This piece was originally published on the ALSC Blog on August 1, 2024.
Story time can be hectic, chaotic, and go off the rails at times. But the best times are when everything goes right, and a wizened grandmother comes up to you with a smile on her face and says something like, “you’re my grandson’s favorite” or “my granddaughter won’t stop talking about you” or “I wish my children had someone like you when they were growing up.” Comments like this make the job worth it. Comments like this really help show you are appreciated. Comments like this are often forgotten the next day.
Personally, whenever I get something like this after a story time, I thank them. But then I ask them to please find us on Google and leave a review; I’d be more than happy to help them if they need help finding it. I do love hearing those comments, but I’m not the one that needs to hear them. Everyone else does. Indirectly, your story time grown ups are already evangelizing about you, talking to their friends or writing on Facebook groups. All that you’re doing here is directly asking them to do it.
I came across this idea when I hired movers. They hauled an extra bed out of our house and we were too lazy to do it ourselves. They did a fine job in a reasonable amount of time. At the end they asked for a review and if I could do it now, so I wouldn’t forget. And they said that their bonuses were tied to their review. Oh, and if I could get a picture with them next to the truck and put that in the review too.
So, I did it. They weren’t lying, I’m sure it was important to them. And they weren’t pressuring me, they were simply saying how I could help them out. They were a small business and reviews are the life blood of a small business. And that’s how you need to start thinking of your library. Because you ARE a small business, the only difference hopefully is you don’t need to worry about money, at least not on the same level. So when you think about it, it’s advocating for yourself, and asking for help from your “fans,” the ones that would like to help you but maybe don’t know how.
How to Ask for Reviews:
A sign is always a great start. I have a sign out year round on my story time easel that just says “Like Story Time? Leave a Review” and then I have icons and logos of the various sites you can leave a review. But that’s not going to be enough. People don’t usually read signs, especially in a library for some reason. So after a really good story time that worked really well or at the end of a story time semester, I’ll always leave time at the end to point to the sign and ask people to leave reviews. I’ll often say some of the following things:
- “It really helps us out and shows how much you appreciate us.”
- “It helps other families find out about the amazing things we do here.”
- “My director reads them and so it’s a great way to show how much you love storytime.”
- “It helps us do other, bigger programs because it shows that we have your support.”
None of these things are lies. Or guilt trips. Or high pressure tactics. It’s just the truth. It’s advocating for yourself and for your institution. And reviews like this are going to become really important in both the short term and the long term, as we’ll discuss in a bit.
Something to keep in mind is that I always ask them to mention me and the program when they make a review. That’s going to be important later…
Why Ask for Reviews:
We started talking about it, but there are SO many reasons why getting reviews is really important. Here’s my Top Four:
- It helps negate the bad reviews. This one is pretty simple. A great review will cancel out a bad review. Usually bad reviews are for things that aren’t your fault. Looking through reviews from neighboring libraries, I saw a few that were 2 stars because “they didn’t have the book I was looking for.” Nice. Asking for good reviews helps bump those bad ones down, and is a better reflection of your library.
- It flexes your muscle. On my library’s Google review page, nearly half of the reviews mention me. It shows that story time is important to the library, but it also shows that I’M important to the library. You become part of the brand, and therefore become a lot more important to and inseparable from your institution. From there, you use that power to grow your department and your library further.
- It defends you from attack. I won’t get into it, but libraries and librarians have come under attack recently. Maybe it’s just a phase, maybe it’s not. But those positive reviews are something you can point to and show that not everyone feels that way. If funding is being cut, it’s again something you can point to and show how important this is to your community.
- It’s a great record. Let’s get back to that hypothetical grandma I mentioned in the beginning. Whatever she said to you, you need to keep it somewhere. Burnout is real, and I feel looking back on things like this or rereading old comments later on can help show that you made a difference and need to keep going. BUT that only works if you can actually read it. It’s a way of asking for help, both for right now and for later.
After asking for reviews, you can then apply these lessons to other aspects of your career. Thanks for reading! Make sure you forward this blog post out, it really helps spread the message. Oh, and be sure to add your comments because we really value your feedback. See what I did there 🙂
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