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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion

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Book Talking To Promote Your Collection: Five Shrewd Ways To Entice People To Check Out More Books

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

My co-worker Yaika recently returned from StokerCon with an amazing library marketing story.

Yaika was on a panel. The organizers of the panel brought about 700 Advanced Reader copies, or ARCs, to the session. An ARC is a version of a book that is made available before the official publication date.

The ARCs were set on tables before the presentation. The panelists then talked about the various ARCs during the session, naming them by title and author and discussing the most intriguing things about each book.

Of course, they gave a quick summary of the plot. But, every time they talked about a book, they mentioned the appealing factors that make people want to read a book: the characters, the tone, the setting, the pacing, and the themes.

And once the audience heard the appealing factors, a bunch of people would jump out of their seats and run to the ARC table to see if the book was available.

Why did attendees, who seemed hesitant to pick up a book before the session, feel compelled to grab books during the session?

It’s because the panelists were book-talking.

A book talk is a short presentation about a book to convince other people to read it. Book talking is not a formal book report or review. It’s more of a mini-commercial. 

And book talking is one of the most effective ways to promote your collection, especially when you describe the book using those intriguing story elements.

Whether you are a degreed librarian who works on library promotions or a communications professional who works in a library, everyone… and I mean everyone… can talk about books in this way.

Your passion for the collection, not your degree or expertise, is what makes this type of marketing so special. And promoting your collection is incredibly important to the success of your library.

Your collection is the reason most people get a library card. Books are your brand. You should promote your collection all year long.

If you are a front desk worker, you can book talk with patrons during every interaction! But how do you book talk if you aren’t working at the front desk?

Here are 5 promotional tactics that you can use to book talk with readers when you aren’t working directly with the public.

Email

Every month, I get an email from the Jacksonville Public Library that drives me to the catalog EVERY SINGLE TIME I get it. Do you know why? The email is a book talk in digital form!

I don’t even live in Jacksonville. I don’t live in Florida! But this email makes me want to read books.

The email contains a list of books, usually fewer than 10. Next to each book is a summary of the plot, plus a little extra something: a review, or a hint at something appealing about the theme, genre, or characters. It’s intriguing! And it makes me add to my TBR (to-be-read) pile.

I also love this example from Jefferson Public Library. Scroll to the bottom of the email to find a promotion that includes those appealing elements which can be more helpful in describing a book than the plot.

Print

The folks at LibraryReads offer a downloadable PDF flyer each month that is a book talk in print. Each of their selected titles is listed, along with a description of the book that includes not only the plot, but words that describe the book’s genre, intriguing factors, and the author’s style.

On your website

I must confess that every time I visit my library’s website, I am on the hunt for books. Your readers are too. Your job is to make those books sound enticing enough to compel them to place a hold.

Create a page on your website, like Naperville Public Library. They have their book recommendations divided by genre and age group.

And they describe more than the plot. The annotations next to each title help readers decide which of the titles to check out.

Bookmarks

Your library can “upsell” books using bookmarks. Upselling is a sales term in which customers are encouraged to buy a more expensive version of a product than they originally intended.

For libraries, upselling is any action that compels your cardholders to check out more items than they originally intended. And bookmarks are the easiest way to do this.

Start small and manageable. Pick 3 categories to focus on, like cookbooks, horror, and Westerns. You can also choose age-based categories like adults, teens, and early readers.

Once you’ve decided on your categories, make one bookmark for each of your categories. Each bookmark should feature 3-6 books (3 if your bookmarks are one-sided, 6 books if your bookmark is two-sided).

For each book on your bookmark, add a photo of the cover (because book covers can also be enticing!) and the title. Then, write one line about the plot. Write a second line about the characters. Write a third line that describes the book using intriguing language like “quirky,” “thought-provoking,” and “funny.”

Challenge yourself and your staff to hand out a bookmark during every patron interaction. Make it a game to match the bookmark with the patron’s interest using context clues.

