Hi! Last week we talked about kicking off the new school year. In particular we talked about preparing your Library Orientations for students, teachers, and even parents! I linked to some cool eBooks you can keep on hand to support teachers and one for librarian things like book talks, screen recording, and library newsletters.
By the way, be sure to listen to my interview with Kristina Holzweiss who was the creative genius behind these two eBooks.
Let's talk about getting your website in tip top order before things get going and you are way too busy. These tips should apply whether you are face to face, virtual, or hybrid. So, let's dig in.
First, I 100% hope that you have a page for your library website. I am always so surprised when I talk to librarians who do not have a virtual presence for their library. This was essential even before COVID-19 came in to play. If your district does not provide a page for you, you can use any of the free website builders to get started: Google Sites, Wix, Weebly, and others.
You should be using your library website and social media platforms to highlight the library program/events, your services to students/teachers/families, and your awesome print and digital collections. But, there's actually way more to it than that!
Let's focus on your home page right now. Make sure you have:
welcoming photos
an orientation video (use the tools from the The Digital Librarian's Survival Toolkit)
a place to display news/announcements/updates
a calendar of your library program's events
Your home page should also feature a menu, table of contents, or buttons to quickly link to other key areas like:
contact information for the library staff
basic library information and policies
digital resources
a research guide section
instructional support
If your school is conducting remote learning, there should be an obvious link to your LMS or other pertinent information - front and center on your webpage.
Do a quick search. Did you accidentally publish your database usernames and passwords on your website? That's a big NO-NO! Go ahead and remove them ASAP. Those are typically paid services that do not allow access from people and organizations that do not pay for the subscription.
Finally, mark your calendar:
Schedule some time at the beginning and middle of the year to sit down and check all the hyperlinks on your website. Maybe you'll be fancy and run your site through one of the free link checkers that is out there. Or maybe you check them all by hand.
Schedule a day at the end of each month to update and highlight photos and events for next month. If you don't schedule it, it probably won't happen.
Before you know it, you'll have a great looking and highly functional webpage that is connecting with your students, teachers, and families. There's never been a better time than now to get started on your webpage.
If you need more help getting organized for the year, I invite you to check out my Handbook Organizer. You can watch my video overview here and check out the shop for more details!
Dr. Laura
P.S. While you’re updating everything, go ahead and check your email signature line also.
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