Our DVD Donation campaign: help put the DVD in a Library near you

[nakymaton]

Funny, I had this same conversation with Dave last night via email. My concern is twofild:

1. How well does it get people involved in the project (I think a lot of people don't understand the concept right away)?

2. How is it going to play in the press and at other places we might want to solicit people to participate (other BBM discussion groups)?

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

To me, the goal is to give rural people the opportunity to see BBM. (It never expanded wide enough to reach towns of less than 10,000 people (ref: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/robert_w_butler/14160402.htm), except for college towns.) It really is a rural movie; I connect to it as a small-town girl, even though I don't know what it's like to be a gay man in a rural community. I think it would resonate with small-town America, if people had the opportunity to see it, and if they gave it a chance.

Rural folks rarely get the chance to see "art house" movies unless they win Best Picture at the Oscars. This is a great movie, and people should be able to see it.

Regarding the word "missionary": We're not going to be knocking on doors and handing out copies of the DVD or of Close Range, and we're not sending postcards to everyone in town inviting them to see the movie and then come to a special Homosexual Agenda Indoctrination Event. (And that's in contrast to the behavior of conservative Christians: I got a postcard from a local church which invited me to see Narnia with them and then attend a special church service, and I've had plenty of missionaries knock on my door and try to give me copies of their recruitment literature.) The word "missionary," to me, feels like a joke --  after all, the anti-gay people are going to spin this as an attempt to force the "homosexual agenda" down the throats of "real Americans" anyway, so why not call it that ourselves?  But maybe we would be better off choosing a label that doesn't feed their assumptions.

Other potential words: outreach? opportunity? Or something generic, like the "library donation project"?

[imennisshesjack]

Wonderful ideas all around! I have a vested interest in this since I am a Memorials and Gift Donations Coordinator for the Beaverton City Library in Beaverton Oregon. I deal with these kinds of gifts all the time.

A couple of hints:

(1) When calling a library, ask if they have someone who coordinates gifts (like me). That person should know the library's rules and policies regarding donations. You don't want to buy a  copy just to find it gets donated somewhere else because they have rules for limiting donations.

(2) Find out if they actually need a copy. Some libraries already have them on order (our system has only ordered four copies, but there are already over 200 holds).

(3) Ask if bookplates can be inserted with the website's name. Some video cases are hard to put bookplates in, or the library may not do that. Most do though.

What a great idea!

Carol <--so if I donate copies to my own library, do I send myself a thank you note??? 

[KathyinBama]

I think we do need to address one real problem with donations to a public library - parts of the public who don't like them may remove them.  I was on the board of our public library for several years and we had fits with folks who would check out books that felt were "offensive" and then not return them.  They would pay the fine for a lost book, but the book (if we repurchased it) would be out of circulation for months and then the cycle would start over.  Keeping a copy of "Are you there God, it is me, Margaret" by Judy Blume in the teens section proved nearly impossible.  I worry that donating a copy of Brokeback Mountain to the library community will result in it being snatched off the shelf immediately and destroyed by some, well for lack of a better word, nut.  I think we need to address what we do in this instance.  I am happy, more than happy, to donate a copy to my local library (which is pretty rural and which I can pretty much guarantee you will not buy it), but I do want folks to be prepared that we may not get as many people to see the film as we hope. 

[Sharyn]

Funny, I had this same conversation with Dave last night via email. My concern is twofild:

1. How well does it get people involved in the project (I think a lot of people don't understand the concept right away)?

2. How is it going to play in the press and at other places we might want to solicit people to participate (other BBM discussion groups)?

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

To me, the goal is to give rural people the opportunity to see BBM. (It never expanded wide enough to reach towns of less than 10,000 people (ref: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/columnists/robert_w_butler/14160402.htm), except for college towns.) It really is a rural movie; I connect to it as a small-town girl, even though I don't know what it's like to be a gay man in a rural community. I think it would resonate with small-town America, if people had the opportunity to see it, and if they gave it a chance.