For example, if you saw the person browsing your new arrivals display and they’re an adult, you can hand them your adult fiction bookmark.

If someone comes to the drive-through to pick up their holds and you notice they’re checking out a whole stack of picture books, give them one of the early readers’ bookmarks. Heck, give them an adult bookmark too!

If someone checks out a cake pan from your Library of Things, give them a cookbook bookmark. And so on.

Videos

Ask a fellow staff member or patron to talk on camera about a book they read and loved. Challenge them to do it in under 60 seconds, like Thayer Public Library does!

Then, post the video natively to all the social media platforms your library uses with a direct link to the book in the catalog. You know how social media platforms LOVE videos!

Bonus idea

I have to share this infographic created by Lester Public Library. They gathered stats on book talks they provided to local students. It’s such a great way to prove the value of the library to the community, parents, and stakeholders like local legislators and funders!

More Advice

The Library Marketing Lesson You Can Learn From the Greatest Out-of-Office Message Ever!

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3 New (and Relatively Easy) Promotional Ideas for Increasing Your Circulation and Building Support of Your Library

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Maybe this is just a library thing, but practically every time I leave the house, I have a book in my hand.

Doctor’s appointments, salon appointments, a quick trip to pick up a prescription from the drive-thru pharmacy (WHY is the line so long??), the airport, a car trip… I must take a book with me. You know… just in case I have five minutes of downtime. Heaven forbid I waste any precious reading moments.

As it turns out, there are plenty of people who share my love of reading. (But we knew that, didn’t we?) A new survey by blogger and freelance writer David Leonhardt sheds new light on reading habits.

David surveyed 945 people about their reading habits in December 2022 to gather book reading data. The survey was not random, and it was conducted on the Internet, so as David points out, “Respondents tended to self-identify as readers. Most people who do not read books or have not read books in a while declined to participate.”    

But the survey does spotlight three opportunities for library marketing.  

Key Survey Finding: Most people read either a few books or a lot of books.

Opportunity: Target low-volume readers with read-alike suggestions.

David’s survey shows about 32 percent of people read only 1-5 books in 2022. That’s a huge percentage of low-volume readers.

We know that readers sometimes have a difficult time finding their next book. That is especially true of low-volume readers. They just need some encouragement and attention.

This is incredibly simple. Train your front-line staff to notice when someone is checking out just one book. Tell staff to ask the cardholder what interested them about the title. Then have the staff offer them a read-alike!

You can apply the same principle to your holds shelf. Create 3 bookmarks with reading suggestions. Pick three genres, subjects, authors, or topics that are popular with your cardholders.

Next, tell staff to be on the lookout for patrons who have 1-2 books on hold. Ask them to slip one of your three bookmarks into those holds. Have your staff make their best guess on which bookmark to choose based on the 1-2 titles the patron is checking out.

Key Finding: People still love print books.

Opportunity: Strategically upsell your print collection.

David’s survey shows 57 percent of readers prefer print. (That number is slightly lower in the U.S., where readers are more likely to use the Kindle.)

That’s a lot of print readers! And that’s a lot of opportunity to drive circulation numbers for your library, without much effort.   

To do that, we’re going to focus on upselling. Upselling is a sales term in which customers are encouraged to buy a more expensive version of a product than they originally intended.

Libraries can upsell to cause our cardholders to end up checking out more items than they originally intended! To do that, we must always be thinking of ways to offer other collection items to patrons as they checkout.

If you are running your library’s drive-thru window and a patron comes to pick up their hold on a cookbook, you can do a quick catalog search to find another cookbook by the same author or around the same topic: bonus points if you have the cookbook on the shelf! Then, when you’re ready to hand over the original hold, let your patron know you have a suggestion that perfectly matches what they’re checking out. 

Or maybe you are leading a monthly book club at your library. Create a bookmark to distribute to your attendees suggesting more books related to the one you’re reading. Better yet, bring a cart of books to your meeting and encourage members to browse and check out!

You can do this with your next children’s program too. Pull a cart of books related to the topic of the program and encourage the kids or their caregivers to check out the books. Look for every opportunity to encourage your patrons to check out more materials.

Key Finding: People plan to read more in 2023.

Opportunity: Educate the community on your library’s importance in the reading world

64 percent of readers who responded to the survey said they plan to read more books in 2023 than they did in 2022. Only 3 percent plan to read fewer books.  

Our work here is done!

Not exactly.

I don’t have to spend any time telling you that libraries are truly in danger. Every day, our news and social media feeds are filled with horrific stories from friends in the library world about book challenges and campaigns to defund libraries. (I saw this post literally as I was taking a brain break from writing this post.)

You know that libraries are important. You know books change lives. You believe your community members understand that it is essential to have a place in a community where people can come to check out the books they want and need.

They do not. 

If libraries are to survive and thrive, we must do a better job of showing the value of our work around literacy.  

How do we do this?

I want you to set a goal. In the next 12 months, your library is going to find four patrons who love to read. Pick people from different backgrounds with different reading interests.

Then, I want you to tell their stories. Send them an email with interview questions and write a blog post about them. Or pull out your phone and interview them on camera.  Then post the video on your library’s website and social media channels.

In addition, pick 2-4 staff members who work with readers and who love giving reading recommendations. Tell their stories as well, either in print or on video.

Attaching names and faces to the work your library does around reading will evoke emotions and leave a lasting impact. It also builds trust and credibility.

People remember a good story. Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate with the human side of your library. And it will build support for your work.

More Advice

You Don’t Have to Choose Between Print and Digital Books: How to Promote Your Collection to Patrons Who Use BOTH Formats

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You Don’t Have to Choose Between Print and Digital Books: How to Promote Your Collection to Patrons Who Use BOTH Formats

Image courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Dear readers: I have a poll for you to take this week. Thanks in advance!

Answer this question

How many times have you been asked the question: which do you prefer most, print or digital books?

For me, the answer is… yes. Both.

I am not unusual. The Pew Research Center questions Americans about their reading habits and preferred book format every year. The survey for 2021 shows there are plenty of readers just like me who read both print and digital formats. Here are the topline numbers:

  • 75 percent of adults in the United States read a book in some format over the last year.
  • 33 percent say they read both print books and eBooks.
  • Nine percent say they only read eBooks or audiobooks.

And, although libraries don’t sell titles, book sales provide more evidence of our readers’ format preference.

  • Sales of print books increased in 2021 by about 9 percent.
  • eBook sales decreased, but that was to be expected after skyrocketing during the 2020 pandemic.
  • Audiobook sales continue to rise, up six percent in 2021 over the previous year.

The bottom line is that readers love to read. When they’re searching for a title, many readers want to get their hands on it in whatever format it’s available, as quickly as they can.

Who are these cross-format readers?

One email company I know has a name for people who read both digital and print books. They call them “transitionals”. But I think that’s not an entirely accurate way to describe cross-format readers.

First, most people are not transitioning from one format to the next. They are using both.

Secondly, that term lends an air of credibility to the notion that your print and digital collection are two separate things that need to be marketed in two separate ways. But they are not.

The collection is the collection, no matter what format our community members use. And the reasons they read both digital and print formats are opportunities for our marketing.

How to promote to cross-format readers

Remember, if your community is checking out books in all formats, circulation numbers will increase for your library. And you’ll be fostering a deeper level of engagement for these readers.

They’ll become dependent on your library for their reading material. And they’re more likely to volunteer, donate, and advocate for your library.

Cross-promote readalikes using context clues during in-person interactions.

Most people who visit your physical library branch are there to check out print. But you can cross-promote readalikes in digital formats to these readers.

To do this, look at your current print circulation statistics. Identify the three genres or topics of physical books most often checked out by your patrons. Next, create a bookmark or a quarter sheet flyer with three readalike suggestions for each of these topics. Specifically suggest your readalikes in a digital format.

