Are you tired of being blamed for low program attendance?
You’re not alone. Many library marketers struggle to balance program promotion with broader library advocacy — and it can feel impossible to do both well.
One of my viewers recently asked for help with this exact challenge, so in this episode of The Library Marketing Show, we’re tackling it head-on.
You’ll learn how to strike the right balance between promoting events and promoting your library’s overall value without feeling like you’re constantly falling short.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
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Sometimes it can be very difficult to get your library leaders on board with your marketing ideas. I’ve got five tips that I’ve used to persuade senior leaders and supervisors, and I’m going to share them with you in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus we’ll give kudos to a library that received press coverage for a new outreach initiative at their local airport!
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:
I would like to issue a challenge to my library marketing friends. I have three phrases that I want to hear you say more often: to each other, to your coworkers, and to the world in general.
I’m going to explain why these three phrases are so important to the success of your work in this episode.
Plus we’ll give kudos to someone doing great work in library marketing.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter youremail 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:
A few weeks ago, as part of a post about exhaustion in marketing, I asked you to share your experience with burnout on the job.
To be honest, I didn’t want to get any responses.
I was hoping my fears about the prevalence of burnout were totally unwarranted and off base.
But….
I received more than a dozen anonymous messages. All were thoughtful. And incredibly heartbreaking.
My readers love their job. They love the library. They are trying their best.
But…
They are freaking tired. They are overworked. They feel disrespected and unappreciated.
There was a common denominator in all the responses. Many of my readers are dealing with unrealistic deadlines and results expectations.
Here is a sampling of responses.
“I have observed a lack of comprehension among management regarding the substantial time investment necessary to fulfill their expectations. It is crucial that we cultivate a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by library marketing professionals and foster a supportive environment that prioritizes their well-being.”
“If a program or event is a success it’s the people who ran the program that made it a success. If it’s a flop it is because it wasn’t marketed well.”
Libraries in general do not respect marketing. They look at us as glorified flyer makers. If you aren’t a librarian, then your opinions and recommendations on how to best promote something are not as valid as theirs. Regardless of how many years of professional experience you have, it doesn’t matter.”
Oof.
I know you are not a miracle worker. You know you are not a miracle worker.
But…
You are expected to be a miracle worker.
And while I cannot promise you that I can completely fix this issue, I can relate. I faced these same issues in my time at a library.
I do have a 5-step guide, created from my experience.
This will not erase your burnout. But it can make your work environment more tolerable. It will do that by building respect and understanding of your library marketing position.
“I feel like I work on an island,” she told me. “Everyone just thinks I sit around playing on social media.”
Your co-workers, supervisors, and library administrators don’t understand your job, just as you might not fully grasp what it means to work in collection development or cataloging.
So, the first step in managing their expectations is to give them an idea of what it is you do every day. Create an internal communications plan to explain, in simple terms, how promotions work to make their job easier.
You can do this by writing a post for your internal staff website, sending an email to staff, in casual conversations with your co-workers, and requesting time at the next staff meeting, as Chris Boivin of the Jacksonville Public Library did.
I’d also suggest you consider allowing co-workers to shadow you for a day, I did that during my time at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library and it was incredibly effective.
In each of these interactions, explain to your co-workers the timeframe a good library marketer needs to:
Research a target audience for a library program or service.
Create promotions, including writing creative, impactful copy, making graphics, creating an email newsletter, etc.
Tell them about the Marketing Rule of 7 and how you compete with all the other content in the world.
Show them how you set success measures for your promotions.
You might also think about creating an infographic or a timeline chart to visualize the process for them. And then, invite them to collaborate with you. As one of my readers said,
“Marketing is not a solitary endeavor but rather a collective effort that benefits from the ability to bounce ideas and thoughts off one another. Encouraging teamwork not only enhances the quality of marketing initiatives but also fosters a sense of camaraderie and support among library professionals.”
In your conversations with co-workers or supervisors, ask for their ideas. Can they picture a certain graphic? Do they think the audience on a certain social media channel will align with the promotion? What would they write about it if they oversaw the copy?
Step #2: Consider their needs and fears.
Let your staff members and supervisors tell you what they need from promotions.
Much of the criticism of library marketing comes from a place of fear.
Is your co-worker worried about losing funding? Is program attendance tied to their job performance-rated problems? Is the director worried about losing a ranking or their job due to low circulation numbers? Are they worried about being embarrassed when no one shows up for their promotions?
