One of the hardest parts about working in a library is the bureaucracy! It can slow everything down, including approval for your marketing materials.
I’ve been there. I might not be able to fix it completely, but I have five things you can do to help make that approval process a little less painful, and that’s in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
We’ll also give kudos to a library that got an unusual and exciting patron testimonial during Library Lovers Month.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
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Did you know there are seven things that you can learn by taking a marketing survey? I believe library marketers should be taking surveys from brands and companies because you can learn a lot about how to survey!
I’m going to share some tips with you and why I think it’s really important to take those surveys in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library that received press attention for a unique outreach program.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog, and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then, click the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
When Siobhan Egan was a teenager, she kept a big secret in the trunk of her car.
“After I got my driver’s license, I used to drive around to all the local libraries and hit up their Friends book sales,” explains Siobhan. “I would buy tons of books and store them in the trunk of my car because I didn’t want my parents to know I was spending all my money on books.”
“I got away with it for many months until my dad took my car for an oil change and found my trunk stuffed with books. Unsurprisingly, my parents just laughed and told me they weren’t surprised.”
Nowadays, Siobhan is the Community Engagement Librarian at Barrington Public Library. She does all the marketing for this library, which serves a population of about 17,000 people. She also runs programs. She’s busy but not too busy to play pranks on her patrons.
“I’ve always been a big fan of April Fools’ but only when the pranks are fun and lighthearted,” says Siobhan. “I wanted to do some sort of library April Fools’ prank that would make people laugh and also help bring attention to the library. My goal with our April Fools’ pranks has always been to show the library as a fun and innovative place and to get attention on social media.”
And so, in 2022, an idea formed. The library had just recently created a Library of Things as well as completed a reorganization of our collection and the creation of a space called the “Library Lounge” with tables and cozy reading chairs as well as a newspaper and magazine collection. Siobhan realized she could be creative, get attention on April Fools’ Day, and promote the space by… filling it with cats!
“The boisterous laugh I received when I presented the idea at our Department Heads meeting was all the approval I needed,” exclaims Siobhan. “I am very lucky to work at a library and under a Director who trusts us enough to go along with whatever crazy idea we have. And when I told her that I thought Library of Cats would be a great way to boost engagement, she loved it.”
That’s when the planning began.
“Because I am primarily a programming librarian, I am constantly thinking and working at least three months out,” explains Siobhan. “I usually start thinking about next year’s April Fools’ Prank on April 2. I write down a bunch of ideas, sit on them, come back, and see if I think they are still funny, sit on them some more, and then start testing them out on my family and colleagues. I usually start with my husband because I know if I can make him laugh, I can make anyone laugh.”
“Then I slowly start floating the idea around to my colleagues and gauge their reaction. If they don’t instantly burst out laughing and instead ask clarifying questions, I know it’s not the right idea, and back to the drawing board I go. I’m happy to say that most years, I’ve gotten it on the first try.”
“On social media, you have about three seconds to make an impact on someone and stop people from scrolling onto the next thing. If you can get them in those three seconds, the likelihood of them engaging with your post (liking, commenting, sharing) skyrockets. So, I work to create graphics or photos that are eye-catching and make people pause or do a double take. A cat sitting under a sign that says ‘Library of Cats’ is incredibly eye-catching if you ask me.”
“At the same time, I am writing down phrases and ideas that come to me; ‘Do NOT leave cats in the book drop!’, ‘Be sure to check the cat-alog to see what breeds and ages are available for check-out,’ and ‘Please note: the library is not responsible for damage to household items or bodily injury caused by cats during the duration of your check-out.’”
“The copy is what really sells the prank. You’ve caught their eye with the pictures, now you need to take it home with copy that is outlandish enough that they keep reading.”
-Siobhan Egan
Siobhan has also done an April Fools’ Day prank featuring Dwayne the Rock Johnson.
“That was actually my favorite prank so far,” confesses Siobhan. “Right after the success of Library of Cats, I had the idea to pretend we had renamed our library, and thus, the Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Memorial Library was born.”
“I created a new logo for our library, photoshopped him into a bunch of photos around the library, including standing outside the library with our Director, and got to work on the copy for the prank. I even went as far as to create a new sign to put above our front door and down by the street as people drove by.”
