Dear Dr. Laura,
I want to give everyone a good first impression whether they meet me in person or by email. Do I add my degree to my email signature line? I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging.
Signed,
The Modest Librarian
Hi, Modest Librarian!
Congratulations on your new job! And by all means, feel free to include your hard earned professional credentials. It’s really an accepted practice for email signature lines, especially for all degrees higher than a bachelor's degree. You’re going to be reaching out to all kinds of people during the coming school year including your principal, central office, teachers, vendors, parents, community members, etc. So, it can be important that your signature line gives the reader pertinent information to know who you are and provide a context for the email you are sending.
Let’s look a little deeper at signature lines. One of my pet peeves is receiving an email from someone who wants me to call them, but their signature line offers me few clues on how to reach out to them. Sometimes, I have to resort to looking at their email domain name and then use Google to search for their district and their name. That usually works. (And, yes! I could email them back and ask for their phone number. But, I’m a librarian! My sleuthing nature kicks in and I have to try to find it myself.)
So, let’s make it easy for you to connect with people by setting up a solid signature line. There's a chance your district has a format they want you to follow. So, by all means, join them! But, if they don’t have a template there are some simple guidelines you can follow. In your situation as the campus librarian, people will most likely need to call or email you. They probably do not need your mailing address. So, I personally do not see a need for you to share that information with everyone. I like when people have their library website included, but I like to go check out the cool things they are doing in their libraries. The following information will be the most useful items for the majority of the people you come in contact with.
Laura Sheneman, LMS School Librarian
Phone: 123-123-1234
Doyline Elementary School | Doyline ISD
I would encourage you to keep the colors simple. This is not a time to add all the colors of the rainbow and it is not a time to use fancy fonts. Possibly you will want to include your school colors or use a script font for your name to mimic handwriting, but keep it simple. Some people will have difficulty reading certain colors or fancy fonts due to visual impairments. So, simple is better.
Here’s a challenge for you! Polish up our signature line and share it with is on social media. Don’t forget to tag us!
@LibrarianInfluencers
Dr. Laura
P.S. If you haven’t discovered my podcast yet, be sure to look for the Librarian Influencers podcast on your favorite podcast host. This week’s Librarian Influencer was interviewed in Monday’s post and podcast. https://www.laurasheneman.com/post/attitude-is-everything-with-wenndy-pray