One of the first things on my list — handed to me seven years ago when I started at Columbus Metropolitan Library — was to promote our online databases. I remember being so baffled by that. First off, (being new to libraries) what are they? Second, why is it so hard to find them?

We have a special bookmark for staff to write down the lengthy urls for customers. That’s not anything anyone can promote.

Well the people at Gale understand much of this and are working hard to find ways to help libraries showcase these offerings. They understand that they need to partner with libraries, not just hand the promotion over to them. In fact, they’ve helped us develop a widget that doesn’t need to be housed on our website, making access super easy. They are trying to find innovative ways to solve the problem.

Now they are asking for your input. If you haven’t taken this survey on marketing tools and support, please do so. It won’t take but a minute. And when it comes to these databases, we all float together: what helps one of us helps us all.

CML Executive Director Patrick Losinski welcomes guests at the opening luncheon.

Summit Panelists Brad Mitchell, Senior Director, Ohio Appalachian Collaborative at Battelle for Kids; Dr. Clay Marsh, Director, Center for Critical Care and Respiratory Medicine, OSU Medical Center; David Harrison, President, Columbus State Community College.

OrangeBoy, Inc. President Sandy Swanson and Kim Fender, executive director, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County present:  Connecting library strategy with community impact.

The conversation was stimulating as directors tried to dig deep into what community outcomes libraries can tie ourselves to. For me, as a marketing person, there is no more important part of the storytelling than around the value of libraries. Sure we can talk about Summer Reading Club, teen services, online resources. But at the end of the day, in these times, we need to talk about …”in order to what?”

We have Summer Reading Club…but in order to what? What is our goal? How do we know it is worth the effort? Same with everything else we do.

I passionately believe in libraries…but not the library of my youth, where I went to check out a book (Miss Piggle-Wiggle, constantly, for example.) Instead, it is all about HOW we are transforming lives for the better in that slice of the pie that only libraries can deliver. That’s what I’m marketing. And that’s what this summit was about.

I’m sure LJ will post the presentations and summaries. Make sure you check them out!

My friend Sandy Swanson, of OrangeBoy Inc. (and who will do a breakout session at the Summit) shared with me an article that’s right up this alley and that I thought you would enjoy.

Community Center: 23 Reasons Why Your Library Is the Most Important Place in Town, describes a number of ways in which libraries go far beyond circulating books as the core idea. Reading the article, I can tell that it wasn’t written by a marketing person….but then, it is in Public Libraries, not  Fast Company.

Some of their thoughts:

• libraries help revitalize struggling or depressed neighborhoods and downtowns
• libraries are important partners in sustainability
• libraries serve as catalysts for addressing social problems
• libraries are important partners in child development

As a marketing person, I’d be the first to tell you that 23 are about 20 too many. But read the article and think about three that you can build a story of library value around.

Hope I’ll see you in Columbus for the Summit, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

And while you can’t get the full experience, hopefully it will give you things to think about!

She had the latest issue of Voya, the library magazine for those serving young adults. The article: “Market Your Library Like a Bookstore.” Great idea. And really good content. But. If you look at the photos, the brutal fact is that this is a long way away from a bookstore.

Do these both look like bookstores? I hate to say it, but the answer is the first one no; the second yes.

Granted libraries don’t have the same resources. But are we using that as an excuse? Plenty of small businesses who are short on resources create great visual experiences with few resources.

And the reason that this matters so much is because it is your brand.And in today’s world where keeping your market share means evolving to reflect market trends….well, using tri-fold presentation panels isn’t sending the message you hope to send. Sorry to be the one to say it.

What gets me is that it isn’t really all that hard. If we take a practiced eye and look around and really see , I’m confident that pretty much everyone would agree that these two images don’t send the same message to our public.

If you deliberately choose to embrace a brand that is represented by the first image, that is all well and good. That is your decision. But to say that these two images are remotely the same…well, as an industry we need to confront the brutal facts. Our survival depends on it.

Your thoughts?

In theory, marketing academic and public libraries should be basically the same. Sure the attributes differ, but the basic approach is probably the same. Even so, I know from hearing from many of you, that challenges at academic libraries can be great due to deeper entrenchment of the way things are.

I’ve been working with a great fellow in Great Britain, Ned Potter. Ned  works for the University of York Library, as an Academic Liaison Librarian; the subject areas he is responsible for are Music, and Theatre, Film & Television Studies. You might think that he and I could be as far apart as the Atlantic Ocean. But the moment we spoke on the phone, we could finish each other’s sentences. In other words, marketing libraries is the same the world over.

Ned shared with me two things that I thought you might find helpful:

1. He writes a blog that you might enjoy following.

2. He shared with me a presentation entitled, Marketing academic libraries in a web 2 world. You can view the presentation here, but some highlighted points:

• No one cares about the “how” — instead of the process part (“we subscribe to more than 100 databases) — focus on the value (“we can find you stuff that Google can’t”)
• It’s better to one thing properly than to end up with lots of sad, neglected profiles all over the web. (Amen!)
• And I LOVE!! this: “Marketing is not a piece of coloured paper with anything written about the library in Comic Sans. That’s just awful.”

Hopefully you can use some of this to help you in your efforts. It is a global effort, that’s for sure!

I love that it is simple, easily managed and can provide you with a consistent template for your campaigns. The first graphic gives you step-by-step ways to create your campaign. The images may be hard to read, so I’ve also posted them on google.docs. as brochure 1, brochure 2, brochure 3.

The campaign starts with identifying your goals, your target community, key messages (content), top tools (channels for the message), conversations (how are you listening to what people are saying) and conversation (metrics for succes).

Here’s another visual to show that the process around this planning: “identify your target community for this campaign. Combine one or more components from each category, build out consistent themed content, contruct and engage in conversations to get optimum conversion.”

Finally this graphic allows you to define your specific plan. If you use one piece of this, use this one. It beautifully maps out a process for you.

Good luck and hope you like this tool!

I first saw their video and was impressed by the good work. So I called up Matt Poland, CEO of HPL, and asked him to give me the back story about their new logo and the video. 

Here are some of his thoughts.

Their work started with the challenging question of: “what is the library of the 21^st century?” They had just opened a beautiful new facility that took ten years to build. But over that time, the library brand has shifted dramatically. So they started to think.

The key was to work on new strategic plan which would require a whole rebranding campaign. They started talking with people about the future of the library, and the notion of library as gathering place was underscored again and again. Even to the point where they heard:  it’s a place to grapple with the issues that face us…like this one!

So as they started to think about a new logo and identity they kept coming back to the idea of place. That led to the development of the image of a staircase (in the logo) and the tag:  a place like no other – place to dream, look for work, be educated, thrive together, build a great relationships …this is what the library is becoming. 

They developed this brand statement: 

Hartford Public Library provides an innovative mix of accessible and enriching resources that empower and inspire individuals, drive literacy and fuel cultural development.

Through its physical and virtual spaces HPL extends unique, welcoming and reliable platforms that encourage discovery, confidence and growth.

In its commitment to the community, HPL plants the seeds that will cultivate long-lasting opportunities for a prosperous social, cultural, financial and educational future 

Matt offered his contact information in case any of you would like to pursue this further with him: mpoland@hplct@org. Good stuff!

This you can’t miss: LJ ’s Third Annual Directors Summit. And this year it will be held in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio! Most important, the summit takes the next step in a progression from year 1 (fundraising) to year 2 (marketing) to year 3: Moving from Outputs to Outcomes.

Mark your calendars for Monday – Tuesday, December 5 and 6.

In today’s world libraries have to find new ways to deliver our value message. Circulation, visits, program attendance are no longer adequate. In a fiercely competitive world, voters, funders, the public want to know the difference we are making. I’m the first to tell you, it isn’t easy.

But the Summit offers up outside perspectives, new tools and ideas to generate meaningful discussion. I attended last year’s Summit, and it was probably the best library gathering I’ve attended. That means…co-hosting this year’s…I have a lot to live up to!

So think about coming and I hope to see you here!