The subject of today’s episode may surprise you. I want to talk about expert marketing advice. As a library marketer, you should take the advice of experts, including myself, with a grain of salt. I’ll explain in this episode.
Plus our kudos will be given to a library that did some promotional work AFTER an event. I’ll show you why this is a brilliant strategy.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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Library marketers want to make sure that their entire community knows everything the library has to offer. That’s a tall order.
Is it even possible? I have some advice about that today that may surprise you. We’ll get into it in this episode.
Plus we’ll give away kudos to a library that created a one-of-a-kind QR code with a complimentary campaign to educate the community about their offerings!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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:
About 10 miles north of the northernmost coast of Scotland lay an archipelago or chain of islands called Orkney. The islands surround Neolithic sites dating back 5,000 years with tall sandstone cliffs and colonies of seals. Archeological evidence shows that humans have lived on the island for nearly 9,000 years.
That’s where John Peterson lives and works. He has managed social media for Orkney Library & Archive since 2017.
The library is one of the oldest public libraries in Scotland, dating back to 1683. These days, the Orkney library has two physical locations, a mobile library, and serves a population of about 22,000 people.
“Orkney is a very rural community with a lot of farming and agriculture,” explains John. “And of course, we’re an island so we’re surrounded by the sea and have a lot of maritime history, particularly from the 20th Century and the World Wars.”
The Orkney library may be remote, but it has fans worldwide. In fact, one of my readers nominated this library for a profile, saying “I love their use of social media and how they got such a small library on the world map.”
“We’re a very small organization and so we don’t have a marketing team or anything like that,” says John. “We just try to share what we’re doing with our followers on social media and have a bit of fun as we go along.”
“We use social media as a way of sharing what’s happening in the library and the archive and what we do every day. It’s a good way of showing off Orkney and what it is to be a library and archive service in the 21st century.”
“It has its challenges sometimes but it’s probably still our favourite as a way of telling stories and making fun posts or threads,” explains John. “For us, it has been a great way of communicating an idea with a few words and pictures. Our Twitter following is approximately 4 times the entire population we serve.”
“Instagram is our newest platform, but it has a growing audience, and we get a lot of nice feedback.”
“The platforms work differently, so we often have to tweak the posts slightly to suit each. Often, we post on Twitter first and then on to the other two platforms.”
When John sees a particularly effective post, he builds on that success by sharing the same kind of content his audience is responding to. But he admits that, like most of you, he’s sometimes baffled by what does and doesn’t work!
“We post different kinds of content,” explains John. “But they usually involve books, archives, or old photographs.”
Today is #TolkienReadingDay so we're in the hobbit of letting folk boromir #Tolkien Books than usual. We're not being smaug but we're a library and it's good to shire. So come along and baggins yourself some books. 📚
“Sometimes a post takes off far better than you expected and other times a post that you thought was interesting or funny doesn’t get much engagement. There is a whole load of reasons for that and it’s important not to get too disheartened if something doesn’t work.”
“Of course when a post doesn’t work it could be that the idea wasn’t good or wasn’t communicated well enough. But often it is just a case of timing – wrong time, wrong day, it didn’t get the retweets to send it further across the platform, etc. You could post the same post at two different times and get totally different responses.”
Try to post good content and try to post regularly – but not too much. Not every post can be funny or interesting. But try to make sure that some of them are so people have a reason to follow you.
Try to make it interesting. Don’t just do what everyone else is doing, and don’t rely on sharing content from other accounts.
Try to write your own stuff and find your own voice.
Pay attention to what works for you and then do more of it. Listen to feedback, good and bad – it’ll help you to do more of what people like and less of what they don’t.
Don’t be controversial and try to avoid politics.
Concentrate on what makes your library or organization different from everyone else and try to use those things to build your own presence and identity.
Look around you. Spot opportunities for good content. The more you do it the easier it gets.
Find some libraries on social media and follow them, no matter where they are in the world. They don’t have to be the famous places you’re always hearing about to be worth following. Anybody can be worth following if they post good, interesting content – even small local libraries on remote islands. Find some libraries and archives, museums and galleries, and give them a follow. You’ll be glad you did.
In one of our archive strong rooms there is a shelf. The shelf does not contain the most exciting or interesting item in the archive but it does contain something amazing.
