Updated Card Attribution

Attribution for the library / artist / library kid on the card.

This is a big change that I hope will clear up a lot of confusion.

Previously the library that colored the card would place their logo in the bottom left corner. This was to show who colored the card.

However it was unclear to most people why the logo was there, and many people replaced the logo with their own logo because they thought they were supposed to put their own logo on the cards when they were running the program. It is a very understandable mistake.

While we never intended for a secondary logo to be placed on the cards. A lot of libraries were interested in adding their own branding to their cards. (At our library we use a lot of cards created by other libraries, but we do not add our logo to them. It is more important to us to feature the maker's logo than our own library logo. We reserve our logo for the cards that we make, and for trackers, posters, and social media posts about the program.) When we were asked about the logos, we asked libraries to keep the existing maker's logo and add their own logo above or beside the maker's logo if they felt that was necessary for them.

So what is changing?

Moving forward creators are encouraged to type their library's name on the bottom of the cards (instead of the logo). And if the card was designed by a library kid place their name up with the card title. If your art was by an artists I recommend they put the signature on the artwork itself, but you can also type their name at the top with the card title. Whether the maker is the library, a local artist, a volunteer or a library kid it is important to give them credit for the work they have done.

Do I need to change the old cards my library created?

No. Anytime we make changes, we would like them to be as painless as possible. Many of you have created hundreds of cards, and it would be a lot of work to update all of the cards each time something changes. You do not need to change the cards you have already created. But please use the new template and the new changes with your future creations. If you do decide to update some or all of your cards let me know and I will update the printable files with your updated cards.

Moving forward please use the new template and the new method of attribution.

I will be slowly updating the cards made by Dover Public Library Staff and adding the new versions to the files.

What are the benefits of changing to text instead of logo?

The text "made by ___" will make it clear to anyone who sees the cards, who made them.

The names of libraries in the logos were often unreadable.

People can search for your library now that they can read the name of your library.

Flexibility in recognizing the artist whether they are an organization, or an individual.

It is important to credit the artists who spend time making awesome art for the Reading Dragons and Friends.

And if you have library teens or kids designing cards for you, they will be so excited to see their name on the cards they designed.

If you need to place both the library name and the creators name on a card we recommend placing the library name on the bottom in the designated attribution spot, and placing the child / artist name with the Title of the Creature at the top of the card.

Updated Canva Templates

I have updated the drag and drop card templates and the blank card templates with these changes, so that the text font, size and location will be uniform across all cards. You will need to grab a new copy of the templates in Canva to get the updated version.