In all your conversations with your fellow staff members, make certain you ask them what a successful promotion would look like to them. That gives you a chance to understand how to explain how doing library marketing right will help them to avoid bad outcomes.
Step #3: Set promotional guidelines.
Now that you and your staff have a clear understanding of each other, it’s time to set expectations.
As you do this, be sure to explain that these guidelines are in the best interest of both you and your fellow library staff members. You are all on the same team and working for the same goals.
Set a clear timeline for when information needs to be submitted to create effective promotions. If your library allows your co-workers to review work related to their department, let them know when they can expect those drafts and what the timeline is.
In every back and forth with co-workers, repeat these expectations and make sure your deadlines are clear. In my job, I use email to ask for review and feedback and I set a day and time, which I highlight in bold lettering.
Step #4: Share your successes AND failures with context.
Reporting is one of the clearest ways to demonstrate to your co-workers why a promotion does or does not work.
You don’t have to share the results of every promotion you do for your library. Pick two each month to highlight: one that was successful, and one that didn’t do as well as you hoped.
“Wait, you want us to talk about our failures?”
Yes. I do.
Share the basics of the promotion. Where did you release it? Was there any positive or negative feedback from the community? How effective was it? What would you do differently next time?
Step #5: Repeat.
The Marketing Rule of 7 also applies to your internal audience. And turnover is heavy at libraries. You’ll need to keep working on erasing the mystery of your work, talking with your staff about their needs and fears, explaining your guidelines, and sharing your successes and failures, every month.
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For my birthday, my 23-year-old daughter gave me a gratitude journal. She told me about her own practice of writing in her journal first thing in the morning and right before bed. She gives herself space to list what she’s grateful for and sets her mindset for the day.
In fact, she’s got a whole routine for morning and night that’s incredibly healthy. She eats well, exercises, and tells me all the time that I’m worth taking care of. She’s my self-care inspiration.
I’m trying hard to follow her example. I think people of my generation (Gen X) have been trained to overwork. We were told that productivity equals worth. But that philosophy leaves many of us feeling exhausted, overworked, and underappreciated.
Burnout is real, especially for communicators. Nearly 75 percent of people working in marketing and communications say they experience burnout.
I want to help my readers avoid burnout and love their job in library marketing! These are my personal tips for managing stress.
10 tips to manage stress in library marketing
#1: Create a space where you want to work.
When I worked at the library, my office was in a windowless basement. It was lit by fluorescent lights and was incredibly sterile. It looked like a glass cage.
I was happy to have my own workspace, but it was not a space in which I wanted to work. So, I made a few minor changes.
I hung blue twinkling lights around the perimeter and bought a funky blue desk lamp at Goodwill. I papered the glass windows with cards and notes that I’d received from former interns and co-workers. I bought a tiny portable speaker and played soft music through my iPhone while I worked.
These changes may seem very small. But they worked to create a place where I looked forward to coming each morning.
You can do the same by auditing your current workspace. Is your desk a place that will foster creativity and productive work?
If not, then spend some time working on your workspace. Dim the lighting. Declutter your desk. Store some snacks or your favorite candy in your desk. Bring your favorite mug to work to make coffee or tea time more enjoyable. Hang some artwork.
If you’re working in a shared area, do what you can to add a personal touch to the space. And invest in headphones so you can play music or white noise or whatever you need to help you focus.
#2: Don’t eat at your desk.
Stopping for half an hour to eat gives you a natural boost in productivity and it helps to refresh your mind for the second half of your workday.
Don’t use this time to catch up on emails. Grab a book. Head outside if you can and spend half an hour in the sun.
#3: Don’t try to multitask.
It’s tempting to try and tackle several tasks simultaneously. That seems like a productive use of time. But it’s the opposite because you do none of them well.
Constantly switching focus makes you less productive and strains your brain. Try your hardest to focus on one task at a time.
I’ll often close my email and Teams when I know my focus might be pulled away from an important task. When I worked at the library, I would take my laptop into the stacks or into a conference room. A change of scenery can often help you hyperfocus on a task that needs tackling.
#4: Take breaks during the day.
You want to look away from your computer every 20 minutes. And every hour, give yourself a few moments to take a mindful break. Stretch, look out the window, or go outside and really pay attention to what you see, hear, feel, and smell.
If you need help with this, there are lots of apps for your phone that will remind you to take time for yourself. Or you can use Tomato Timer on your laptop or desktop to nudge you.
