A WorkLife Lesson: A Story of a Community Library Facing Closure:
Sharp cuts to local authority funding, alongside sharp staff and funding shortfalls, had placed the community library at risk of closure. The decline in spending on stocking the bookshelves, together with the loss of permanent staff, brought about a decline in people visiting the library.
Pascal, a management consultant who also manages the pro bono management consultancy arm of his company (founded to help businesses in their community survive and thrive), was approached by Fred, the only surviving librarian, asking for help to keep the library open. This was the end of January. The threatened closure would take place at the end of February. They had just four weeks to reverse this decision.
Pascal drafted in Florian, Saoirse, Benny, Annie and Maggie, his fellow members of a WorkLife Book Club that he participated in. He needed their help to somehow stop the library from becoming a closed chapter of Shoreditch’s life.
As they were mulling over ideas, Benny, a creative director of a brand strategy company, asked if any of them had ever gone on a blind date with a book.
They hadn’t.
Words of Wisdom
Benny said the set-up is simple: just wrap books in paper - hence the “blind date” - and decorate the wrapping with enticing facts, the books’ first lines, hints about the plot line, and fun facts about the book, such as being made into a film starring … He said it’s a perfect premise for Valentine’s Day, that could easily extend for the whole month of February - A month of love filled with book blind dates.
In this lesson, you will learn how with just days to launch the idea, the WorkLife Book Club members drew on their individual and collective skills, knowledge, experience and personal attributes to launch: Do You Believe in Love at First Page? February: A Valentine’s Month Filled With Blind Dates With a Book Campaign.
You will learn how they brought their local community together in support of the campaign and the outcome that brought about.
In this lesson’s WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will take yourself on a blind date with a book, and you will share something interesting you discovered in getting to know your book.
In this lesson’s Continuous WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will continue to go on blind dates with a book, and you will continue to share something interesting you discovered about each book.