“I purchased a cardboard cutout of The Rock (which to this day, lives in my office) as well as bought rocks and wrote Dwayne on all of them to give out. We had many confused people come into the library wondering if The Rock made a huge donation or if we had lost our marbles.”
As you can imagine, community members and patrons of the library LOVE the April Fools’ pranks. The social media posts garner a lot of comments.
“I do love reading all the comments and seeing people share it,” says Siobhan. “I think the best part about the Library of Cats prank was that my dad, who lives in Tennessee, had one of his friends share it with him on Facebook, not knowing that his daughter had been the mastermind. Seeing that kind of reach, across many states, was really cool. It’s also funny reading some of the comments of people who don’t get that it’s a prank and thought we were actually lending cats!”
“99 percent of the feedback we get every year is overwhelmingly positive. And it does amazing things to bring attention to the library. Our Library of Cats prank reached over 100,000 people on Facebook in less than 24 hours.”
-Siobhan Egan
Of course, with April Fools’ Day just two weeks away, I asked for a preview of this year’s prank. Siobhan was a bit tight-lipped about what she had planned.
“All I will say is that I was inspired by the question of how the library could leverage current inflation and skyrocketing prices at the grocery store to increase circulation and help people out,” reveals Siobhan. “It is probably one of the more topical and current ideas I’ve had yet, and I hope something that brings a smile to people’s faces. And I’m sure will also make some people mad…which is part of the fun!”
For libraries considering how to replicate Siobhan’s success, she has some advice.
“I would stress the importance of trusting your gut when you are working on marketing or programming campaigns like April Fools or anything else,” Siobhan says. “If you think something is funny or you have that feeling that something will resonate with people, it probably will. Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries a little bit and challenge people’s preconceived notions of what a library is.”
“Also, be prepared for angry patrons and make sure your staff is prepared as well,” says Siobhan. “With Library of Cats, we had people accusing us of torturing animals and wondering how we could ever consider lending cats. We also had people stop by the check out a cat and then be mad at us that we didn’t actually have them!”
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It goes against conventional wisdom, but your library’s newsletter might perform better if you send it on a weekend!
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, we’ll discuss this, and I’ll give you three reasons why I think you should experiment with weekend emails.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to an individual library marketer profiled in their local newspaper.
And I have a favor to ask:
NoveList is doing a market survey on how libraries handle professional development training. Would you be willing to take the survey? It should take five minutes or less. Thank you!!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Every time I upload one of these videos to YouTube, there are two major things that I am sure to do. Both of them helped me build my channel. One of them annoys some of my viewers!
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I will explain why I will keep doing these things and why you should follow my lead.
Plus, we’ll give kudos to a library with a spooky service that allows people to explore the library looking for ghosts!
And I have a favor to ask!
NoveList is doing a market survey on how libraries handle professional development training. Would you be willing to take the survey? It should take five minutes or less. Thank you!!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Have you ever wondered what you could do for your library if you had more people working on promotions?
Staffing up in library marketing is very uncommon. I believe this is a huge mistake that many libraries make. Leaders and board members don’t understand the essential connection between smart, strategic library marketing and the organization’s success.
“I have fond memories of storytime with Mrs. Pittman,” remembers Nicole. “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt was a classic! But even more special was bringing my own children back to that library when we visited the grandparents for them to get to enjoy a storytime.”
Nicole is now the Communications Coordinator for the Delaware County District Library, a five-branch system with a bookmobile and other outreach services. DCDL serves a population of nearly 166,000 people.
Nicole came to the library in 2012. She had one Communication Specialist but was certain she needed more help.
“As the Library grew, the strain on our department of two grew, as well,” explains Nicole. “In 2018, the Library passed a levy with the promise to build a new branch. Feelings of overwhelm were setting in, and we knew it was time to really look at what jobs we accomplished for the system, what was being asked of us, and what we could realistically provide to the best of our abilities.”
“The first thing I did was sit down with my Communications Specialist and perform a job task audit. We each took a stack of colored Post-it notes and in about 30 minutes wrote down every job that we do or anticipate doing with the construction of the new branch.”
Nicole says it became clear their job responsibilities were unbalanced and not always aligned with the library’s priorities. So, she decided to use a graphing technique she had learned from business books.
She created a chart. At the top, she put two columns: Library needs and Library doesn’t need. Then, on the side, Nicole made two rows, one labeled I like, and one labeled I don’t like.