#5: Create a shut-down routine.
When you’re done working, create a routine to tell your brain that work time is over. Turn off notifications on your phone if you can. Shut the computer. Resist the temptation to look at your library’s social media accounts when you’re not on call. This is an especially important step for those of you who work from home.
#6: Give yourself the grace to be imperfect.
Even though I know it feels like it sometimes, no one will die if your email or social media post doesn’t get the engagement you were hoping for.
So much of what impacts our marketing is out of our control. And all of marketing is an experiment. That’s what drives innovation in your promotions.
If your promotion fails, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. Give yourself permission to try something else!
#7: Celebrate success.
Success is a great motivator, and we often focus too much on what we have to do next. We should spend just as much time celebrating and examining the emails, social media posts, flyers, website graphics, videos… etc. that do well.
Why did a specific promotion work? How did that tactic help your library reach its overall goals? Ask yourself this question for every promotion you do. Pretty soon, you’ll start to see your successes pile up!
Before you leave work each day, write down one thing you did well that day. Share your successes with your co-workers (and keep a running list for your performance review.) You can also share your successes every Friday on the Library Marketing Book Club Facebook page.
#8: Find ways to recharge your creativity
You might have noticed that every time I interview a library marketer, I ask them what they do for inspiration. That’s because motivation naturally flags over time. It helps to have sources of inspiration and energy when we’re stuck in a rut.
Go to a conference. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Watch a TED Talk. Read a blog post. Meet with a mentor. Pick one thing that will get your creativity and productivity flowing again and schedule it as part of your regular work routine.
#9: Use your vacation and sick time.
If you are having a day where you’re just feeling drained, exhausted, and stressed, use your sick time to take a mental health day.
And plan to take time off from work at least once a year. For me, disconnecting from work for an extended period is the best productivity boost. For the first day, I’m super tempted to check my email. Then, I go into a period of about 2-3 days where work is the furthest thing from my mind. I have a job?? Then, right around day 5, I start to process new ideas for promotions and posts for this blog! I end up sending emails to myself with those ideas so I can tackle them when I get back.
But I firmly believe that I would never come up with those new ideas if I didn’t give myself permission to not think about work. And for me, that means physical separation from the office. Maybe you’re the same way!
#10: Ask for help.
73 percent of people don’t ask for help on the job when they need it, according to Study Finds. The survey also found that 53 percent of people feel held back from achieving certain goals in their lives because they try to go at it alone.
These numbers are incredibly sad. And I would hope that you would feel comfortable enough in your library to ask your co-workers and fellow library marketers for help. But if that’s not something you can do, you can always reach out to me. I’ll always do my best to get back to you.
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Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
On a mild night in April 2019, I arrived at a steak restaurant in Schaumburg Township, Illinois to have dinner with a group of people I’d never met.
I had been invited to speak at an event put on by the Illinois Library Association. I was set to meet some of the library marketers who conspired to bring me to their event.
That’s the first time I laid eyes on Sue Wilsey. Sue is the gregarious, dynamic Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing for Helen Plum Library.
Sue is a lot of fun. She has a set of eyeglasses to match every single outfit. And she’s a fierce advocate and supporter of libraries.
At that table, I first heard her talk about her work to help bring a new library building to her community. Now, four years later, the new Helen Plum Library is finally open. I asked Sue and her team to share how they managed the final piece of that journey: the communication surrounding the building’s opening.
Sue works with Marketing Content Coordinator Emily Bradshaw, who volunteered at Champaign Public Library for a short time during her undergrad.
“I will never forget during my orientation tour, a proud library staff member showed me their new automated materials-sorting machine,” remembered Emily. “They had placed a Sorting Hat from Harry Potter on top of the platform where it scanned in the books. I knew I had found my people.”
Kristie Leslie is Marketing Manager for Helen Plum. She and her twin sister met their current adult groups of friends at a library storytime as preschoolers.
The final member of the team is Graphic Designer Steph Koblich, who grew up browsing picture books at the library, and admiring their illustrations, which led her to a career in illustration and design.
“My high school was a few blocks from a library, so I would walk there after school almost daily to read or study,” said Steph.
As for Sue, she’s been an avid library user since she was a pre-teen.
“My local branch library was more than a mile away, but my two younger sisters and I happily clomped through the snow or dripped with sweat carrying arms full of Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books,” recalled Sue. “So, it was natural that decades later while needing to research a new career move, I visited my suburban neighborhood library. There are saw a job opportunity posted for a Marketing Supervisor. I knew I had found the final chapter of my life.”
The Helen Plum Library dates to 1928. The original building was the home of Colonel William and Helen Plum. A new library was constructed and opened in 1963, then renovated in 1978.
But in 1999, a space needs study called for an expansion that would more than double the size of the library building to 79,000 square feet. It took another 17 years for the library to secure the funding and property they needed for the construction and operation of a new facility.
Then the project hit a snag. After several years of negotiation with the library’s neighboring Park District, the two parties were unable to come to a suitable agreement regarding air rights and other construction issues. The Library Board decided to relocate to a new site that would best suit the needs of the community. There was an upside to this approach: the new building could be constructed without interruption to day-to-day operations.
“The key to this story is how we were able to convince a Chicago suburban community to vote in favor of a referendum that would raise their taxes,” said Sue. “I personally spoke to folks in the community at nearly 50 different places. We held meet and greets at local watering holes, met with parents and teachers at their schools and organizations, and went to churches, clubs, and service organizations. We recruited believers to help fundraise for lawn signs and ads. Our supporters received a great amount of guidance from John Chrastka and EveryLibrary.”
And that hard work paid off. The new facility, which opened in April, includes a drive-up window, a maker space, and lots of room for patrons to browse and mingle.
“The access to equipment and all of the possibilities for creating that our Studio 411 maker space provides is what I am personally most excited about,” exclaimed Steph. “From color and fabrics to natural light, every spot in the library is aesthetically pleasing and welcoming.
“I’m personally quite excited for our new fireplace as well as the two outdoor spaces, a children’s garden, and outdoor patio,” said Emily. “Everything will be so beautiful, and I’m really looking forward to taking gorgeous Instagram pics!”
The library created a landing pageto communicate everything involved with the move.
“The inspiration for the ‘dashboard’ approach came from our COVID-era communications,” explained Kristie. “We wanted one place for patrons to be able to see everything at-a-glance during our closure in 2020, with the bonus of also keeping the content updates focused on one spot rather than the headache of having to hunt throughout the site for making changes.
“We started with everything we thought necessary and considered it a living document. “If we received a question that we consider other patrons likely to have, we would add it to the page.”
And there were lots of other communication channels to consider as the project progressed.
“Our communications plan included myriad facets, from regularly updated videos of the ongoing construction posted on our website and linked in our social media, to print mailers to the community,” said Sue. “We also held a series of virtual ‘Community Conversations’ for the public with our architects and administrators. Recordings of those meetings are available online.”
“Before and during the move, we made information available at services desks as well as in our email newsletter and social media channels detailing which services would and would not be available during the closure,” explained Emily. “We encouraged patrons to sign up for reciprocal borrowing at nearby libraries and promoted our digital materials and resources heavily.”
As you can imagine, there were lots of challenges for the marketing staff at Helen Plum, starting with the uncertainty of the construction schedule. Supply chain issues and other construction glitches caused delays. But the team decided to be open and transparent about the process with the community to help combat concerns and complaints.
“What has gone smoothly is the abundance of community support we have received and the resilience of our staff members,” said Sue. “The flexibility and pivoting that was learned during the pandemic has been valuable in this process.”
As the move-in day approached, the marketing team began prepping for the grand opening celebration.
“We sent a printed invitation to the residents of Lombard and posted Grand Opening information on our website, social media, and email newsletters,” explained Emily. “We also sent out press releases and got coverage from several local newspapers. We partnered with local restaurants to provide small bites throughout the Grand Opening weekend, and several of those restaurants posted about us on social media, as well as some other local businesses whom we didn’t partner with but who were so excited to see us open!”
“One of the most fun collaborations was with two local breweries who created special library-themed brews for the occasion,” continued Emily. “We took some photos and videos with them and made custom coasters which we included in gift bags at the Grand Opening and at their breweries.”
Emily also helped produce a video in which prominent community members pass the library’s copy of Mo Willem’s Waiting is Not Easy from the old library to the new library.
“It made many of our followers emotional,” shared Emily.
The library’s grand opening weekend drew a whopping 5,508 attendees, far more than the marketing team expected! Guests received a swag bag, participated in a scavenger hunt, and munched on local snacks.
“It was amazing to see the place come alive with patrons who were so thrilled to finally step inside their new library,” remembered Emily. “We were overwhelmed by the amount of joy and support we received that weekend. I think everyone was a bit shocked – in the best way!”