Or, instead of suggesting three specific titles on your print piece, create a booklist of readalikes in digital format on your website. Your readalike bookmark or flyer should include a shortened URL link that leads to your online booklist.

When you see someone checking out print materials that might match your digital readalikes, hand them your digital readalike bookmark or flyer. Or slip the bookmark or flyer into holds.

You can also cross-promote print readalikes to your digital readers. Most digital format vendors will let you download the email addresses for your eBook and audiobook users.

Pull those lists and then send an email to those digital users promoting readalike titles, both new and backlist, in print formats.

Remember if you live in the US, you are not breaking any laws by emailing patrons, even if they don’t opt-in to an email. In fact, they expect you to market to them.

If they don’t want to receive emails from your library, they will opt-out. The overwhelming majority will appreciate your reading suggestions.

Libraries outside of the U.S. can add a section to their library news email to promote their digital and print collection. Use a link that allows your readers to check out your book suggestions in whatever format they prefer.

Make sure you track holds and checkouts of the titles you promote in your emails. That will give you data to help you make decisions about what to promote next. It will also be proof of the effectiveness of your work.

In my experience, one collection-based email a month can drive a circulation increase on average from 125 percent to 375 percent!

Include a digital option for your physical library book displays.

A patron who visits your library and sees your display may want to read those books in digital format. You can serve that patron by including a small sign or a bookmark with a QR code that allows readers to check out those same books in digital formats.

Offer titles in the format with a shorter wait list.

A few weeks ago, a staffer at my library was helping me search for a book I’d been wanting to read. She mentioned the holds list for the title was shorter for the audiobook version than for the print or eBook versions.

I honestly appreciated that! It’s a simple thing, but it’s good customer service. It gets books into the hands of your patrons more quickly and drives circulation.

Promote the benefits of each format.

In library marketing, we often focus on the title itself. But the format is a promotional opportunity too.

People find it easier to retain information when they read print. Readers also talk about the tangible experience of a print book: the feel and smell of it.

This is an opportunity for you to create experience-based marketing. Talk about the physical and emotional experiences readers have when they read print materials.

Likewise, you can talk about the benefits of digital formats in your promotions. eBooks let readers adjust font and background color for accessibility. They take up less physical space and they’re automatically returned at the end of a loan period. And audiobooks allow readers to get lost in a book while doing something else like exercising or cleaning.

Incorporate these features into your collection promotion. Your marketing will resonate with readers who feel comfortable jumping between formats.

Further Reading

Beginner’s Guide to Promoting Your Collection: How to Get Started and Drive Circulation at Your Library
Four *Easy* Ways to Promote Your Library’s Children’s Collection

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Save Money at the Library! 5 Ideas For Promoting the Cost-Saving Benefits of Your Library

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

My favorite bedtime snack is cereal. There’s something comforting about climbing into bed to watch TikTok while munching on Cheerios or Rice Krispies or, God forgive me, Cookie Crisp.

But it costs a lot more now to indulge in my favorite nighttime ritual. The average price of a gallon of milk rose by $1.23 between 2020 and 2022. The price of an average box of dry cereal rose by $1 between 2020 and 2022, according to my research.

Everything is getting more expensive, and not just in the United States. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, consumer prices are up 9.2 percent in 2022. Some countries like Turkey and Estonia are seeing double-digit inflation rates.

Your patrons are struggling, as I’m sure you know. That’s why now is the moment to start promoting your library as a money-saving opportunity for your community.

This isn’t a new idea. During the recession of 2008, libraries marketed themselves as a place for free books, DVDs, education, and entertainment. We’ve expanded our services since then, and we can show our community the value of using their library card to save money.

This approach has benefits for the library too. It will help reconnect community members who may have stopped coming to the library during the pandemic. That will drive circulation, visitors, and attendance.

Specificity is key.

Libraries, in our well-intentioned effort to appeal to everyone, often appeal to no one. So instead of saying, “The library saves you money,” be specific.

