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Thanks to Don and Sharon for summarizing. Very much agree with the point that Sharon makes about our own identities. Alaska will be using both the Library of Congress Center for the Book logo for Alaska, as well as our own locally developed logo. It was gifted to us by a local Alaskan Artist, and we would not want to stop using that logo. So we'll be using both.

Page Brannon
President, Board of Directors
Alaska Center for the Book

On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 10:15 AM Sharon Shaloo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Don states well the case.  I agree completely. But I also have to believe that we were talking past one another yesterday because so much of it doesn't make sense to me.

We surely can't be asked to replace our local branding with a logo that we have already been told we can't use on a program that LOC has distanced itself from (Letters About Literature). And if we want to talk about a unified visual identity for the network, I have to note that this would be an incredibly big lift.  NEH and NEA don't ask this of the state organizations/agencies they actually fund to be affiliates in the states.  Here all of us are raising our own funds to run our centers, making agreements with funders and hosts to help us, etc.  Surely we have to be able to create branding that recognizes who is paying for what we do, right? 

That's why I have to believe this is some miscommunication because none of that makes any sense.  Massachusetts is happy and proud to add the affiliate brand to our literature, esp when we get the grayscale version, but it will be -- as Don so well said -- a seal added to our visual identity.   

/Sharon 

*********
Sharon Shaloo, Executive Director
Mass Center for the Book 
617.872.3718 (office)


On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 1:39 PM Donald Boozer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I wanted to convey my understanding on this part of yesterday's conversation and share some thoughts...

First, I want to thank Guy for walking us through all this about the LoC logo, Affiliate logos, local logos, etc. That's given me a much better idea of the direction he'd like us to go but also highlighted the issues/concerns many of us are dealing with. Let me briefly restate my understanding of our conversation yesterday:

1. If we want to use the Library of Congress logo, we need to get permission. I'll refer to this as the LC Logo. (I don't foresee having to use this one.)
2. We can use the Library of Congress Center for the Book [State] Affiliate logos that Guy sent out anywhere we want with no further permission. I'll refer to this as the Affiliate Logo.
3. Guy "encourages" the phasing out of any locally-produced logos for any [State] Center for the Book. I'll refer to this as the Local Logo.

Do I have a correct understanding of the situation?

I like the idea of more visible branding associating the [State] Center for the Book more closely with the Library of Congress.
I like the idea of getting a consistent brand across all the states' Centers for the Book.

However..

The Affiliate Logo by itself doesn't have "[State] Center for the Book": "Ohio Center for the Book," "Georgia Center for the Book," "Alaska Center for the Book" etc. It's "Library of Congress Center for the Book [State] Affiliate." Using a logo with one wording but calling ourselves the other seems problematic from a branding perspective.

While I really like the idea of binding the network closer together visually, losing the ability to tout each of us as a "State Center for the Book" in our Local Logos loses some of the home state impact.

Would it be possible to use the Affiliate Logo as something akin to the Newberry Seal? Something we can use to show our membership in the exclusive network? The Affiliate Logo being the "award" we have as members; the local name ([State] Center for the Book) and logo being our "title"?

These are just some of the thoughts and concerns I had thinking about yesterday's meeting, and thought I'd start a thread if anyone else would like to share theirs.

Thanks!
Don

Don Boozer
Manager, Literature Department | Homebound Services
Coordinator, The Ohio Center for the Book
Cleveland Public Library
325 Superior Avenue NE | Cleveland, OH 44114
216-902-4947 (office)

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--
Page Brannon
Associate Professor, Head, Instruction and Research Services
Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage
907.786.1873, [log in to unmask]
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers