Photo courtesy of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library
Your answers will help shape the blog posts, videos, and resources I create for library marketers in 2027.
For the past 11 years, I’ve asked library staff who work on marketing and promotion to share what’s working and what isn’t working for their library. But this year, I wanted to get more granular and provide results that help libraries improve their marketing.
To do that, I crowdsourced questions from library marketers and communicators, and some of the best ideas made it into this year’s State of Library Marketing Survey.
That makes this year’s survey especially meaningful to me because these aren’t just my questions. They’re questions our library marketing community said they want answered.
If you work in library marketing, communications, outreach, social media, programming, or any other role that involves promoting your library, I’d love to have your perspective. The survey takes about 7–10 minutes, and the results will be published on January 4, 2027.
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:
Have you ever looked at your library marketing calendar and said to yourself, “I have to promote story time again. What on Earth am I going to say this time?”
Your library’s evergreen services are really valuable, but it can get tedious promoting them over and over again.
So, how do you do it in a way that keeps that content fresh and interesting, and perhaps brings new people to your library? We’re going to talk about it in this episode of The Library Marketing Show!
Plus, kudos go to a library that combined a pop culture moment with a popular book series for timely, authentic marketing magic.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
When we think about library marketing, we usually think about patrons. But every great patron experience starts with staff who know what’s happening.
That’s why I recently spoke with Nina Kenney, Head of Communications at Lake Villa District Library in Illinois, about how her library transformed internal communication.
The project was a way to strengthen culture, improve workflows, and help every employee, from part-time shelvers to department heads, feel connected.
“This project shined a light on the importance of internal communication. You can’t underestimate it.”
-Nina Kenney
The Problem: A Bigger Building Created Bigger Communication Challenges
When Lake Villa District Library moved into a new 66,000-square-foot building in 2019 — double the size of its previous location — communication became more difficult.
The old building naturally encouraged casual conversations. The new three-floor building meant staff rarely crossed paths, making it much easier for information to stay inside departments.
At about the same time, the library welcomed a new director, launched strategic planning, and created a Learning & Development Coordinator position. That is a lot of information to be shared!
Suddenly, email became the default communication channel for everything. Staff quickly became overwhelmed. It’s no wonder that when the library surveyed employees about their biggest frustration, the answer was clear: Too many emails.
That’s a tough piece of feedback. As library marketers, many of us are tasked with communicating both internally and externally. Half of our job is to make sure all staff have the information they need to do their jobs every day.
So if you can’t send an email every time you need to communicate with staff, what do you do?
The Goal Was About Communication… and So Much More
As the team evaluated intranet platforms, they realized they wanted to:
Reduce email overload
Create a single source of truth and information
Streamline marketing and service requests
Build community across departments
Make part-time staff feel just as connected as full-time employees
That last goal became especially important.
“We really wanted everybody to feel like they were part of the team,” says Nina.
What They Built
Lake Villa eventually settled on a staff hub, which became the “one source of truth” location for staff.
Their staff hub includes:
A personalized dashboard
Marketing request forms with automated tracking
Learning & Development resources
Policy documents
Board packets
Leadership notes
Knowledge base articles
Project workspaces
Team collaboration areas
Staff recognition
Birthdays
Social groups like “What Are You Reading?” and “What Are You Watching?”
One feature Nina especially appreciates is the marketing request tracker. Instead of chasing down emails or worrying about forgotten requests, every project automatically enters a queue.
“I used to miss jobs because requests got buried in email,” laments Nina. “That doesn’t happen anymore.”
Building Community Matters to Staff
So many of us think of internal communication in a very formal, business-like way. I love that Nina’s library took staff communication to the next level, intentionally building spaces where staff could simply connect.
Employees share what they’re reading. They recommend television shows. Birthdays are celebrated. Staff can publicly recognize one another for great work.
Those little interactions help replace the spontaneous conversations that disappeared after moving into a much larger building. And they create a culture that keeps staff feeling engaged, informed, and connected to the library’s overall mission.
Did It Work?
According to Nina, yes! Staff engagement has been strong, although adoption wasn’t immediate.
The team involved employees throughout development, asked them to help name the platform, and even introduced it with a fun “infomercial” during Staff Development Day.
That investment paid off. Today, staff know where to find updates, training, forms, policies, and project information without digging through overflowing inboxes.
A Surprise Takeaway About Email
One insight from our conversation surprised me. Even after building an impressive employee hub, Nina doesn’t think email should disappear.
When I shared that the library where I work sends a daily staff email, I admitted I initially assumed employees would find it overwhelming. Instead, staff told us they appreciate it. Nina wasn’t surprised.
“Say what you will about email, but it does create community. If people don’t feel engaged or they don’t feel they belong, everything else becomes harder.”
