I love holidays, but because I work with libraries and love libraries, one of my favorites is National Library Week. The celebration, set for April 3-9, is a time to highlight America's libraries and library workers' contributions and promote library use and support. My social media feed predictably will be filled with tributes to my favorite industry and the people who work in it. And it’s time to start thinking now about how your library can use the visibility the week provides to demonstrate the value of your work.
You know that libraries are important. You know libraries change lives. And you believe your community members understand the essential nature of your service. The truth is this: although there are plenty of people who would call themselves fans of your library, cardholders don’t necessarily understand the breadth and depth of your services.
They don’t know how you help craft the resume of the single parent looking to get a better job so they can provide a more stable future for their family. They don’t have any idea that you offer after-school homework help or teach young children to love reading. They don’t have a clue that your building is the only safe space for a teenager to hang out. That’s why it’s important to advocate for your library, not just when you have a levy or bond issue on the ballot or when you need to raise money. Library advocacy must be a regular part of your promotional calendar. And LibraryAware makes this work easy! Here are three things you can do in LibraryAware to get ready for National Library Week.
1. Create a beautiful infographic to highlight your library’s value. Just type the word infographic in the LibraryAware homepage search bar and pick the template that works best for your library.
Western Sullivan Public Library used a LibraryAware template to help their community understand the value and popularity of their services. “The infographic template saved us so much time, especially because nobody on staff is a graphic designer," said library director Audra Everett. “It was easy to make small tweaks to fit in the statistics we wanted to report.” Everett shared her creation electronically, on social media, and in print.
2. Use your most effective tactic: email. Create an e-blast to highlight your promotional campaign. If your library sends NextReads newsletters, add a section and insert your infographic. NextReads newsletters are easy to customize.
Don’t forget to email your infographic to your local, state, and federal legislators. You can personalize the message and invite local elected officials to your library to see your work in person. They’ll be more than happy to have a photo or video taken of their visit. It’s good publicity for them, and for your library.
You can use LibraryAware e-blast or e-newsletter templates to announce the details of your advocacy campaign to your staff. Explain your library's goals and how you’ll be measuring the success of your campaign. Tell staff where they’ll see promotions. Then, give them some talking points so they can answer questions and amplify your message during patron interactions.
3. Get your social media posts ready and scheduled early. LibraryAware customers can pull key points out of their infographic and create widgets to catch the attention of scrollers. Atlantic County Library System is sharing beautiful graphics on social media, including Instagram, to educate their followers about the impact of their library.
Bonus tip: Use these three promotional tips as steppingstones to gather stories about the impact of your library on your community. Ask your social media followers or email recipients to share how your library has affected their lives. Those stories will add an element of emotion that helps make your promotional messages more memorable.
Angela Hursh is Senior Engagement Consultant for NoveList. She is listening to Hell of a Book by Jason Mott and reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles.