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There is a phrase that pops up quite frequently in library marketing which has bothered me for quite some time: “More than books.” Other than a few people I work with at NoveList, I thought I was the only person who felt this way. But I’m not! A librarian wrote an eloquent piece about it this week, and we’ll talk about it in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus kudos go to a library for their perfect response when trolls took over a Facebook post about their in-library Pride Month display.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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:
Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
The first thing I do when I visit my parents is greet their dogs. The second thing is to look for my list.
My parents are aging, so I like to help with things they can no longer do. I wash windows, weed the flower beds, and sew on loose buttons. As I work through the list, I get a certain satisfaction in checking things off.
Lists have always been a part of my life. My mother wrote a daily list for when I got home from school. Feed the dogs. Make a salad. Start your homework. It’s almost as if she thought I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t have a list to follow.
And she was right. I now make lists for everything. Lists for packing. Lists for groceries. Lists of tasks I need to complete during the workday. Gift lists at the holidays.
Lists help you focus and prioritize. So, when one of my readers asked for a list of the ten best tips and practices for library marketing, I dug in. (Imagine me cracking my knuckles, blowing on my fingers, and setting my fingers on the keyboard here.)
Top Ten Tips for Library Marketing and Promotions
#1: Send email to your community.
Email is the most effective marketing tactic. You don’t have to battle algorithms. And 99 percent of people with an email address read their email daily, usually first thing in the morning.
Starting a consistent library email program can be intimidating. But I put it at the top of the list because it’s the best use of your time.
You can start small by sending a newsletter. Work your way up to targeted email segments, where you’ll be sending shorter, more focused messages to specific groups of people. Don’t worry that you’re leaving people out with more niche emails… you are not.
#2: Post no more than once a day on your social media channels.
Social media for libraries works to create brand awareness and affinity. But they’re also ruled by algorithms that determine who sees your posts. The algorithms value quality posts, not quantity. So, posting often does nothing to boost your reach. Once a day is plenty.
Make a schedule to create quality posts and give your social media feeds consistency (which the algorithms love). For example:
Monday: Promote an item in your collection.
Tuesday: Share a video.
Wednesday: Ask a question.
Thursday: Promote a program.
Friday: Share something about a library staff member or something behind the scenes of library work.
Saturday: Promote a service, like your seed library, a database, streaming videos, or your MakerSpace.
Sunday: Share something funny, inspiring, or thoughtful about the joy of reading or the importance of intellectual freedom.
Each year, beginning in November, I publish a best practices guide for each of the major social media channels. To see the guides, type the name of the platform you want to research in the homepage search bar.
#3: Put a bookmark in every hold and checkout that leaves your library.
Your collection is a marketing tactic! No library visitor should ever leave the building without a piece of promotional material.
To get started, pick three areas of focus for your bookmarks. Make one bookmark for each of your three focus promotions. For example:
A booklist
An online item like streaming music
A recurring program.
Teach staff to add a bookmark to every hold and checkout. They use context clues to decide which of your three focused promotional bookmarks will resonate most with each library visitor.
#4: Write a general marketing script and have staff recite or read it before every program.
Your programs are also a marketing tactic. Use the first minute of each program as a “housekeeping moment”, so share a marketing message to this captive audience.
The message should be short, 3-4 sentences. And it should be tailored to the audience.
Here’s an example. Let’s say your library just purchased a set of after-hours holds lockers. You want people to use them. You can create a script for staff to read before programs.
For children’s programs your script might say:
“Hello everyone! I wanted to let you know about a new service we have at the library – our after-hours holds lockers. You can pick up your reserved books and materials anytime, even when the library is closed. It’s a convenient way to get the books your family needs, on your schedule!”
For adult programs, your script might say:
“Hello everyone! Before we begin, I want to tell you that our library now has after-hours holds lockers. Maybe you saw them as you walked in: they’re just to the right of the front doors. You can pick up your reserved books and materials at any time, even outside of our regular hours. So if you work a late shift or you’re going to have a particularly busy day and can’t get to the library before we close, you can still get your books!”
#5: Talk to one community group every month.
Reach out to the Kiwanis Club, Chamber of Commerce, Junior League, and local professional groups. Ask for five minutes during their next meeting to talk about what is available at the library and to sign up members for a library card.
#5: Analyze your promotional metrics each month.
Schedule 30 minutes once a month to look at the past month’s performance on social media, email, and your website.