The library recently sent an extra-large version of their summer newsletter featuring building photos to all residents, to make sure everyone who couldn’t attend the grand opening understands the value this new building brings to the community.
Now, as the library staff settles into the building, the marketing staff of Helen Plum is planning for a new, busier normal. There are still areas of the library undergoing construction, so they’ll continue to provide updates on building developments as the space comes to life.
“For example, since opening, we’ve added a fire table to our outdoor patio space, bike racks, a coffee machine, and some beautiful wallpaper murals,” explained Emily. “Our maker space, Studio 411, is still adding new equipment, and we hope to launch programs in that space in the fall. We are also kicking off our 2023 Summer Reading Program on June 1, and we’re looking forward to using that as an opportunity to welcome patrons who haven’t gotten a chance to stop by yet.”
“As we all get the hang of things in the new space, we plan to dip our toes into exhibits and library-wide events that can bring the whole community in and give us village-wide exposure,” planned Kristie. “I’m so excited to have seen such a huge uptick in new cardholders—from April 22 to May 22, we registered 1,133 new cardholders, an over 600 percent increase from the previous year.”
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Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
Effective internal communication is incredibly important to the success of any library. But it’s hard to do successfully.
Last week, I shared advice from libraries that have had success communicating with staff and stakeholders using tactics like email. But a friend of mine went about it in a slightly different way.
He used his storytelling skills to improve communication between his marketing team and other library staff members. And in doing that, he built support and unified his library around common promotional goals.
Jacksonville is a large library, with a main location and 20 branches. Chris’s team manages all the marketing for the system, including the website, social media, podcast, graphics, and volunteers.
“Our work is governed by three things,” explains Chris. “Requests for marketing assistance from other departments (Public Services, Learning Services—centralized programming, and others), an annual promotional calendar that we create with input from Library Leadership and Library staff, and the needs of the Library Director to meet the library’s strategic and operational goals.”
Like many libraries, the marketing department at Jacksonville Public Library operated on an order-taking model. Library staff would request flyers, posters, bookmarks, social media mentions, or digital slides for an event or service they wanted to promote.
Those requests were often not what the audience would respond to. And Chris and his staff were left to talk their co-workers into finding a way to reach their target audiences.
“This built up a lot of conflict between marketing and the rest of the library,” remembers Chris. “People felt like we enjoyed declining their requests and were either finding ways to do less work or doing just the things we liked doing.”
Chris says his department realized the form that library staff was using to make requests was part of the problem.
“They were looking at it like an order sheet (because that’s what we gave them) and focused on the stuff, not what they were trying to actually achieve,” explains Chris. “So, we created a new process where instead of the order form, they fill out a questionnaire that asks:
What problem is this solving for the customer that wants this?
What does success look like for this thing?
Who is the target (and it can’t be everyone)?
This new focus helped the marketing department improve things, but Chris says the change wasn’t easy for everyone on the library staff.
“Many of the folks we work with had been doing the other request process for so long that it was very hard for them to give it up,” he recalls.
Then Chris had an idea. He asked for some time at the monthly manager’s meeting to review the process, ask about pain points and gaps, and share marketing’s vision for how promotions could improve at Jacksonville Public Library. There were also some misconceptions about marketing’s role that needed to be addressed.
“There was a long list of things,” says Chris. “There was a clear lack of trust with our internal clients. It needed to be addressed head-on.”
So, Chris carefully crafted a presentation that would give his coworkers a clear understanding of how his department worked to support them and the library. When the day arrived, he was a mix of emotions.
“I was worried that they weren’t going to receive what I had to say well,” recalls Chris. “But (I was) also excited because I was confident that I was going to show them lots of things they probably didn’t even realize we were doing to promote things, and I had data and results to back up the methods we use.”
“I used some of the tactics that Dr. JJ Peterson from Storybrand talks about in this podcast about speaking,” said Chris. “I started by saying that this is how they might feel when they are trying to get messages to customers – they’re shouting and shouting but getting no reaction.
“I said that we in Community Relations & Marketing often feel that way too, and I’m going to tell them what things we do to make that better. I also acknowledged that they might feel this way when working with us.”
“Next I set the situation: where we are, where we need to get to and how we can help each other meet these goals will follow. I talked about how important email is to get the right messages to the people who have the problem that we can help them solve.”
