ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


July /August 1984 /  341

T r iv ia liz in g  y o u r  lib r a r y

By B o n n ie Gratch

Coordinator of Library User Education 
Bowling Green State University

Library trivia contest questions in the dorm dining halls 
for BI promotion.

 

­
nts
 

­
 

J
erome Library, Bowling Green State University,

hio, recently experimented with a different pub
lic relations technique for inform ing stude

about library resources and services. The idea was
planned before the popularity of the game, “Triv
ial Pursuit,” but as a result, the timing was ideal for
such an activity.

The idea originated at a library user education
m eeting at which we were discussing various
chanels of communication on campus to use for BI
prom otion. Sharon Rogers, our associate dean,
suggested placing table tents with trivia questions
from a variety of reference publications on the
dorm dining room tables. Other campus organiza­
tions have used this technique to announce events
and activities. Table tents are merely folded pieces
of construction paper that stand up (like a tent) on
a flat surface with two sides which display infor­
mation. In this way, persons sitting across from
each other at a table can each view a side of the ta ­
ble tent. We decided the idea held great promise,
and we thought students would have fun matching
their wits to the challenge of the questions—kind of
like doing the puzzles on the back of cereal boxes.

The first step involved getting the questions. As
user education coordinator, I put out a call to all
librarians to submit trivia questions with answers,
and sources that would be of interest to our stu­
dents. In addition, library educational media stu­
dents enrolled in a reference sources class submit­
ted  questions. S am ple questions th a t w ere
eventually used included: Where was the first beer

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

brew ed in A m erica?, and W here was G loria 
Steinern born?

 After the questions were identified, the project 
was given to a public relations student intern, 
Marty Wisler, who worked with Sharon Rogers to 
plan the campaign. They designed the physical for­
m at of the table tents, the process of distribution, 
and the publicity for the student newspaper. The 
layout consisted of 10 questions on one side and in­
formation about new library services on the other 
side. The answers and the sources were printed on 
the inside of the table tents. To add a little spice to 
the project, they decided to have a contest at the 
end of the three-week period when the table tents 
would be distributed. The university bookstore 
even donated a $25 gift certificate to the winner of 
the contest.

The PR intern took complete charge of having 
the table tents produced and distributed, as well as 
producing publicity. Each week of the three-week 
period, she replaced them with new ones of a dif­
ferent color and with different questions. She was 
told by the dining room staff that students really 
enjoyed reading them, and it was evident to her 
that they had been handled, since they were some­
times smeared with food splotches.

Even though the trivia contest was scheduled 
just before final exam week, there was still a fairly 
good response. Students picked up an entry form at 
the main reference desk. The form consisted of 20 
questions and a list of reference titles from which 
the questions had been drawn. Only one person got



342 /  C&RL News

all 20 correct, so th e selection of th e w in n er was not 
difficult.

T he experience was definitely w o rth w h ile and 
will be rep eated earlier in th e semester d u rin g  the 
next academ ic year. In  addition to presenting li­

 
 

b r a r y  r e f e r e n c e  so u rc e s in  a s o m e w h a t n o n -
tra d itio n al w ay, one could also use this technique
to publicize lib rary  services and user education ac­
tivities. ■  ■

ACRL P r e sid e n t’s rep o rt, 1 9 8 3 - 8 4

By Joyce B all

A C R L ’s 45th President

A C R E ’S past year in perspective.

D u r i n g  th e year 1983-84 librarians in academ ic 

an d  research libraries m ore clearly realized th a t li­
braries are a m ajor com ponent of th e inform ation 
econom y. T he use of in- 
form ation has becom e a 
s u rv iv a l skill fo r e a c h  
an d  every individual in 
our society. As a strong 
a n d  w e ll- f u n c tio n in g  
professional association,
A CRL has continued its 
long tra d itio n  of p ro v id ­
ing a m eans of en h an c­
ing lib rary  service to th e 
academ ic research com ­
m u n ities. M any A C RL 
m em bers p a rtic ip a te d  in 

Joyce Ballreg u lar, on-going activi­
ties: p la n n in g , b u d g e t­
in g , p ro g ra m m in g , c o n tin u in g  e d u c a tio n , a n d  
publications. 1983-84, how ever, was a special year 
an d  th e highlights of this year are presented below. 
A sum m ary of th e w ide range of activities of th e as­
sociation an d  th e details of an n u al operation a p ­
p e a r in th e ALA Yearbook.

In  S eptem ber 1984, E xecutive D ire c to r Julie 
Virgo an d  I w ere invited to represent ACRL on the 
Advisory C om m ittee for L ibraries an d  th e L e a rn ­

 

ing Society. This project is being sponsored by the 
U.S. D e p a rtm e n t of E d u catio n  to determ ine how  
libraries can effectively support th e findings and 
recom m endations of th e N ational Com m ission on 
Excellence in E du catio n . O n th e recom m endation 
of th e Advisory C om m ittee, R ichard D ougherty 
p rep ared  a position p a p e r for an invitational sem i­
n a r w hich w ould fram e a response for th e  aca­
dem ic lib ra ry  sector. T h e reco m m en d atio n s of
tw enty-five academ ic librarians w ere coordinated 
w ith  those m a d e  by lib ra ria n s  fro m  p u b lic  li­
b ra rie s , school lib ra rie s  a n d  fro m  pro fessio n al 
schools. A rep o rt is to be published this sum m er. 
T he ACRL P resident’s P rogram  scheduled for the 
D allas conference will highlight activities w ithin 
th e  O ffice of E d u c a tio n  an d  th e  C e n te r for L i­
braries an d  E d u catio n  Im provem ent, D ougherty’s 
p ap er, and a special rep o rt p re p ared  by Executive 
D irector Julie Virgo.

In April 1984, ACRL held its T h ird  N ational 
C onference in S eattle. T he C onference th em e, 
Myths an d  Realities, w as introduced by D . Kaye
G apen, dean, University of A labam a L ibrary. Ga- 
p e n ’s p ap er was one of alm ost fifty papers p re ­
sented to th e 1,220 lib rarians atten d in g  th e confer­
e n c e . I f  t h e  v a r i e ty  of to p ic s , th e  le v e l of
atten d an ce, th e active p articip atio n  of conference
attendees, an d  th e exhibition of new  products by