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6 PRACTICAL MARKETING FOR THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY Sample call for volunteer text: The ______ Task Force is looking for volunteers to (market, plan, design, ____). The group will meet _ (frequency) _ until _ (end date) _. Outside of meetings, volunteers can expect to (describe tasks, amount of time). Volunteers will be contributing toward (specific strategic initiative or goal) through this work and can expect (some benefit, such as: learning new tools, networking opportuni- ties, coffee and snack). Please let me know if you have any questions. BEST PRACTICES FOR BUILDING TEAMS When building your team, make sure that team membership represents a diversity of areas, talents, and viewpoints. Diverse teams serve everyone bet- ter. Often, frontline staff are left out of groups that impact their work. Staff engagement and communication creates healthy workplaces and results in better outcomes. Creating a diverse team does have its costs, because getting together a group of people with varied schedules and work responsibilities can be difficult. However, as Nicole LaMoreaux noted, “it’s worth it to get a range of perspectives” (personal communication, May 22, 2019). Mem- bership should include both professional and paraprofessional staff, if pos- sible. Consider the team’s charge and scope, and the players who are directly impacted by or responsible for areas related to the team’s charge. Often this will include staff from instruction, collections, and various service points such as reference and circulation. A wide call for volunteers may bring staff to the table that you might not have thought of for the project, but who can provide unique perspectives while also gaining experience in areas that interest them personally. Villamor’s institution ensures that major library decisions are made in teams and working groups that consist of staff mem- bers beyond the librarians. Library events, for example, have greatly bene- fited from having the director’s administrative assistant on the marketing team. Both circulation and interlibrary loan staff are regular contributors to the library’s web team focused on content management and usability testing. As previously mentioned, if your institution offers tenure to librarians, it may also be beneficial to reach out specifically to those on the tenure-track who may be looking for projects, roles, and responsibilities to add to their tenure portfolio. It may be hard to convince a busy librarian to add some- thing extra to their plate, but new librarians in need of the experience could be eager to hop on board, especially if you or other members of the team already have tenure and can explain some of the benefits, or even offer to write a future tenure letter describing the team member’s role and contribu- tions to the project. As far as recruitment processes, a simple conversation in the hallway or group email may be enough to explain the basics of your marketing project