Rural folks rarely get the chance to see "art house" movies unless they win Best Picture at the Oscars. This is a great movie, and people should be able to see it.

Regarding the word "missionary": We're not going to be knocking on doors and handing out copies of the DVD or of Close Range, and we're not sending postcards to everyone in town inviting them to see the movie and then come to a special Homosexual Agenda Indoctrination Event. (And that's in contrast to the behavior of conservative Christians: I got a postcard from a local church which invited me to see Narnia with them and then attend a special church service, and I've had plenty of missionaries knock on my door and try to give me copies of their recruitment literature.) The word "missionary," to me, feels like a joke --  after all, the anti-gay people are going to spin this as an attempt to force the "homosexual agenda" down the throats of "real Americans" anyway, so why not call it that ourselves?  But maybe we would be better off choosing a label that doesn't feed their assumptions.

Other potential words: outreach? opportunity? Or something generic, like the "library donation project"?

Hi-- I'm a team member for this project and understand everyone's concerns-- I have my own feelings across the board about this and personally agree with nakymaton-- The Christian Right totally jumped on the Narnia Bandwagon and if "missionary" is making fun of them and what they do and they will turn against it, I only think that maybe they aren't turned for it to begin with.   But as I've told a fellow team member, we really could debate this for days.

The most important thing now is focus ourselves on a new approach.  I like the "library donation project" with maybe a tagline that states our goal of sharing the experience of BBM, reaching out, providing the opportunity to rural americal?   Something simple like Library Donation Project will get folks to the thread and is easy to understand and the tag line will help solidify our purpose and set us apart from the "missionary" concern/mimicry/discomfort many are feeling.

The team along with Peteinportland are discussing this and encourage more ideas.
Thanks!
 

[Sharyn]

I think we do need to address one real problem with donations to a public library - parts of the public who don't like them may remove them.  I was on the board of our public library for several years and we had fits with folks who would check out books that felt were "offensive" and then not return them.  They would pay the fine for a lost book, but the book (if we repurchased it) would be out of circulation for months and then the cycle would start over.  Keeping a copy of "Are you there God, it is me, Margaret" by Judy Blume in the teens section proved nearly impossible.  I worry that donating a copy of Brokeback Mountain to the library community will result in it being snatched off the shelf immediately and destroyed by some, well for lack of a better word, nut.  I think we need to address what we do in this instance.  I am happy, more than happy, to donate a copy to my local library (which is pretty rural and which I can pretty much guarantee you will not buy it), but I do want folks to be prepared that we may not get as many people to see the film as we hope. 

Love the reference to Judy Blume's classic!   This is a valid concern-- may I ask how many years ago you were on the board? I'm from suburbia and while I'm sure this happened in my conservative north jersey town, I am unfamilar with rural life. I'm wondering if some sort of protocol has been put in place to curb this sort of thing or is it just an understood phenomana in the Library world? Maybe if we ask the libraries we wish to donate to what their experience with this sort of thing has been and what types of protocols are in place to stop it to weigh if its worth it? <just thinking out loud here>

Anyone else?

[KathyinBama]

I think we do need to address one real problem with donations to a public library - parts of the public who don't like them may remove them.  I was on the board of our public library for several years and we had fits with folks who would check out books that felt were "offensive" and then not return them.  They would pay the fine for a lost book, but the book (if we repurchased it) would be out of circulation for months and then the cycle would start over.  Keeping a copy of "Are you there God, it is me, Margaret" by Judy Blume in the teens section proved nearly impossible.  I worry that donating a copy of Brokeback Mountain to the library community will result in it being snatched off the shelf immediately and destroyed by some, well for lack of a better word, nut.  I think we need to address what we do in this instance.  I am happy, more than happy, to donate a copy to my local library (which is pretty rural and which I can pretty much guarantee you will not buy it), but I do want folks to be prepared that we may not get as many people to see the film as we hope. 

