Module 1- assignment 1

A new library is opening in your city. The eight-story building has 2.1 million square feet of floor space, and it will house 1.5 million books. Although the numbers are impressive, the public can’t really identify with "millions." If you were writing a news release for the new library, what comparisons or analogies would you use to give these figures meaning for the average person?


I would begin by localizing the story and connecting this event to another local event to unify the events in the community, and help the public better understand the facts and statistics of the newest event. In this situation, I would connect the library opening to Summerfest as it is timely; and being the 'number one music festival in the world,' the local public will be able to easily identify with it. The Summerfest grounds sit on 75 acres, and when converted to acres, the square footage of the new library covers about 48 acres (48.2 exactly). I would explain that the new library takes up over half of the Summerfest grounds and houses enough books to distribute one and a half to everyone in attendance in 2015 (772, 652 people), and still have more books left over (even though you wouldn't give a person half of a book). 

Local public will be able to easily associate the magnitude of the new library with Summerfest because more likely than not, they have been to the Summerfest grounds at some point. Although the general public would not be expected to know the statistics of Summerfest attendance in 2015, the fact that it proclaims to be the number one musical festival in the world is; and that allows people obtain an easily understandable idea of how many books this new library can hold.