Think about the audiences you have on the platforms where you promote your library. Your Facebook followers have a specific demographic makeup. So do your Instagram followers. Your email newsletter subscribers react positively to certain promotions.

Think about those specific audiences. Write down what you know about them. For example:

Our library’s Instagram audience is women between the ages of 25 and 34. We get the most likes, shares, and comments for posts featuring historic photos of our library and book recommendations.

Next, do some research about the financial state of your area. Census statistics from 2020 are a great place to start. You can also search local news articles for more recent reports from your city or county about the state of the economy in your service area. If I were to do this for the city where I live (Cincinnati, Ohio), I would write:

The average household income according to the 2020 census is $65,000 and the poverty rate is 24 percent. Our population is majority white (50 percent) and black (41 percent). Cincinnati was ranked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the bottom ten urban areas for job growth. The homeownership rate is only 39 percent. Most households consist of three people. Most residents have at least a high school diploma.

Armed with just those few statistics, I can make a list of the needs my service community has.

  • Finding a job
  • Career growth for better-paying jobs
  • Adult education advancement and the money to pay for higher education
  • Family activities that are cheap or free
  • Entertainment that is cheap or free

Now I can identify the specific library services that fall into those categories. Then, I can make plans to promote each of those library offerings as cost savings to my community.

Here are five ideas for specific promotions. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for examples of libraries that are promoting their services to save money.

Include a price comparison.

How much does a subscription to Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, or Audible cost compared with your library’s free streaming movies and music? How much does it cost to rent a workspace compared to using the library as a remote workspace? How much does it cost to buy a folding table versus checking one out from your library of things? Make the comparison so community members can see how much money they can save.

Always start with your collection.

Books are your library’s brand. In your print collection, focus on bestselling fiction and nonfiction, cookbooks, DIY, and children’s books. If you’re worried about growing the holds list, be sure to promote these books in all formats, including digital and audio, to give your patrons access faster.

You should also promote your library’s digital magazines and online newspapers. Remember to do a price comparison to show people how much they can save by using your library.

Remember, don’t promote the entirety of your collection. Be specific. Pick one to three titles that match a specific target audience. Your promotions will be more effective.

For example, when I worked at the Cincinnati Library, I promoted Reminisce Magazine to baby boomers on Facebook. Before our promotion, we had only a few downloads of this magazine each month. Afterward, downloads rose by more than 100 percent! Our community also really loved Cincinnati Magazine and whenever I marketed it by itself, downloads spiked. Specificity is the key.

Consumer reports database

This is a huge money saver for your community. Show your fans how they can research the best products and save time and money.

Homework help

Tutoring isn’t cheap. Many libraries offer help for kids struggling with schoolwork, either in person or online. If your homework help is in-person, introduce people to the faces their kids will see at the library. The Cincinnati Library did this in a blog post. You can also make a short video or a series of slides on Instagram or Facebook stores.

Other library services that save money

  • Library of things
  • Free Wi-Fi hotspots
  • Video games
  • Free or cheap classes and testing preparation.
  • The library as a workspace

Real-life examples of libraries promoting their cost-savings

Alma College blog post The Library Can Save You Time and Money–Here’s How

Jefferson Public Library’s Borrow, Don’t Buy Facebook promotion

Bridges Library System talking about money savings on Sorta Green Podcast

Crab Orchard Public Library’s savings comparison Facebook post

Riverhead Free Library’s money savings meme

Bryan Public Library’s money savings receipt post on Instagram

Monmouth County Library’s money savings Instagram post

Jackson Madison County Public Library’s price comparison series on Facebook

Now it’s your turn! Has your library done a money savings promotion? Let me know in the comments.

Read These Articles Too!

How Do We Get People To Come Back to the Library? Four Ideas That Can Help You Rebuild Use of Your Library

Your Library Can Reach Teens With Programming and Marketing! A Look Inside the Lives and Minds of the Elusive Generation Z

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