Bumper Stickers, Posters

msfry · Post by **msfry** » May 28th, 2020, 5:25 pm

Has anyone ever suggested LV print up a bunch of bumper stickers, and when someone joins up, makes their 100th post, 10th file, or some other milestone, they get mailed 1 or 2. Or we could buy them. I'd love to put a bumper sticker on each of my cars.

LIBRIVOX
free audiobooks

I love LIBRIVOX
www.librivox.org

LIBRIVOX
acoustical liberation of books.

Same goes for posters. If there were some made up, I'd be happy to print them and bring posters around to my local library and public bulletin boards.

The truth is, I've never met a single person who ever heard of Librivox until I tell them.

Post by **TriciaG** » May 28th, 2020, 5:33 pm

People have made promotional material art files and shared them in the wiki:
https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Promotional_Material

If someone wants to print up some items and sell them on Etsy, etc., they're welcome to do so!

(We are "LibriVox", so one of "us" would need to be the supplier of such materials.)

Post by **mightyfelix** » May 28th, 2020, 6:12 pm

A couple of years ago, I used the above link to make some business cards. On one side is just an LV graphic, and on the other is the address to my reader page and the address to the How to Volunteer page. I print them off at home and carry a few with me at all times.

Post by **annise** » May 28th, 2020, 6:47 pm

If anyone makes a design for something we could probably add to the others.

But I'd be against any sort of an award system - it would need to be like diving, with a degree of difficulty included in each section

.
And LV is about teamwork, people giving their time and talents for free doing something they are enjoying and giving them freely to others

(rather like the widow's mite I suppose)

Anne

Post by **Availle** » May 28th, 2020, 8:00 pm

In all the years I have been active on here and (ocasionally) talked about LV, I had one person tell me he knew about us. And he even had a favourite reader - no, not me.

That was really cool.

Years ago, I also tried once to approach my library and ask them if they would hang up a poster, but they flat out refused. "We don't advertise for companies on our premises." I played the "for free, volunteer-driven, many languages" card, but no game.
In my current library they do display some posters and flyers, but they are only for events that are sponsored by or related to the city, like our marathon in February, the city museums, huge public events...
So yes, this might be general policy for city/government sponsored libraries, which is kind of understandable - would you want to have your library plastered with ads for Starbucks and amazon - or even audible?

As for promotional material as such, Tricia has given you the link, we are happy to add more, whatever you can come up with.

And just like Anne, I don't like the reward system. Surely 100 posts in off-topic have a different "difficulty" than 100 posts that say "PL OK". Plus, you would have to apply for your reward yourself (to whom??) because I don't see that anybody would keep monitoring the forums for that kind of stuff. I have enough to do with my own projects, thank you so much.

msfry · Post by **msfry** » May 28th, 2020, 8:47 pm

Thanks all for this info. Maybe I'll print up some bumper stickers myself and figure a way to distribute them. Suggestions?

Post by **mightyfelix** » May 28th, 2020, 9:08 pm

msfry wrote: ↑May 28th, 2020, 8:47 pm Thanks all for this info. Maybe I'll print up some bumper stickers myself and figure a way to distribute them. Suggestions?

Well, of course, you could always start up an etsy or something similar. I don't know how much it costs to print up a bunch of bumper stickers, but I imagine it'd be a pretty penny, and you may want (and would surely have earned) some compensation. Even if you intend to give them all away, it would have to be at some web location away from the forum. For one thing, we don't collect mailing addresses. And I wouldn't feel comfortable asking people here to share addresses, even through PM.

KevinS · Post by **KevinS** » May 29th, 2020, 11:18 am

msfry wrote: ↑May 28th, 2020, 5:25 pm Has anyone ever suggested LV print up a bunch of bumper stickers, and when someone joins up, makes their 100th post, 10th file, or some other milestone, they get mailed 1 or 2. Or we could buy them. I'd love to put a bumper sticker on each of my cars.

