[libreoffice-marketing] Public libraries can be a good entry point for raising open source awareness

I work as the public geek at a public library in Maryland. Libraries can be a good entry point for 
open source. My library has been committed to open source 
for more than 25 years, so my place on work is already fully on board already, but I visit other 
public libraries in the Washington DC-area to nudge them forward. 

For raising open source awareness using public libraries I recommend these steps: 

1. Get to know the staff at your local public library. Find out how open minded they are. If they 
are not so open minded, don't try to change them. Just move 
on. They are not worth your time. 

If they are open minded, tell them that you'd like to volunteer to teach a workshop on LibreOffice. 
For me, LibreOffice Draw is the most enjoyable entry point. 
I use the speech bubbles (callouts) in Draw on top of funny animal photos from the web. Kids love 
it if you ask them, "What do you think this dog is saying? 
What is this elephant saying? What is this monkey saying?" Then, type their text into the speech 
bubble, print it out -- and they become a walking testimonial 
for LibreOffice. 

2. Point out to library staff that open source promotes digital inclusion. You can share with them 
an article I wrote for PCWorld magazine, back in 2011. 
"Does Free Software Promote Dignity." A link to his article can be found on my opensource.com 
profile page at [ https://opensource.com/users/pshapiro | https://opensource.com/users/pshapiro ] 

3. For the past year, I've been having a blast using LibreOffice Calc to create a fun, free 
paper-based math game which promotes conversations about numbers 
around the dining room table. See [ http://pairsmathgame.com/ | http://pairsmathgame.com ] . and 
the recent article I wrote for Computers in Libraries magazine, accessible here. 
[ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EpAYR-YHrOEvc6aBSykYK5-92Z5ucKNl/view?usp=sharing | 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EpAYR-YHrOEvc6aBSykYK5-92Z5ucKNl/view?usp=sharing ] 

4. Public libraries, by definition, are interested in storytelling. Did you know you can 
LibreOffice Draw to do 8K storytelling on YouTube? See my example 
video at [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsgg4hgjdoY | 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsgg4hgjdoY ] 

Hope this helps, 

Phil Shapiro 
Silver Spring, Maryland 



-- 
-- 
Phil Shapiro, [ mailto:pshapiro@his.com | pshapiro@his.com ] 
[ https://opensource.com/users/pshapiro | https://opensource.com/users/pshapiro ] 
https://pairsmathgame.com 
[ http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/stories.menu.html | http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/stories.menu.html ] 

He/Him/His 

"Wisdom begins with wonder." - Socrates 
"Learning happens thru gentleness." 
"We must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we can choose from real options." David Suzuki 


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