-Nina Kenney
That’s an important reminder. Internal communication works best when you choose the mix of tools that works for your staff. And that’s going to be different for every library.
Final thought
If, like me, you are trying to improve internal communication, here are some questions you can ask yourself, according to Nina.
Where do staff naturally look for information?
Are we creating unnecessary email?
Can employees easily find policies and forms?
Are project requests getting lost?
How do we help part-time staff feel included?
Are we creating opportunities for staff to connect with one another?
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:
When your library promotes a book, what benefit do you usually talk about?
Maybe it will help you learn something new. Build a skill. Expand your knowledge. Improve yourself.
Those are all good reasons to read, but what if we’re missing the reason people actually want books in their lives? We’ll get into it in this episode of The Library Marketing Show.
Plus, see how one Michigan library got a ton of fantastic publicity for two amazing programs.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
I have a small scheduling change to share for Super Library Marketing and The Library Marketing Show.
Over the past few months, I’ve settled into my role as Brand and Communications Director at Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.
I’m loving the work. But it’s also a big role, and I want to make sure the content I create for you continues to be thoughtful, practical, and worth your time.
So, I’m making one small change. I explain in the video.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
As libraries create more content on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, many marketers are asking the same question: How will new ADA accessibility requirements affect short-form video?
It’s an important question, and one that goes beyond simply adding captions.
In this episode of The Library Marketing Show, I answer a viewer’s question and explore what these accessibility requirements could mean for your video strategy, along with practical steps your library can take now.
Plus, kudos go to a library that has won multiple awards for its marketing!
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
I had a very different email planned for you today. I’d recorded and edited a video explaining how libraries could change a setting on Instagram to help protect photos of patrons and community members from being used by Meta’s new AI image feature.
Then Meta reversed course. (!!)
Just days after launching the feature, and following widespread criticism from users, creators, privacy advocates, and libraries, Meta announced it was removing the feature entirely.
That means the advice in the video is no longer relevant, so rather than publish outdated information, I decided to scrap the episode and give you a quick written update instead.
What happened?
Last week, Meta introduced a feature that allowed people to generate AI images by pulling images from public Instagram accounts. The feature immediately raised concerns because it relied on an opt-out model rather than asking people for permission first.
Within days, Meta announced that the feature “missed the mark” and removed it.
What does this mean for libraries?
For now, you don’t need to make the Instagram profile changes I was planning to recommend in this week’s episode because the specific feature has been withdrawn.
But I don’t think this story is over.
If there’s one lesson for library marketers, it’s this:
Social media platforms are changing rapidly, especially when it comes to AI.
Features can appear with little warning, disappear just as quickly, and affect how we manage photos of our patrons and communities.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to:
Regularly review your library’s social media privacy and account settings.
Stay informed about platform updates that could affect patron privacy.
Be prepared to adapt your social media practices as new AI features are introduced.
One encouraging takeaway
There’s another lesson here that’s worth celebrating.
Many people felt this feature crossed an important line. They spoke up, and Meta responded by removing the feature.
It’s a reminder that feedback still matters. (I am as shocked as you, but we’ll take the win!)
As library marketers, we’re often helping our communities navigate new technologies. Sometimes that means explaining new tools. Other times, it means asking thoughtful questions about privacy, consent, and trust.
This week, those questions made a difference.
I’ll keep watching this space, and if Meta or any other platform introduces similar AI features in the future, I’ll be sure to share what libraries need to know.
Do you have a suggestion for a future episode’s topic? Do you want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.
I had a list of things I thought needed attention. I had ideas. I had opinions. I had years of experience.
But I also knew I was walking into an organization that existed long before me, had been through a tumultuous six years, and will face tough challenges in the not-so-distant future.
So I made a decision. For the first few weeks, I just listened.
And looking back, it was probably the most important thing I did.
Start With People, Not Projects
The temptation in a new leadership role is to make your mark immediately. You want to launch something. Reorganize something. Fix something.
Resist the urge.
Before I touched processes or strategy, I sat down with every member of my team and with every member of senior leadership for one-on-one conversations. I asked questions like:
What do you spend most of your time doing?
What part of your job do you enjoy most?
What are you exceptionally good at?
What drains your energy?
What skills do you wish you had more opportunities to use?
What gets in the way of doing great work?
I wasn’t looking for complaints. I was looking for opportunities, gaps, and patterns. And those things started emerging quickly.
Some people were doing work they loved. Others had talents that weren’t being fully utilized. Some responsibilities seemed to belong to multiple people. Other responsibilities didn’t seem to belong to anyone.
That information was incredibly valuable. It became a roadmap to set up a foundation for success.
Build a Team Map
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that organizational charts don’t tell you much.
A job description tells you what someone is supposed to do. A conversation tells you what they actually do.
As I talked with my staff, I started mapping the team. I asked myself:
Who are the strongest writers?
