Examples to Emulate

Kent District Library Transitions Its Printed Program Guide to a Community Magazine
By David Specht and Katie Zuidema
Many public library marketers face the challenge of creating interesting publications that are more than just endless program listings. The idea of not listing every single event can draw the ire of program-planning colleagues. But teams at the 20-location Kent District Library in Michigan have managed to turn their text-heavy program guide into a real community-based magazine that readers love. Co-authors David Specht and Katie Zuidema explain the transition, the thinking behind it, and the way they achieved buy-in from other staffers.

How-To

Survival Strategies for Corporate Librarians, Part 1
By Karen Kreizman Reczek
In this two-part article, uber-experienced special librarian Karen Kreizman Reczek shares valuable advice. Looking back over her career, she details various techniques she has used to measure the value of information centers where she's worked. She also begins to discuss ways to convey that value—effectively—to corporate managers and other stakeholders. She covers learning about and aligning with your parent organization, as well as using both quantitative and qualitative metrics. The second part will run in the November/December issue.

Double Feature

Promoting Curbside Service in Georgia, By Shannon Tyner
Promoting Curbside Service in Indiana, By Sam Householder
In what I've dubbed a Double Feature, I asked two public librarians to answer the same questions about how their library systems planned to promote their new curbside pickup services. Since everything works differently in today's COVID-19 world, I thought it would be useful to see two approaches side by side. These two library systems are of vastly different sizes and were closed for different lengths of time, yet both used some of the same tactics to get the word out about their partial reopenings.

How-To

Students at the University of Oklahoma Produce Videos to Help Promote Library Services
By Chelsea Julian
Every autumn, shortly after colleges are back in session, academic library marketers start to think about the end of the semester. A year ago, those in the communications department at the University of Oklahoma Libraries worked to produce a video to show students everything they'd need to know to "move in" to the main Bizzell Memorial Library to study for final exams. Since nobody communicates with students better than their peers, the library had one student worker in front of the camera and another behind it. Here's how they created a practical video without spending any extra money.

ICYMI

Two Sets of Winners; Two Conferences
By Kathy Dempsey
In this brief ICYMI, I share the winners of two of the major annual marketing and public relations awards: the PR Xchange and the John Cotton Dana competitions. There's also news about a new Library Advocacy Conference and about a change in the annual Library Marketing and Communications Conference.