Meeting Minutes: January 25, 2001

Meeting held at Feldman Children's Library, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton.

Present: Heidi Estrin, Annette Goldsmith, Etta Gold, Lee Wixman, Charles Meyers, Alice Warren, Kathleen Clotfelter, Phyllis Gutmann, Sandy Gottesman, Arthur Quinn, Edith Scharf, and Malka Osserman (a guest from the Jewish Braille Institute).

I. Greetings!

President Heidi Estrin welcomed everyone to her library. Heidi passed out copies of the generic AJL article for use in our newsletters, etc.

Guest Malka Osserman told us about the Jewish Braille Institute. The JBI was formed 70 years ago in New York to help children who were born blind to complete their Jewish education; it now accommodates the elderly. (JBI will soon change its name to Talking Books, since there is less use of Braille.) They work with the Library of Congress, and the service is free. They provide a wide range of material, Judaic and other. LC provides the tape players. They have materials in eight languages and deal with 47 countries. Phone: 1-800-433-1531. Website: www.jewishbraille.org.

II. Speaker: Jonathan Estrin, "Library Marketing and Newsletter Design"

Jonathan (Heidi's husband) has a strong background in both libraries and marketing, and generously shared some of his insights with us. He first gave an overview of the marketing basics, and why they're important to library work. He handed out some sample newsletters and flyers.

Some of his tips:

use newsletter to educate readers

consider newsletter vs. flyer

staple together packet of flyers for dayschool

direct marketing technique: include stuffer designed to fall out when you open paper

magnet format

make article look like ad

keep it simple; blurb style can be effective

include a lot of white space between lines for older readers

include "jumps" (continued on page...) so readers have to open the newsletter

keep fonts consistent

consider balance (symmetry, weight)

use color when you can

heads and subheads break up the space

use "inside this issue" box on front

put text in only 2 of 3 columns, reserving third column for quotes, etc.

III. Special Display: Judaic Books Created by Children

Heidi gave us a quick tour of the display she'd set up. There were about 25 books, some made by teachers, most by students. In some cases photos of children were taken with a digital camera. If you need a book for a holiday or other occasion, make one!

IV. Book Bargain Database: Let's share our best sources for cheap books

Sources mentioned:

Strand -- 10th and Broadway in Manhattan; 50% off list price; pre-publication (review) copies; now provides cataloguing through Sagebrush

Barnes and Noble

Books and Books (don't forget your independent booksellers!!)

Early Learning Systems -- Jim Early, Coral Springs

Scholastic Warehouse sale, Pompano Beach

Book Fairs with Flair, Richard Petrella, 10119 NW 46 St., Sunrise, FL 33351, phone 954-748-8262, toll-free 1-800-972-1298, fax 954-747-3616

V. News and Announcements

Report on the Jewish Lifestyle Show -- This went well for us. We made back almost our $100 table fee in book sales. There were some good contacts: for instance, Marty Cohen from the Jewish Star suggested we start an AJL book review column; Heidi and Annette will follow up. But we agreed that it would be better to find venues more geared to our work. Some possibilities are the Principals and Administrators Committee (PAC), Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) and Early Childhood Temple Instructors. Please contact Heidi with other suggestions.

Brainstorming -- We could also act as speakers, perhaps concentrating on school administrators. Ask if a Rabbis' meeting would like a speaker. Though the Jewish Lifestyle Show was good for public awareness, we would like to focus more on recruitment. Do we have statistics on the number of Jewish libraries? Since Lee is adept at getting new members, perhaps he could make cold calls and/or visit some Broward libraries that haven't joined AJL. Consider Jewish Star/Journal articles for sources of meetings for recruitment. Also send them articles. We should follow up with the Miami-Dade and Broward public libraries re recruitment.

The chapter sent an $18 donation in memory of Irene Wixman.

Minutes from the last meeting are now online.

The next meeting is March 22, 2001 at Hillel in North Miami Beach. We will have a speaker on fundraising. Please bring any newsletters or flyers you designed using ideas from Jonathan's presentation.

VI. Award-Winners Roundtable Discussion

Postponed until our next meeting.