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Future Considerations
- 2020 = Benchmark. This year will serve as a benchmark in terms of participation. The effectiveness of the marketing and promotion of future brackets can be measured in part by comparing participation to this year. We hope to see greater participation in the future when there is more time to plan the project, and when on-campus promotion is possible.
- Cross-campus collaboration potential. There is potential for cross-campus collaboration with this program. Because we had books representing four different areas on campus, it’s possible to see participation from the four distinct departments. This could include allowing faculty and staff from those areas to pick their books, aid in the promotion of materials, or contribute towards a prize for the winning bracket.
- Book selection. There were only three people responsible for picking all 64 books, and while we strove to create a diverse list, we are certain we could have provided wider representation and fewer titles in the “old white dude” canon. For future events, we may involve a poll of the campus population for suggestions, then filter that list with input from the library’s Diversity & Inclusion team. Alternately, we could focus on less genres, particularly if we create a smaller book bracket.
- Bracket size. 64 books is a lot! The intended scope of the project--a full bracket recreation of the March Madness tournament--may not have been the most practical for participants. Other libraries, such as RCCC, have used smaller formats to good effect.
- COVID-19 limitations. While this project arose from the need for engaging remote programming, we couldn’t help but think how much more we could have done with in-person components: prizes, physical displays, copies of the books for checkout, alternate voting methods, and on and on. Ideally the smaller activities ahead of time would lead nicely into the main event and stoke enthusiasm for the web component, and the online guide portion would direct patrons back into the building throughout the event.
- Plan your outreach efforts. We created this activity in roughly two weeks. While we knew we wanted to advertise with a blog story and connect through usual campus communication channels, we probably could have used more time to think about how to remind participants to come back and vote--and to encourage new participants once the voting started. One thing we could do next time would be to collect participant emails and send weekly reminders to vote.
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