we purchased with our $300 from the 1st Bug Hunt Contest. We had such a fun time shopping on Amazon but ultimately found what our library needed to make its Game Nights even better.

We bought 2 more remotes to bring us up to 4. We bought 3 nunchuks to complete our collection of 4. We got Mario Kart with a wheel and an extra wheel. Guitar Hero Aerosmith with guitar and game. Smarty Pants and Marvel Comics. We were so glad that there were some sales and that helped us purchase as much as we did.

Thanks for everything.

Teri Barton
Manhattan Public Library

It brought a little tear to our eyes here at Evanced. Being able to host a Bug Hunt contest was fun - but hearing that we've been able to help bring Mario Kart to one more library in the world, well, we were overwhelmed. To Manhattan Public Library and all of the participants in our Beta Testing Bug Hunt Competition, thank you. To the teens at Manhattan Public Library who will be rocking out to Guitar Hero - Aerosmith Edition...the only person who can sing 'Walk This Way' better than us is Steven Tyler. Let us know when you want a showdown.

Thoughts from PLA Symposium 2009

I had the opportunity to attend the PLA Spring Symposium this year and have attended the "Libraries Connect in the 21st Century" workshop.  The presenters were Meg Canada - Web Services Librarian from Hennepin County Library (MN) and Leonard Souza who is from the New Media Marketing arena.  The presentation was good and had lots of good nuggets about new technologies mostly focused on Social Networking and how to manage and monitor your organization's place and image in the new Social Media world.  Presentations can be found at: www.pla09.tumblr.com  

Specifically some tools I've found interesting:

• tumbler.com (a new hybrid blogger somewhere between Twitter and a traditional Blog)
  
• vimeo.com (kind of like YouTube but less "cluttered" and works with tumbler.
  
• Yahoo Pipes
  
• Pandora Radio (Web based radio service that tailors songs to your taste)
  
• imeem (Web based radio where you pick the songs)
  
• Jing.com (A free screencasting recording service - built by Camtasia but with few editing options)
• Some extremely funny short YouTube videos from Allen County Public Library (IN) : youtube.com/user/askacpl (look for the ones that are titled "iACPL X.0")

Meg also mentioned a regional "phenom" called Social Media Breakfast which she described as Rotary for Social Media "Geeks".  They are free and in many cities in America.  I'll have to check out if there is one in Indianapolis...

I know Kim Bolan (my wife) was also presenting next door.  She was involved in a Libraries Design for the 21st Century.  I'm not sure yet of the address for their presentation but I'm sure she'll post it at indielibrarian.blogspot.com which is her blog.

Claudia and I both head to the SirsiDynix CODI/UUGI conference which starts on Monday April 6th.  We'll be doing a first unveiling of the new GoLibrary - Materials Vending solutions at this conference.  Once we return we'll be doing our more general launch but basic information is now posted on our website (click our logo on the right).