New EveryLibrary Campaign Training Series from Niche Academy

EveryLibrary and Niche Academy today announce a high-impact partnership to support libraries on the ballot across the country in 2017 and 2018 and train librarians to develop the political skills they need to build support in their communities.

Niche Academy, the largest provider of digital and web-based custom training tools for libraries, will produce and host a series of campaign training guides from EveryLibrary that are available for free to any library community on the ballot anywhere. These video training guides deliver campaign insights for both library boards and staff to create engaging Informational Communications Campaigns and for local Vote Yes committee leaders to field in effective Get Out the Vote campaigns. The tactics and tools that are to be taught in this series can also help train librarians and library staff to be more politically aware and raise the political capital of their libraries. They are a great training tool for any library looking to ensure longstanding support from the local voters and the local politicians.

“Niche Academy creates high-quality, professional, narrated training guides for both patron orientation and staff training.” says John Chrastka, Executive Director.  “We are excited to bring their professional design and production expertise our library campaign content.” EveryLibrary’s training guides range from beginner level to advanced and don’t assume any prior knowledge of campaigns or campaigning. They are tailored to libraries in “red states” and “blue states” alike. Whether you are in small or rural community, or have a large service population and number of voters to engage, these training resources are provide a realistic, actionable, and affordable approach to campaigns and campaigning.  “Niche Academy allows us to take our experience and teaching to the next level and deliver it to libraries all across the country,” adds Chrastka.

These trainings are made possible through the generous support of our donors.

“With over 60 library campaigns and $200 million in wins, EveryLibrary’s campaign knowledge is second to none,” says Jeromy Wilson, CEO for Niche Academy. “But they know that when over 170 libraries were on the ballot last year alone, there is a great need for effective election training. We are proud to design, produce, and host these free campaign resources.” Niche Academy specializes in helping libraries train staff on new tools, services, and programs while providing them with the best patron-facing guides and orientations to encourage use, uptake, and involvement with the library. Libraries that subscribe to Niche Academy can pull these courses into their own online academy where they can track staff progress and usage. “We want to see more libraries win their Elections. It’s important to us as a company because it’s important to the people and the communities our libraries serve,” adds Wilson.

The first EveryLibrary - Niche Academy training series “10 Strategies for Community Organizing in Libraries” is available now. Narrated by Margaret Howard, this ten-step, self-paced guide takes your staff and leadership from a basic understanding of the “Ladder of Engagement” through the important steps “Power Mapping” your community to putting a unique message and call-to-action into the field. New trainings will be released throughout 2017 to help library communities and Yes campaigns anticipate fundraising, volunteer engagement, endorsements, and handling opposition. “We truly appreciate Niche Academy for designing, producing, and hosting these training tools for any library community or campaign to use for free,” says Chrastka.

About Niche Academy:

Niche Academy is an online learning platform made for libraries that includes ready-to-use tutorials for the most common library services. The tutorials walk your patrons all the way from not knowing about your resources to having a satisfying experience using them. Niche Academy maintains these ready-to-use tutorials and makes it easy for libraries to create their own tutorials and online learning academies for patrons or for staff training.

The platform also includes powerful promotional tools like website integration widgets, a social media post builder, and an image gallery for promotional graphics. These tools make it much easier for libraries to let more people know about the resources they have to offer.