We Facebook, we tweet, we blog ourselves into a stupor . . . Yet sometimes we feel our patrons aren’t drawn to our blogs and tweets. We have so much we want to tell them, but How, oh How, might we capture their attention?

Well. At some point, nearly every library patron, no matter who he or she may be, will have to pee . . .

So Odum Library began posting a newsletter, the Odum Commodum, in every one of our 65 bathroom stalls, and above every urinal, We post 2 issues about twice each month.

Following FSU’s example, we ran a contest to let students name the newsletter. We received 375 entries, an unprecedented response! Why did this never occur to us before, combining a money prize with scatological humor?

We find it’s better to feature a collection, rather than individual titles (which might be immediately checked out).

tinyurl.com/OdumChattinyurl. com/OdumBugstinyurl.com/OdumAbe

It’s a good idea to use custom URLs in the newsletter (they’re easy to make at tinyurl.com). That way students can remember them, or easily plug them into their cell phones and PDAs, without having to remember or text a long URL.

We had a couple complaints about people using their phones in the restrooms . . . They were taking pictures of QR codes. Maybe the QR codes aren’t such a good idea for the bathroom stalls . . .

If there’s a lot of information about an event, it’s better to use just the bare bones in the newsletter, so people can read it quickly, and direct them elsewhere for more extensive information . . .

Like this

$22.30

$14.79

I like to use crrrrrazy typefaces, but I also have to edit myself and think about readability.

We didn’t see an increase in graffiti because of the Commodum (we don’t get a lot of graffiti anyhow), but we do have a problem in the men’s rooms with guys tearing them off the wall.

What is it with the guys in the restroom stalls? Why do they tear down the Commodum? I’ve never been in there myself of course, but a colleague tells me the guys are transformed in there into Hulk-like creatures and they can’t help tearing stuff up.

Maureen Puffer-RothenbergAuthority Control & Description of AV ResourcesOdum Library, Valdosta State UniversityValdosta GA 31698 mpuffer@valdosta.edu

--with the support of the Valdosta State University

Office of Faculty Scholarship