Love the reference to Judy Blume's classic!   This is a valid concern-- may I ask how many years ago you were on the board? I'm from suburbia and while I'm sure this happened in my conservative north jersey town, I am unfamilar with rural life. I'm wondering if some sort of protocol has been put in place to curb this sort of thing or is it just an understood phenomana in the Library world? Maybe if we ask the libraries we wish to donate to what their experience with this sort of thing has been and what types of protocols are in place to stop it to weigh if its worth it? <just thinking out loud here>

Anyone else?

I think that is a great idea.  Oh, and I went off the board four years ago, so this is a relatively recent experience.

[Wheatfields]

Funny, I had this same conversation with Dave last night via email. My concern is twofild:

1. How well does it get people involved in the project (I think a lot of people don't understand the concept right away)?

2. How is it going to play in the press and at other places we might want to solicit people to participate (other BBM discussion groups)?

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks!

First, I don't think we'll lose any meaning by replacing "missionary" with outreach or some other word.

"Get the DVD into libraries like missionaries did w/ their bibles". Not the best wording.

Some of the earliest missionaries, as noble as they were God bless them, used a very top-down approach in spreading their word and didn't assimilate parts of the local culture that could've enhanced the message. They tried to convert the local population to following their Western way of life.

In our times, I don't mind people passing out Bibles, but when we put "missionaries" and "the Bible" togther, it gives me an image of people trying too hard to push their own message down other's throats. There's no reason why we need to draw an analogy between our DVD campaign and some religious effort. My impression about missionary is totally opposite of BBM's approach, which doesn't hit us on the head but give us space to interpret the movie on our own.

In particular, many in the GLBT community have been deeply hurt by the non-inclusiveness of their churches. So I would drop references to missionary and Bible.
 

[NWWaguy]

 In particular, many in the GLBT community have been deeply hurt by the non-inclusiveness of their churches. So I would drop references to missionary and Bible.

  Amen! 

[imennisshesjack]

yes, a bookplate that can be attached to the inside of the dvd case or book would be great. 

this could be as simple as an image which is printed on a sheet of sticky labels.  we could carry over the "thank you" theme of our first ad campaign, advertise this web site, whatever.

As I posted earlier, since I do this for a living, PLEASE do not put your own bookplate in.
Libraries might have strict policies about what is in an item before they add it to their collection.

Thanks!
Carol

[CactusGal]

I too think a more generic name is in order.  The last thing we want is to turn anyone off from donating because of the project's name.  I know the intentions were good, but for me, missionary does bring up religion -- too many years of religious education I guess. 

I do think that a large part of this project is to get our website on the DVD or case -- because it's important not only to bring the availability of the movie to those who don't have access to it, but to provide a support group.       

[peteinportland]

So, what name is in order? I've seen one suggestion. Any others? Remember, we want it to state what we are doing and catch people's attention. Sometimes simple is best so the first suggestion may work.

Any other ideas?

[brendisch]

DVD Outreach Program?

Or simply DVD Donation Program?

I saw the "missionary" title as our way of doing the exact same "missionary"work of spreading the word of their god. This is our way of spreading the word of this story/movie.

I understand that -- my uneasiness isn't with the project; it's with calling it a "missionary" project. I'd leave any religious connotations out of it, personally. Maybe nobody else is concerned about this? Just thought I'd mention it.

Cara

Funny, I had this same conversation with Dave last night via email. My concern is twofild:

1. How well does it get people involved in the project (I think a lot of people don't understand the concept right away)?

2. How is it going to play in the press and at other places we might want to solicit people to participate (other BBM discussion groups)?

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks!

[CactusGal]

Either Library Donation Project or DVD Donati on Project are my choice -- I'm liking the first a little more -- gives the reader more info.

[Wheatfields]

Agree.
My head's a little fuzzy right now, but keeping it simple, direct, and informative will be the best.
Just play around with "donate", "DVD", "library", "project".

I'm sure people will easily get the point of the project, and Pete can write up one of those nice, eloquent, proclamations to say more about our purpose and the outreach for people to get more details.

[pauline]

I would like to donate to the DVD fund but you only use credit cards or Pay Pal, you really should have a way that people could send cash, like me.