Watch for trends. Did your social media impressions spike this month? What may have caused that? Did your email open rate plummet? Take a look at the emails you were sending to determine what may have caused the dip. Did attendance skyrocket at your monthly book club after you posted an Instagram Reel promoting it? Do more Instagram Reels!
This work will help you spot issues and opportunities. You can replicate the things that your audience responds to. And you can stop doing the things that don’t work for your audience, and have the data to back up your decision! It’s time well spent.
#6: Create an editorial calendar for the next 6-12 months.
Planning your promotional schedule gives you time to thoughtfully create your promotions and get approvals. Plus, you can share your plans with your coworkers and supervisors, so everyone at the library knows what’s been marketed and when.
Schedule your emails, when you’ll change your website graphics, your book displays… even the signs in your library lobby.
Some of this planning will be easy. You know when summer reading, Library Workers Week, National Library Card Signup Month, back-to-school, and holiday events happen.
Leave space in your calendar for those unexpected things that come up. If your director announces his or her retirement, your building needs renovations, or your library buys a new database… you’ll have space in your calendar to accommodate those promotions.
#7: Ask for time at the next all-staff meeting to discuss library marketing.
One of the most common things library marketers struggle with is their coworkers. They don’t understand how promotions work!
Transparency is always a good idea. You want everyone, from the front-line staff to your senior staff, to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
Talk about your goals. Talk about how you work to accomplish them, and why you use certain marketing channels for certain promotions. Then, share successes to show that your efforts are working and share failures to drive home the point that marketing is an experiment and you’re always learning.
The media is an audience you must court, like any other target audience! The easier you make their job, the more positive press coverage your library will enjoy.
I used to work as a television news producer and I have many friends still in the business. Here are the top six tips they give for garnering press coverage for your library. Here are more tips from another former journalist turned library marketer.
And, I hope you’re planning to attend the 2024 Library Marketing and Communications Conference because this is the focus of my session this year! I’ll be moderating a panel with three former journalists turned library marketers who will share their top tips for building positive relationships with your local media.
#9: Start a blog.
A blog is one of the best ways to share information about the library and drive visitors to your website. It allows your library to tell your story, create brand awareness, and promote your library to your audience for free, without having to deal with the rules of someone else’s platform.
Marketing is changing all the time. You can keep up with the latest social media news and marketing tips by dedicating time to this work.
Hey library marketing friends: Remember, every promotion you put out into the world can spark a lifelong love of reading in someone. Your work makes a difference!
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:
There’s some exciting new advice on how to create engagement on your library’s Facebook page. The 8 new tips are in this episode of the Library Marketing Show.
Plus kudos goes to an academic librarian who recently received a huge award!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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:
Everyone makes mistakes. But mistake-making can impact your self-esteem and job performance.
I’ve made lots of mistakes in my career. And in this episode, I want to share the six things I do to regain the trust of those impacted by my mistakes and regain my confidence.
Plus, kudos go to a library mentioned on NPR’s Morning Edition!
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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:
On a cold Sunday in February, I hopped onto a Zoom call with someone I felt I already knew.
About 8 months prior, this Solano County, California resident appeared on my “For You” page on Instagram Reels and TikTok. He shared joyful, heartfelt, hopeful stories of his work and the profound impact libraries had on his life.
So, I must admit that when Mychal Threets came into view on my laptop screen, I was a bit starstruck.
Seated in a staff work area, with a giant cutout of Bob Ross behind him, Mychal graciously squeezed an interview with me into his workday. He answered my questions about the impact his simple, yet profound stories have had on the public’s perception of libraries.
“March of 2023 is when I shared that first story of the library kid who asked me if I’m a boy librarian or a girl librarian,” recalled Mychal. “And I thought that was great. This is the 15 minutes of fame for libraries. Maybe a few more people will get library cards. But it just kept on going, and I’ve just been sharing daily stories and affirmations ever since.”
One of Mychal’s earliest memories is from age three when his mother took him and his siblings to the library to get books. At the age of 5, he got his first library card. But Mychal did not aspire to be a librarian.
“I wanted to be an astronaut, a firefighter, or a police officer,” chuckled Mychal. “I never saw any men behind the library desk. I never saw any people of color behind the library desk.”
“I was struggling, waiting for my next career path. I was at the local library trying to think of my next steps. And I was like, let me ask the person at the desk about how a person ends up working for the library. She already had the site pulled up. She was like, ‘I knew you’re going to ask that soon enough.’”
