At a Glance
Pentwater Township Library
Pentwater, MI
Institution Type:
Public Libraries
Related Products:
LibraryAware
Overview
Pentwater, Michigan, is located on the beautiful coast of Lake Michigan, just blocks away from Charles Mears State Park. The community swells with visitors during the summer, drawing people from all over the U.S. and countries like France, Germany, and Switzerland.
In this picturesque location, one small library is open year-round to serve tourists and about 2,000 permanent residents. The Pentwater Township Library was founded in 1855 and will celebrate its 170th birthday on February 12, 2025.
Mary Barker has worked as director of the library for 9 years. She’s seen a lot of changes in marketing and communications during that time.
“When I started in 2015, marketing was pretty traditional, and it took a lot of time to create materials,” Mary recalls. “Many times, our newsletters were old news by the time they were printed and bulk mailed. But with LibraryAware, everything changed! Now we can produce high-quality newsletters, flyers, and emails in a fraction of the time. It’s been such a game changer that we use it every single day.”
Consistency is key to successful library promotions
Mary says before she started to use LibraryAware for her promotions, her library struggled with consistent design.
"We offer a wide range of programs and want to ensure they’re well attended,” explains Mary. “But with so much happening in the community — school events, government meetings, and local organizations — it can be hard to stand out.”
“We're not graphic designers. But LibraryAware has helped us keep our promotions consistent and eye-catching. It’s always a balancing act to reach everyone, but this works great for us.”
Mary and her team used LibraryAware’s suite of Summer Reading templates this year, creating matching posters, reading logs, social media posts, and more. The collection of templates ensured that Pentwater Township Library maintained the same look and feel across promotional platforms.
And now, the library is amid their Winter Reading program. Their promotional material was ready more than a month in advance thanks to LibraryAware.
“LibraryAware has the cutest templates,” says Mary. “For Winter Reading, we are using one with a little fox and owls, which we personalized by naming the owls after our winter owl library mascots. (The mother and baby owls are ‘Owlmighty Athena’ and ‘Baby Puff.’) The templates are so customizable, and they help us create a cohesive theme that our patrons recognize and love. We even use the same imagery across posters, flyers, and digital platforms, so it feels like one big event.”
“Everything is professional. Our branding is consistent. They can look at it and know it's from us!”
Templates make every promotion easy
When Mary’s library does collection promotion, they find LibraryAware makes it easy, with book covers that connect to the library’s catalog so readers can place a hold.
"All of the cover art just clicks into place: No spending hours searching for book covers on the internet. I'm not worried about infringing on copyright. LibraryAware makes our time so much more productive."
"All of the cover art just clicks into place: No spending hours searching for book covers on the internet. I'm not worried about infringing on copyright. LibraryAware makes our time so much more productive."
“And I can tell you that everything circulates better if it's on one of those LibraryAware signs because they know it's new. They know it's something immensely popular.”
Pentwater Library also uses LibraryAware to send emails to its community of readers. Their emails have an above-average opening rate of 60 percent. Mary says LibraryAware makes it easy to create emails that resonate with her community of readers.
“The templates make it so easy to include book cover art and create engaging visuals,” explains Mary. “It’s saved us time and money, and we love how it keeps us connected with our patrons, especially when we have unexpected closures due to weather.”
She adds, “Don’t be afraid to experiment with the templates — there are so many ways to customize them for your library’s unique needs! There is not another program that has so many ways to market books and library programs.”
LibraryAware is easy for all staff to use, no matter their design expertise
Like many small libraries, Mary’s team members wear many hats. The assistant director manages the library’s finances but also creates promotions for programs and posts to the library’s website using LibraryAware. A library assistant who manages programs and musical performances also promotes those events using LibraryAware. The staff member who runs the adult book clubs uses LibraryAware to create her marketing materials. Even the library’s high school-age employees use LibraryAware to create flyers.
“Everyone has their strengths,” says Mary. “With LibraryAware, we can all contribute to the library’s success. We are a team, and to be successful we work together on most of our larger projects like the Summer Reading Program.”
“With a small staff, we are all juggling multiple roles, but LibraryAware helps us stay organized. We divided the tasks by interest, so each staff member helps manage the promotions for their area, but they also step up and will make a flyer for when the unexpected happens, or we are in a rush to get another program that was just created.”
“With a small staff, we are all juggling multiple roles, but LibraryAware helps us stay organized. We divided the tasks by interest, so each staff member helps manage the promotions for their area, but they also step up and will make a flyer for when the unexpected happens, or we are in a rush to get another program that was just created.”
“The templates make it easy to create professional materials quickly, so we can focus on the bigger picture while keeping our patrons informed and engaged. Plus, the cover art feature is an immense help — patrons recognize the books visually, which makes finding them easier. That’s the feature I love the most."
Mary encourages her team to watch LibraryAware’s training videos to keep their skills sharp. She also appreciates the support team who are there to answer any questions.
“The [support] team at LibraryAware, they really answer your questions and are very helpful,” says Mary. “I always have support if something's not happening, and I don't have to call very often, but when I do, they help you.”
Library promotions that make an impact
Mary says her library's marketing has helped drive visits and circulation. She knows that LibraryAware is perfect to help small libraries like hers.
It has been nothing short of wonderful,” exclaims Mary. “Before LibraryAware, creating materials took weeks, and our previous email system’s costs kept rising. Now, we can easily design and send emails, create flyers, and promote events in a short amount of time. It has streamlined our entire process and fits perfectly within our small budget.”
“We absolutely love using LibraryAware. It’s become such an integral part of our daily operations, and we’re so grateful for how it’s helped us improve our communication and outreach. It’s especially valuable for a small library like ours, where we’re all juggling multiple roles."
“We absolutely love using LibraryAware. It’s become such an integral part of our daily operations, and we’re so grateful for how it’s helped us improve our communication and outreach. It’s especially valuable for a small library like ours, where we’re all juggling multiple roles."
"We can create beautiful, professional materials quickly and easily, which allows us to focus more on serving our community and less on the mechanics of promotion. It’s truly been a transformative tool for us!”