Promoting Partnerships

This month, Linebaugh has been very encouraged by some of our local businesses. Reeves-Sain Pharmacy came to the library to provide flu shots for any staff members who wanted to get one for the season. Just Love Coffee is offering free coffee for our patrons this last week of September in commemoration of Library Card Sign Up Month and National Coffee Day.

These businesses, along with many others who support us through our Summer and Winter Reading Programs and other special events, are crucial to the library increasing her footprint in the community. Partnerships have to be a win-win for both sides. So, as we receive giveaways or services, they receive free publicity or a tax write-off. However, we’re not just getting “freebies” from our partners, as we also have partnerships in which we offer them a service. In either case, we’re making connections with people who may have known nothing about us until now.

A special prize may draw someone into the library who has never darkened our doors, but the partnership also connects us with the owners and staff of the businesses who also learn something new about who we are and what we can offer to them. The reach of these connections are hard to measure, but they are real.

This is where you come in as a staff member of LPLS. How does it affect you? Library administration can only know so many people. But the other 60+ employees of this organization combined know exponentially more people in our county. Each one of us has a role to play in connecting the libraries with potential partners in our communities.

Think about who you know, whether a business owner, a wealthy philanthropist, a school administrator, or someone who has a specific skill-set they want to share. Each of these and others can be viewed as a potential partnership for our libraries. So, the next time you talk to someone, ask them: “Have you considered partnering with the library? I’d be happy to get you connected!”

It’s as simple as that! Be a bridge builder for library awareness in our community.