In 2018, Mychal became a children’s librarian. He loved the silly, carefree nature of the kids he worked with, and he wanted to share stories about the joy of his work with children. So, he started posting to Facebook. The response was positive.
Then, during the 2020 pandemic, Mychal downloaded TikTok and Instagram and began experimenting with videos on those sites. But it wasn’t until March of 2023 that he started sharing those personal stories… and getting traction.
“I was just trying to remind people that the library exists. I try to remind people that the library is for everybody, that everybody belongs. The library is for them, whatever they’re going through in life. That was my whole goal.”
Mychal Threets
As of this writing, Mychal has more than 682,000 followers on Instagram and 680,000 followers on TikTok. His videos have gotten millions of views, and he’s been interviewed by the New York Times, Good Morning America, The Washington Post, and Huffington Post, among others. He received the “I Love My Librarian” award and the day before my interview with him, was the recipient of the Tri-City NAACP Unsung Shero/Hero Award.
It hasn’t been an easy road. Mychal is open about his struggles with mental health. And, as is the case for any internet star, he’s faced insults. But his thousands of fans were quick to come to his defense.
His reach extends beyond the normal library loyal crowds. I cannot count the number of non-library friends and family members who have sent me his videos, usually accompanied by the comment, “Have you seen this guy??”
“What I’ve achieved thus far, was never in my mind. I never thought it was a possibility,” admitted Mychal. “I didn’t think I’d go viral once, let alone several times. That has been a huge surprise.”
Mychal’s videos highlight his work and focus on “patron as hero” stories. Mychal explains how the library has impacted the community members he interacts with, in big and small ways.
He fiercely protects the privacy of his patrons, sharing his stories without using names or genders, instead calling his patrons “Library kids” or “Library adults.” He also says that technique prevents misgendering and disrespecting his patrons.
“Most library people don’t mind their stories being shared,” said Mychal. “I’m aware of the platform that I’ve grown. I know that it’s weird to have your story shared with the amount of people who follow me.”
Besides sharing his stories on social media and working full-time at the library, Mychal is working with author, influencer, and illustrator Blair Imani on an event in late March that will be a celebration of natural hair.
“We’re going to get a bunch of books donated celebrating hair love, and we’re just going to give them out to people who come to come to the event,” explained Mychal. “We’re going to have hopefully some very cool people present, including authors, illustrators, barbers, and hairdressers. It’s just a chance for people to celebrate their hair love, to get some free books, and celebrate literacy.”
“My other goal is that I just want everybody to get a library card if possible, and to fall in love with books. So, I’m trying to pursue a nonprofit LLC to celebrate literacy, celebrate our right to read, celebrate the joy of access to books, and just put books in the hands of kids and get them excited about reading.”
Mychal is a big fan of his own library on social media, but he also has praise for other libraries’ promotional work.
“Milwaukee Public Library is probably the best library on social media,” declared Mychal. “They just do such a wonderful job of following trends and then putting a library spin on it.”
“Harris County Library is in a similar vein. They also are very good at accepting being ‘cringe-worthy’ as a library system.”
“Storybook Maze is a street librarian in Baltimore, Maryland. She also has a fascinating job.”
“But otherwise, just BookTok and Bookstagram, in general, is just an easy way to find social media platforms doing great things for libraries, putting libraries on the map in the best way possible to remind people that everyone belongs in the library any different day.”
“I’m constantly impressed by the different libraries that tag me and want me to see their videos. People are doing such wonderful things for libraries and for books and literacy overall.”
As we wrapped up our interview so Mychal could set up a library program, he shared advice for library marketers.
“Always remember, the library is a place where everybody does belong. As I repeatedly say, you don’t have to leave your anxiety, your depression outside the library doors. It’s all welcome inside the library. Every day is a library day.”
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How many spam Facebook messages have your library’s Facebook page gotten? Lately, they’ve been downright scary.
They tell you that your account is at risk of being suspended because you’re violating regulations. They make it seem like your library has done something wrong and they try to pressure you to respond. And they are a security risk.
I’ve learned a technique to stop these messages. I’ve used it on NoveList’s Facebook account and it works.
I’ll show you exactly how to do it in this episode.
Plus, kudos go to a library from a library marketer who admires their work.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here. And thanks for watching!
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 