Relationship Building: The Human Connection

Mollie Stanford is the Regional Librarian for Youth Services and Training with Arrowhead Library System ion Mt. Iron, MN. She works with public, academic, special and K-12 libraries in the ALS region and promotes the ELM resources as well as their own online tutorial service, Brainfuse at workshops, in the ALS offices, and out at site visits.

Mollie finds on-site visits, especially at K-12 schools, the most valuable component of her work. As she states, it’s difficult to get people face-to-face since they cover a very large section of Minnesota but when you can it’s amazing because people can take in so much more and you are able to make that human connection that is so valuable. When highlighting their Brainfuse product she also makes sure to compliment that with the ELM resources, especially LearningExpress Library.

One outreach effort she has found to be very successful is the Back to School packets she puts together for schools. It connects schools to the resources they may not have otherwise known were available to them. In the packets are ELM brochures, ELM trading cards, and the ELM materials ordering form. Information about the benefits of being an ALS member is also provided. She also makes sure to have at least one contact from each school on her email list to continue communication throughout the year.

In speaking with Jim Weikum, executive director for ALS, he has been actively promoting the LearningExpress Library resources with anyone he talks to. More specifically, he is happy to engage in conversations at the city level with civic leaders, Chamber of Commerce members, Rotary Club members, the Fire Department, and so on… He has also found that the human connection is an invaluable tool to promote library resources.

With such a large region to support making that human connection takes times but it worth the time. It is appreciated and helps build a lasting relationship.