LIBRIVOX
free audiobooks

I love LIBRIVOX
www.librivox.org

LIBRIVOX
acoustical liberation of books.

Same goes for posters. If there were some made up, I'd be happy to print them and bring posters around to my local library and public bulletin boards.

The truth is, I've never met a single person who ever heard of Librivox until I tell them.

Hahah! LibriVox would not like to see one of their/our stickers on MY car.

SonOfTheExiles · Post by **SonOfTheExiles** » May 29th, 2020, 7:35 pm

Availle wrote: ↑May 28th, 2020, 8:00 pm Years ago, I also tried once to approach my library and ask them if they would hang up a poster, but they flat out refused. "We don't advertise for companies on our premises." I played the "for free, volunteer-driven, many languages" card, but no game.

Maybe it’s time for some reverse psychology.

I recall a story back before the fall of the Soviet Union, about a Party Chief coming home to find his wife typing out a book on loose paper.

You see, in those days, that was how dissidents circulated banned texts.

The Party Chief asked his wife what she was doing, and she replied with the book’s name.

“But that book is available in any store”, he said.

“Yes,” said his wife. “But this is the only way that I can get our children to read their assigned schoolwork texts”.

So...

Perhaps LV needs a “forbidden fruit” flavour to it.

Chris

KevinS · Post by **KevinS** » May 29th, 2020, 7:41 pm

I had no luck with my local library.

I think it may be true that libraries want patrons who check out materials. Some of the libraries, I suspect, want to quote their circulation numbers to their library boards and other funding agencies.

LibriVox is 'subversive' in a way. A product that is free to everyone, and crafted and offered by volunteers ... this goes against the grain in my country.

msfry · Post by **msfry** » May 29th, 2020, 7:51 pm

SonOfTheExiles wrote: ↑May 29th, 2020, 7:35 pm Perhaps LV needs a “forbidden fruit” flavour to it.
Chris

Naw, FREE and comprehensive is the greatest draw, especially if also of decent quality. And we have so many niche subjects that have not much commercial value but are so interesting! As I've only listened to about half a dozen "professional" audiobooks from the library (also FREE but you have to return the physical disk), I have no way to compare. I know some coffee shops and teachers who would put up our posters.

commonsparrow3 · Post by **commonsparrow3** » May 29th, 2020, 7:53 pm

I first discovered LibriVox thanks to my friendly neighborhood branch librarian. My book club was reading "Jane Eyre", and I was working 12-hour shifts delivering pizzas that winter, which left me little time to sit down with a book. So I went to the library to get a book-on-CD that I could listen to in my car while on my delivery rounds. There was only one audioCD copy in the library system, and somebody else had already checked it out. My librarian said, "That book's old enough that it's probably available on-line. Let's see..." And she turned up LibriVox! I downloaded "Jane Eyre", burned it to CDs, and listened to the whole thing accompanied by the aroma of pizzas. And I've been addicted to LibriVox ever since. So maybe the library board has restricted what kinds of posters may be hung on the bulletin board, but that doesn't mean individual librarians don't know what LibriVox is! (Librarians are among my favorite people in the world. Nobody finds answers like a librarian!)

david wales · Post by **david wales** » May 30th, 2020, 7:28 am

Oh, Maria, I'm with you on librarians. My favorite people on the planet. In fact, I used to be one 40 years ago at UCLA, but that's another story and a road not taken. But let's hear it for librarians!

Post by **Availle** » May 30th, 2020, 7:32 am

KevinS wrote: ↑May 29th, 2020, 7:41 pm I think it may be true that libraries want patrons who check out materials. Some of the libraries, I suspect, want to quote their circulation numbers to their library boards and other funding agencies.

You're right, that may be another reason. The more people are using the library and the more materials they check out, the more they can justify buying new books.

Q for those in-the-know: Do libraries buy books at full price? Or do they get a library discount?