Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference

We're excited about sharing information on "The Best From Pen and Press" at this year's annual conference of the Minnesota Library Association.  We've reserved a professional table for the conference and will be there both days, October 8-9, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.  Look for us in the Professional Tables area, just off the Exhibit Hall, around the corner from the Registration Desk.  If you spot our logo, you'll find us at the table.

We'll have a brochure available that explains the project and how you can join in.  We hope you'll stop by with any questions or comments you might have.  If you're ready to jump on board, we'll have a sign-up sheet to get your contact information.

Plan a visit during a break, between sessions, or while the Exhibition area is open.  We'd love to have you drop by for a chat during the conference and look forward to seeing you in Saint Paul!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Getting Started

There are a number of items on our "to do" list in beginning this project. We've checked off a few of those items by creating a logo for the project and establishing this blog.

The logo is part of our "branding" effort.  We intend to use the logo in all our communications and presentations.  Any participating institution will be invited to use the logo as well, as part of our effort to create a state-wide awareness of the project.  The logo image file will be part of the toolkit that participants can use as they develop and publicize their own exhibit and programming as part of the project.

This blog will be used to communicate and publicize anything and everything related to the project: upcoming events, milestones reached, participant announcements, or anything else we think might be informative, useful or helpful to know.

At the moment the planning group is working on an initial press release, brochure, and toolkit.  Look for these in the near future.  We're aiming to have the information brochure ready for the Minnesota Library Association conference in October.

We're also working on recruiting new members to the project.  At the moment we're targeting consortia of academic and public libraries in the Metro area, working with Ruth Dukelow at CLIC and Ann Walker Smalley at Metronet.  We've also had an encouraging conversation with Valerie Horton, director of Minitex, who offered to help us spread the word throughout the state.  We're thankful to these colleagues for taking an interest in our project and hope it will result in growing our list of participants.

On the communication side, we're also developing an email list to keep participants (and those interested in what we're doing) updated on the project.  If you would like to be added to this list please contact us at mnpenandpress@gmail.com.

What we'd really like to do is add your institution (or you, if you're a collector) to the list of participants.  If you're in a position to make this decision and want to join us, please let us know.  Or if you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.  We'll do our best to answer your questions.  We'd be delighted to have you on board as part of the project.  If you're not quite ready to commit, here's something you and/or your staff can do that might help:
  1. Think about some of the amazing items held in your collections.  
  2. Create a list of these treasures--the best manuscripts and books (however you want to define "best")--from your collections.
  3. Ask yourself: "Would I like to share these, through an exhibit, with the public?"
  4. If your answer is "yes," please consider throwing your hat in the ring with us.
  5. If you're not quite sure about items on your list, whether you think they're really noteworthy or special, feel free to share your list with us.  We'll be pleased to offer some feedback.
As a planning group, representing various collections, we're also working on lists of things we'd like to exhibit.  In future posts we'll share a bit about some of the items we're considering for "The Best From Pen and Press."  We hope you're excited and inspired about sharing some of the state's amazing books and manuscripts with the rest of the world and want to join us in this state-wide experience!