The Spaulding Woods Library is committed to growing readers, inspiring curiosity, and creating lifelong learners. Our students always have free book choice in the library, and are able to read about anything that interests them. This in turn allows students to take more control of their learning, and follow the path of inquiry organically. In addition, in the library we work closely with classroom teachers, and offer point-of-need lessons to enrich and extend classroom learning.
Along with the physical library imagery, I also considered our library values and vision when developing the brand message. In the Spaulding Woods Library, we highly value free book choice and self-directed, inquiry-based learning. This ties in with the second part of our tagline: Inspiring Curiosity. The library staff encourages students to read books which are of genuine interest to them, without focusing too much on the F&P or Lexile level of the book.
Along with seeing each class for scheduled weekly library lessons, the library also works closely with grade level teachers. We offer point-of-need lessons to extend and enrich classroom learning. These extra lesson extensions give students the opportunity to apply and expand their learning, and help pave the way for students to become lifelong learners. This clearly ties in with the third and final part of our tagline: Creating Lifelong Learners.
Altogether, the tagline for the Spaulding Woods Library is as follows: Growing Readers. Inspiring Curiosity. Creating Lifelong Learners. I chose this tagline because I feel it truly embodies our most important library values. Our goal in the library is to help students grow a love of reading. This leads them to reading not only for pleasure, but also reading to learn and answer questions about things they are interested in. This curiosity and inquiry, when encouraged and scaffolded by adults, helps students become lifelong learners.
I believe that our brand will be received well by the public. Our tagline especially shows how important the school library is to the mission of the school as a whole. We support the learning and growth of students, and encourage them to take more autonomy over their education by learning about topics that interest them. Often, the public does not really know what the school library does beyond checking out books, and our new branding will help solidify the library as an integral piece of the education puzzle. The most important part of the brand is our brand message, because it is involved in everything we do and all communication that comes out of the library. Parents, teachers, and the community will be exposed to the brand message through every tweet, newsletter, and email. This will help community members understand the importance of the library, and will be a large piece of our library advocacy.
The new branding will reach the public in many different ways. Our quarterly parent newsletter from the library will be branded with our logo, tagline, and message. I will update our social media accounts, such as our Twitter profile, with our new branding. I will include library information and our brand message in the principal’s weekly newsletter, as well as the weekly district communique. In addition, I will share exciting library events with the community through local newspapers.
Branding is important because it helps others know who you are and what your values are. The Spaulding Woods Library branding tells people that above all, we value our students and their education.