EDUCATIONAL PUBLICITY 989 



staff members in the several divisions. Such a publication might carry 

 news items regarding the programs of park systems in other cities. 



The commissioner of parks of the Borough of the Bronx, New York City, 

 issues such a publication usually in magazine form and believes that the 

 slight cost involved for such a publicity medium is money well invested. 



A similar type of publication edited from the point of view of the users 

 of the facilities in the parks is valuable both as publicity and as a means 

 of stimulating interest among the patrons. The preparation of material 

 and the editing and distributing of the paper has high recreational-educa- 

 tional value as a form of activity. The newspaper prepared by the boys 

 and girls who use the facilities of the Evanston, Illinois, recreation system 

 has aroused nation-wide interest among park and recreation officials. 



(i) Publication of annual report. It is greatly to be regretted that every 

 park department in the United States does not issue a printed annual 

 report, not so much because of its value as local publicity, although impor- 

 tant as such if judiciously distributed, but because it makes readily available 

 a current history by years of the department and facilitates exchange of 

 information among park departments in various cities. Due to the wave 

 of economy during the war, and continued since that time to a greater or 

 less degree, many park departments which formerly issued excellent reports 

 no longer do so. It is strongly recommended that every park department 

 which can possibly squeeze money enough from its budget to print an annual 

 report, issue one. 



(/) Signs. The securing of publicity through signs is universally prac- 

 ticed to a more or less extensive degree by park departments. The type of 

 signs thought of in this connection include direction signs showing the 

 way to leading areas or the facilities of the system, name signs at main 

 entrances to areas, direction signs within areas, along driveways and walks, 

 signs which give positive instructional information, such as labels on trees 

 or on boards at flower beds or groups of shrubbery, and names of specimens 

 in the zoo. There is a type of sign, however, which has a directing-restrain- 

 ing intent and is closely related to the policing of the area. 



(k) Bulletin board. The bulletin board is a fundamental necessity in 

 connection with all types of active recreation areas. It is in a certain sense 

 an immobile news sheet and will be in constant use during the active season 

 for announcements, posting of rules and regulations and for standings of 

 organized teams and of players in tournaments and for many other purposes. 



(/) Publicity by word of mouth as a result of the merit of services rendered. 

 While all the forms of publicity mentioned are important, in the last analysis 

 the best publicity is the worth of the services rendered by the department 

 and the resultant personal commendations that people make to one another 