Chris used examples to explain how email marketing is working for his library, emphasizing the importance of collecting addresses to build their subscriber list. He also explained how the library and marketing can work together to solve problems for their community. And he positioned marketing tactics, like bookmarks, the website, blog, and flyers as ways to provide an exceptional customer experience.
“I saw a lot of head nodding, got a few laughs, a few looks of ‘oh, I get it now!’ recalls Chris. “I felt like this was making sense, especially the opening where I talked about their frustration with customers and with the marketing department. That frankness really seemed to help disarm everyone and set up a good conversation.”
It’s been a few months since his presentation, and Chris says he’s seen a positive impact. “Resistance to complete the new request forms has gone down, and my team is reporting more cooperation and less tension than before,” reports Chris. “It’s a long road but the more we keep delivering this message, the better.”
And now Chris’s presentation is part of his library’s new employee orientation. He’s also looking for chances to recognize library staff to foster a sense of community amongst workers and encourage them to find positive solutions together.
Chris has some great advice for libraries that want to make sure all staff understand and value the role of marketing. “Use every opportunity you can to inject your messages whenever talking with staff and leadership and try not to get hung up when people aren’t getting it,” advises Chris.
“Remember that in this scenario YOU are the guide, not the hero. Your staff are the heroes using the strategy and plan to find their success in helping customers. Celebrate every win even if it’s just a fist pump to yourself.”
“Lastly, when you find those staff members who get it, keep them in the loop and ask them for their advice and feedback. You’ll build wonderful allies and advocates.”
He also encourages you to connect with other library marketing staff members in the wider library world. “There is a wonderful community of support out there for those who market libraries,” explains Chris. “You will find that we are all experiencing the same frustrations and will be thrilled to learn of any breakthroughs no matter how small you might think they are.”
“It’s easy to feel like you’re all alone because you’re operating in a sea of people who largely share the same skills, experiences, and goals as each other (but different from you). They may seem like the enemy sometimes, but you can help them reduce wasted time and effort and really make a difference in your customers’ lives.”
“Reach out to Angela, me, and other library marketers and library marketing enthusiasts anytime you feel unsure, frustrated, or just want someone to share in your success. You got this. Seriously.”
Chris was also recently featured on the new podcast, “Library Marketing for Library Marketers“, hosted by Katie Rothley. Listen to his episode.
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Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
The library I worked for when I started this blog had an annual tradition. Every year, our staff would march in the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day parade.
Now, you must understand that Opening Day in Cincinnati is a holiday. Legitimately. And people look forward to the parade as much as they do the game. So, marching in it is incredibly exciting.
It was my job to organize the library’s entry every year. That involved getting library staff members to sign up to march in attire and carrying props that matched our summer reading theme.
You’d think that would be easy.
It was not.
Every year, I’d panic because I had too few staff members signed up to march. Then, staff would start calling me days before the parade, asking why they hadn’t heard about our library’s entry.
This happened because we had a messy, unorganized internal communications strategy. And that was dangerous.
If we were having problems getting information to staff about a fun event, we were really in trouble when it came to communicating the information they needed to do their work properly.
On this blog, we focus mainly on marketing and promotions aimed to reach your library community. But for the next two weeks, we’re going to turn our attention to a different audience: your staff.
Effective internal communication is incredibly important to the success of any library. Without it, staff feels disconnected from the library, their community, and each other. Morale can drop. Initiatives may not be successful when workers don’t feel like they understand the context and their role in the work.
And when library staff feel frustrated, they quit. Turnover is bad for your library. It costs you money and productivity.
But the people who really suffer in this equation are your community members.
That’s why every library, however big or small, needs an intentional internal communications plan.
Setting a realistic course of action
First, let me tell you from experience that an internal communications plan won’t magically transform the staff experience overnight. These things take time. But, if you create a solid plan and are consistent in your communications, you will see improvement.
You should approach this work just as you would for a customer-facing marketing campaign. First, you’ll want to answer some questions about the state of your library’s internal communications.
Ask:
Do you have a strategy? How effective is it?
What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Who is currently involved in shaping and executing your current internal communications?
Who needs to be involved in improving those communications?
Next, you’ll want to determine your goals. Use the SMART goals framework to set your library up for success.
Your goals should be:
Specific: Define what you want to accomplish in clear, simple terms that everyone on your library staff, from front-line workers to senior leaders, can understand.
Measurable: Create milestones and targets that can help you see your progress toward each aspect of your goal.
