By CSLF President, Tom Kaun
About ten years ago, at the
height of the (then) crisis in California school library staffing, the CSLA
Board decided that it might be a good idea to solicit some well-known
children’s illustrators to design materials that could be used in the new “Save
California School Libraries” campaign. Pat Nelson, of Mrs. Nelson’s Bookstore
offered to invite author/illustrators that he knew. One of the first designs
given to CSLA was by the amazing Brian Selznik: The image of a young boy
carrying a banner with the words “Save California School Libraries” on it. CSLA
member Jackie Siminitus, with encouragement from the Board, offered to upload
the images to a new online service, CafePress. This allowed CSLA to get a small
revenue stream while offering library advocates mugs, note cards, t-shirts and
other products that promoted libraries and reading through the Library Advocacy
Store.
Soon other illustrators including David
Shannon, Gene Yuen, Naomi Howland, Aliki, Nancy Hayashi, Marianne Wallace, and
Mary Anne Frazer contributed designs as well. All of them promoted school
libraries or books and reading. The best part was that all the designs were
donated to CSLA and could be made available in a number of different ways.
When Jackie retired from AT&T, she
took classes in graphic design and began putting her own designs on the site as
well. Her “Big-Eye Readers” were an instant hit and and a great way to engage
middle school students (where she volunteered each morning) while practicing
her new Adobe Illustrator design skills.
Recently the California School Library
Foundation assumed responsibility for the Library Advocacy Store. Although
Jackie no longer maintains the site, it still brings in about $200 annually for
the Foundation. The store needs a new manager to promote and revitalize it. In
the past few years, social media has blossomed, so promoting the Library
Advocacy Store is much easier. Could it be
you?
Some have suggested that one of the
reasons they don’t sell more items from CafePress is that it’s more expensive
than some other sites. Since the designs belong to CSLA/CSLF, they can be moved
anyplace. CSLA/CSLF doesn’t need to continue the CafePress relationship since
there is no obligation to them. Suggestions for a different digital location
are welcome!
CSLA still needs to “Save California
School Libraries.” We still need funding for scholarships and professional and
para-professional development opportunities for our members. One way we can get
the best outcome for all the work Jackie, Pat, and all those artists put into
this project is to promote the library advocacy items for sale to the entire
world. We know it’s possible. We just need that one special person to step up
and help us out. Could it be
you?
If you are at all interested, know
someone who might be interested, or have suggestions, please contact me at foundation@csla.net. I’d love to hear from you. Could it be you?
Check out the Library Advocacy Store at
<http://www.cafepress.com/csla>.
Note: If you have additional questions,
members are encouraged
to contact Jackie@JackieDesigns.net