“Take your tasks and put them into those squares,” directs Nicole. “What do you like doing, but the library doesn’t need? What do you not like doing but the library needs? This gives a clear, hard-truth picture of tasks that might need to be eliminated or that could be given to a different person.”
“We took the Post-its that remained and looked at the common themes. Much of the work that was overwhelming me had to do with maintaining the website and managing email communications. I liked those tasks, and the library needed those, but I was doing both jobs poorly because I was not giving them the time or investment of education they deserved.”
“I knew the potential we could reach with email segmentation, but I had no desire to even begin to creep into that world because I was already overwhelmed with the basics of simple bulletin communications.”
“Our patrons were not being served in the best way that they could be. We knew a second Communications Specialist was needed to focus on the website and email communications.”
-Nicole Fowles
Nicole says the next step was to approach her director. But before that meeting, she did some additional prep work.
“I looked at the job description and had to decide if we’d keep the same job description or if it would need to be a new title,” remembers Nicole. “We decided to keep it the same, as this person would still have much cross-over with general communications duties. We’d post it with clarity that we were focusing on digital comms. I also needed to be sure that the organization’s pay scale for the title was appropriate for the job we wanted to accomplish.”
“When I had title, job description, and overall benefits and pay impact figured out, I listed the things I wanted to do and the cost if I simply contracted them out. I got various quotes for full-scale website management from other companies. I also got quotes for contract email support or PR for-hire agencies.”
“In the end, the benefit of hiring someone who would do the work of those two contracts (web and PR agency), in addition to being a DCDL employee and helping as needed with other Communications Department duties (campaigns, community events, etc.) outweighed the cost of hiring external contract help.”
Armed with that pitch, Nicole was ready to make her case to the director.
“The Director was sympathetic to our anecdotal evidence,” recalls Nicole. “He was also receptive to the financial analysis of what those things would cost if we used outside contractors as opposed to an internal employee.”
Nicole had to get approval for the potential staff member’s salary and benefits from the Board of Trustees. She knew the board liked to be on track or ahead of similar libraries, so she made sure to provide that information.
“Take a close look at your Board of Trustees and attend a Board meeting, if you aren’t already,” advises Nicole. “It’s wise to know where they dig in and where they relinquish control to their Directors.”
“I had already learned after many years of attending Board meetings that they were big on the numbers side and slightly competitive, and those would be the angles I’d need to use to approach them.”
-Nicole Fowles
As you know from the title of this post, Nicole was granted an extra staff member! That meant her original Communications Specialist could focus on print communications and social media. Nicole says the work she put into advocating for a second Communications Specialist focused on digital marketing was well worth it.
“Our website was not showing up on Google searches well, but she cleaned up our Search Engine Optimization,” says Nicole. “We did not have a great place to utilize news. We now effectively have a blog. A widget that I constantly broke but desperately wanted to use was something she took and ran with and used on several other pages that needed it! Our website needed a drastic facelift, specifically regarding organizational hierarchy; she led the charge.”
And Nicole’s second staff member also took the library from sporadic monthly emails to email marketing success.
“Our new employee was able to build many segments and help us reach our cardholders more appropriately for targeted messages,” shares Nicole. “She helped create a brand-new Mature Reader newsletter that specifically reaches our 55+ community, a Pre-K newsletter utilizing our mascot, and an A-Z newsletter specifically for children going into kindergarten. Our reach has grown leaps and bounds.”
Nicole has one final piece of advice for her fellow library marketers.
“Read the business books!” she implores. “Most of what inspired me to do our task analysis came from a book called Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier. There are many more out there!”
One way to get more business books into your TBR is to join The Library Marketing Book Club! I’m now the co-host of the club with Anna Lowry of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Want to join? Contact me here.
Subscribe to this blog, and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
I have a warning about how artificial intelligence may impact the performance of your social media platform metrics. We will get into it and what you should do to prepare for this disruption in this The Library Marketing Show episode.
Plus kudos go to a library with a staff member who is appearing on a popular Netflix show!
And I have a favor to ask: NoveList is doing a market survey on how libraries handle professional development training. Would you be willing to take the survey? It should take five minutes or less. Thank you!!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
A viewer wants to know how you get people who have a library card but haven’t used it in a long time to return to the library and use the library! That’s a very common question that has stumped library marketers for years.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I share my top four tips for re-engaging inactive cardholders.