Attainable: Set goals that are manageable and realistic.
Relevant: Create goals that develop your library staff members, serve your community, and connect to your library’s overall strategic plan.
Time-based: Create a specific timeframe for reaching your goals. This timeframe will ensure you are accountable to the staff. It will also prompt you to reflect on how your plan is progressing, and change direction if you encounter any issues.
Finally, you’ll want to decide how you’ll measure the success of your internal communications. You may want to measure:
Decrease in employee turnover
Increase in candidates applying for new jobs
Increase in staff workplace satisfaction
Increase in staff performance review ratings
Library staff is an audience
The next task is to uncover the best way to connect with your audience: the staff. What do they need to know? When do they need to know it? And how do they want that information delivered?
Jill Fuller is a Marketing and Communications Librarian for Bridges Library System. Her job involves a lot of communication with staff at various libraries in the system. And she uses surveys, like this one, to figure out what her audience wants to see in her staff emails.
“They have excellent open and click rates,” she explained, “but I wanted to get quantitative data too. I asked them questions about how helpful they were, whether they were relevant to their jobs, which topics they wanted me to focus on, the frequency and length of the emails, and more.”
“I never knew how much the emails were appreciated! With the data I gathered, I have been able to focus more on the topics the library staffs were most interested in and scaled the frequency down to every other week.”
Use Jill’s advice and create a survey to gauge the needs and preferences of your staff. Jill suggests you ask:
Their preferences for getting information
How they share system information with their staff or colleagues
Whether they feel they receive enough communication
Whether they feel the communication is accurate
How comfortable they feel contacting your library with questions.
Make the survey easy to fill out, and as short as possible. Let the staff know that the survey is their best way to share their thoughts about the direction your library should take with internal communications.
And give staff time to fill it out. It should be available for at least two weeks. You want a participation percentage of 80 percent or higher. Reminders in email, delivered by managers, and in signage in staff areas will help.
Even better, ask managers to set a meeting appointment on staff calendars for filling out the survey.
The benefit of a newsletter for internal library communications
If you have a lot of information to share, as Jill does, consider creating an internal library newsletter. Newsletters take what could have been multiple emails and condense them into a simple, easy-to-read format.
Cindy Starks is the Communications Coordinator for Coal City Public Library District, a small library southwest of Chicago, Illinois. They serve a population of 11,000 residents and have 22 employees.
After each monthly department heads meeting, it’s Cindy’s job to prepare a summary in a newsletter to staff called the Staff FYI Newsletter.
“The newsletter can be a lot of information to retain for staff,” admitted Cindy, “but by having it emailed they can refer to it at any time when they don’t remember something.”
Tips for a staff newsletter
Provide the right news and information. Carefully consider the kind of information your employees need. Try not to send too much information in one email, or too many emails.
Remember your calls to action. Encourage staff to take the next step, such as sharing information on social media, filling out a survey, or signing up for training or new initiatives.
Strengthen your subject lines. You want staff to open your emails, so consider your subject line just as you do for any email communication to patrons. Use emojis or power words to catch the attention of your staff.
Advice from a library
Grace Riario and Anita Baumann of Ramapo Catskill Public Library System send a newsletter six times per year to all library trustees serving on the Boards of their 47 member libraries.
They’ve got three pieces of advice for internal communications.
“Keep the text short and positive,” says Grace. “Pictures representing the topics are a must.”
“Lists, such as the three best things about being a library director, ensure that people will read that piece in your newsletter,” continued Grace.
“A third ‘strategy’ we employ is consistency in formatting and color palette,” shared Grace “Prominent display of the organization’s logo, as well as a uniform look and subject line in the email when it’s distributed help readers to recognize the material when it hits their inbox.”
Staff communication beyond emails
My library ended up adding an internal communications position to our ranks. That person attended meetings, created talking points for managers to explain new initiatives, and organized our internal staff website. She discovered our staff liked to hear the news directly from senior staff, so she started a weekly video series where senior leaders appeared in short videos to share information.
If your library cannot add a staff member specifically tasked with internal communications, there are still things you can do. Libraries can be very siloed and bureaucratic organizations. But the libraries that open those siloes and promote productive and meaningful conversations have success in internal communications.
This can be done by leaving space for question-and-answer sessions at the end of all-staff meetings. You can also add a Q and A board to your internal website. Encourage staff to ask questions and share information with each other.
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 