Who can manage projects?
Who understands data?
Who has strong design skills?
Who is great at relationships and collaboration?
Just as importantly, I looked for gaps. Specifically, I pinpointed the skills that were missing, areas that seemed underdeveloped, and places where work was getting bogged down or stopped altogether.
I wasn’t trying to evaluate people. I was trying to understand the system.
Before you can build a stronger team, you have to understand the team you actually have.
Define the Real Problems
As I observed the department and reviewed existing work, I noticed something that I’ve seen in other organizations too.
People were working incredibly hard. But they were often operating without shared expectations, messaging, or processes.
Projects moved through different review paths depending on who was involved. Marketing requests arrived in different formats. Staff made decisions based on their own understanding of priorities.
Nobody was doing anything wrong. The team simply lacked some foundational systems. That realization shaped my plan for moving forward.
Map Out Your Priorities
Once I had a clear picture of my team and the larger organization they worked in, I worked on identifying and prioritizing what I needed to do. I created what I call my “Post-It Pyramid of Priorities.”
I wrote down the foundational tasks I needed to tackle, one on each Post-It. Then I arranged them in a pyramid, with the tasks I needed to complete at the top. (Groundbreaking, right?)
I put tasks that were interrelated into a line to signal to myself that I needed to work on them simultaneously.
Post-It Pyramid of Priorities
Using Post-Its makes it easy for me to move and change my priorities as conditions change.
Establish Your Messaging Foundation
One of the biggest priorities during those first 90 days was working through messaging.
What exactly were we trying to say about the library? More importantly, were we all saying the same thing?
Libraries are wonderful at promoting programs, events, and services. We are less consistent when it comes to communicating our larger value.
Ask staff members why the library matters and you might get a bunch of different answers.
Some will talk about books.
Some will talk about literacy.
Some will talk about technology.
Some will talk about community.
None of those answers are wrong.
But if your organization wants to build trust, recognition, and support, there needs to be some shared understanding of the bigger story you’re telling.
In my next post on July 27, I’ll go more in-depth to show you how our library determined a messaging focus and how we’re executing it.
Create a Strategy People Can Actually Use
The word “strategy” seems to scare people. I think it’s because most strategies are created by senior leadership, who then pass them down to the staff without taking the time to get buy-in. (This happens at for-profit companies too!)
I wasn’t interested in creating a document that nobody would read. I wanted a framework that would help people make decisions.
Who are we trying to reach?
What behavior are we trying to influence?
What organizational goals are we supporting?
How do our messages connect to those goals?
How should different channels work together?
Once you have the answers to those questions, you can create a simple strategic framework that you and your staff can follow for the next year.
Standardize the Review Process
When organizations don’t have a clear review process, everyone creates their own.
One project gets five rounds of edits. Another gets none. One person is included in decisions. Another is surprised at the last minute.
Over time, that creates frustration for everyone!
So we built a standard review structure. It helps me and my marketing manager to, well, manage projects!
We worked together to decide:
Who reviews what.
When they review it.
What kind of feedback they’re responsible for providing.
What final approval looks like.
The result is more consistency, fewer surprises, and much less confusion.
Focus on Culture, Not Just Process
The systems matter. The strategy matters. The messaging matters. But the biggest adjustment we need to make is cultural.
Instead of asking, “Can we promote this?” I’m prompting my staff to start asking, “What are we trying to accomplish?”
Instead of thinking about outputs, we are thinking about outcomes. Instead of automatically saying yes to every request, we started discussing priorities. (That is a biggie!)
It definitely is a mindset change. It won’t happen overnight, and you’ll face some bumps and pushback along the way. But getting yourself and your team to work these questions into your daily thought process will lead to better results.
What I Didn’t Do
Here’s what I did not do in my first 90 days!
I didn’t reorganize the team.
I didn’t launch a huge new campaign.
I didn’t overhaul every process.
I didn’t try to solve every problem.
New leaders sometimes feel pressure to demonstrate value immediately.
Ironically, one of the most valuable things you can do is slow down. Ask questions. Gather information. Build trust.
What If You’re Not New?
You don’t have to start a new job to use this approach.
In fact, if you’ve been at your library for years and feel like you’re stuck, this mindset can be even more valuable.
One of the advantages of being new is that you notice things everyone else has stopped seeing. You ask questions because you genuinely don’t know the answers. You challenge assumptions because you haven’t inherited them yet.
After you’ve been somewhere for a while, it’s easy to accept the way things are simply because “that’s how we’ve always done it.”
So borrow a trick from your first-day self.
Schedule listening meetings with colleagues you don’t work with regularly. Ask people what gets in the way of doing great work. Map your team’s strengths and gaps again. Follow a marketing request from start to finish as if you’ve never seen the process before.
Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from looking at familiar problems with fresh eyes.
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 