Also, I’ll give kudos to a library that received press coverage for an event this year by telling the story of a patron who attended the event last year!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. Thanks for watching!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address. Then click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
My coworkers can always tell when I’ve returned from a good conference.
I usually have pages of notes and ideas. I schedule meetings with coworkers to talk through ideas. I write blog posts! I’m brimming over with new information and enthusiasm for this profession.
That’s why, every year, I research and release a list of conferences for my friends who also work in library promotions. I want you to have the chance to learn from experts while not breaking the bank. Here’s what I look for in a conference.
The conference has a robust selection of sessions specifically centered around marketing and promotions. Many conferences on this list are not specifically designed for libraries. But if the conference will teach you techniques or new concepts that you can adapt to your library work, I’ve included it.
The conferences are budget-friendly. I am keenly aware of budgetary constraints for libraries. That means some really incredible conferences are not on the list because they are just too darn expensive.
Some conferences are virtual, and some are in-person. I tried to offer a range for those who wish to travel and for those who are not able to travel.
Most of the in-person conferences in this list are all in the United States or Canada. If you know of a great marketing conference with content that applies to library marketing and is located in another country, please add the info to the comments for my international readers.
The 8 Best Conferences in 2025 for Library Marketing and Promotions
Full roster of events, virtual and in-person, throughout the year. Price: Ranging from free to $500
This year, the American Marketing Association’s event schedule makes it worth it to join the organization. Each month, there are several events planned on a whole range of topics from AI to social media to video and working with influencers. Some events are free, others cost up to $500 for non-members.
62 separate in-person and virtual events happening between March and November 2025 across the globe Price: Varies by location. You’ll generally pay around $620 for the bottom-tier in-person pass and about $210 for the virtual pass.
This series includes sessions on customer engagement, social media marketing, video marketing, web analytics, email marketing, content marketing, search engine optimization, geo-targeting, and more. Each event has its own website and agenda so you can pick the right session for you.
6 separate in-person events between March and December 2025 across the USA. Price: $525 for a main conference pass
This conference covers content, social media, email, SEO, analytics, and strategy. The conference offers talking points to use to convince your boss. They have discounts for sending three or more people. And I’ve looked over the schedule: They’ve got top-notch speakers on the list. This is a great way to learn about marketing from some of the top minds in the industry at a very affordable price.
In-person event, March 25-27, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia Price: Ranges from $299 to $949 depending on how many days you wish to attend and whether you want to participate in workshops.
There is a track each day that is promotions-related. On Day One, it’s called “Engaging Our Communities.” On Day two, it’s “Content Management.” And on the last day, it’s “Making an Impact and Creating Value.” I think the session choices really make it worth your time and money.
In-person events across Canada between March and September, 2025 plus a Virtual Summit in December, 2025 Price: Prices start at $199 Canadian
The schedule is robust with topics including content creation, social media, advertising, non-profit marketing, and more. And with events across regions in Canada, plus a very affordable digital event, I think this is a great option for library marketers in Canada.
In-person event, July 7-19 2025 in Pittsburgh, PA Price: $425 for students to $900 for late registration
This year’s theme is “Creative Transformation,” with programs and activities designed to foster innovative thinking and help you meet the challenges of a quickly changing information landscape. They have an entire track on marketing and competitive intelligence, which makes it valuable for libraries at places like museums, military bases, and law firms. Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch, a welcome reception, and a dance party!
A favorite of my team at NoveList, this free virtual event is packed with tips for email marketing and advice for promotions. It’s energetic and usually has celebrity keynotes (last year was Sarah Jessica Parker!). There are no recordings, so you must set aside time to watch the sessions live. Block your calendar now.
In-person event, November 12-13 in St. Louis, MO Price: TBD
If you have to pick one conference to attend this year, make it this one. This is an amazing opportunity to learn so much about marketing, communication, public relations, social media, and outreach in academic, public, and special libraries. The sessions explore issues that are important for this niche of library work. The conference includes time for attendees to network and discuss mutual challenges. Registration opens later this year. Sign up for their mailing list on the website to get more information. Join their Facebook group to start networking right now. I will be there!!!
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 