Cookbooks and recipes are fascinating cultural artifacts. Not only do they give us the chance to glimpse the day-to-day lives of people years or even centuries ago, they show us how the foods we often take for granted evolve from their most basic to the heights of cuisine. On top of that, older recipes typically rely on cooking skills which have fallen by the wayside in a world of digital scales and scientific accuracy: ‘Pinches’ and ‘pours’ are shorthand which assumes the cook is tasting as they work and help to actually teach cooking instead of just formula following. As collections of history, culture, and food, cookbooks are something people of the future will look to when they need help understanding us and our lives.
There are a lot of reasons to create a community cookbook, from fundraising to cultural preservation, clubs or seasonal activities to community outreach. Whatever your reason is, there are some steps you should follow to ensure smooth sailing in the planning phase, community input, and–finally–success. These are some ideas, processes, and resources you should consider no matter what type of cookbook you want to publish for your library.
Gather Your Team
Even the smallest cookbook projects should have clearly delineated duties and responsibilities. Be sure to include both library representatives and club or community members, and plan for plenty of space and time to brainstorm. Think about including local businesses or cultural institutions when applicable, expanding both your capabilities and recipe roster down the road. Many restaurants will be happy to share a recipe or even sponsor the project for a bit of advertising space.
Set a Budget for the Cookbook Production
Your budget can restrict what you can do with your community cookbook project. For the lowest-cost with the highest flexibility, consider a digital cookbook. But for many projects, the artifact itself is the valuable part: People who buy cookbooks like to buy books, so for fundraising projects, you should put out something, even if it’s made in house out of cheap card stock with no pictures. Larger budgets should look first to local printing companies, then to cookbook publishing companies for fancier products and color printing.
Knowing what funding you have to work with and why you’re making the cookbook will make decision-making a breeze as the project continues. Don’t sweat hardcovers and high-gloss prints if you don’t have the budget: People will be happy to have the cultural artifact in the end, and that’s what is most important.
Define Your Theme
This might be the most critical decision you and your team make. Will you create an intimate community cookbook of family favorites or a collection of specific ethnic recipes from, say, the local Vietnamese community? How big will it be? Will this be a one-time activity or become a tradition? Is this for a specific season or celebration? Questions like these will help guide you to your finished product. Consider in-house publication for repeated cookbook activities to add both charm and make the product familiar for those who collect or give them as gifts. Think about making smaller, season-specific books if you’re doing a seasonal or club-related cookbook so people can choose which sort of recipes they’re interested in and purchase accordingly.
Cover Creation and Gathering Recipes
It’s said that first impressions are everything. And while there is also advice not to judge a book by its cover, cookbooks want you to. This is one place that spending can really help: Hire a graphic artist and purchase glossy, colorful prints. Make your theme clear with images that evoke the season, ethnicity, and food contained within. If you have a cooking club, they can help by making and presenting some of the more impressive recipes for a cover photo. If graphics or color isn’t an option, look to older cookbooks for inspiration on how to format your cover for maximum impact. The recipes you gather will guide this process, first and foremost.
You’ve already defined your theme, but now you have to execute that theme. Give your folks time and options: Make an online form to send out with the newsletter, but also provide printed forms for those interested in writing their recipes, and even take some time to transcribe recipes for those who might not know how to write them. And time is key. Give people a month or more of warning so they can start thinking about which recipes they want to share. It can be an emotional process for some as they remember lost loved ones or relive their childhood with the help of yellowed pages or almost-forgotten magazine clippings.
Promote Your Cookbook
This is a no-brainer if you’re looking to raise some funds, but even if your cookbook is free, be sure to let your patrons know! This is an opportunity to plug your community, club, or library activities with something physical: Even if your cookbook is digital, the food within will spur a reaction. With just a little promotional effort, you can bring more people into cooking clubs and the library. Even if your library isn’t public, a cookbook reminds the people who pick it up that your institution is there. College and school libraries especially should consider putting together a small cookbook for Thanksgiving or the winter holidays. Such items make great stocking stuffers for adults and help connect parents to the school.
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