Amanda Weakley was pursuing a master’s degree in English when a comment from a professor changed the course of her career.
“I took an elective in Library Science,” recalls Amanda. “The class went well, and the professor commented that I would be a great librarian. Shortly after that, I noticed a vacancy at a local library and applied. Once I started working in libraries, I knew it was where I wanted to be.”
Amanda grew up in Rappahannock County, Virginia, located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’s been a cardholder of the Rappahannock County Library since she was a preschooler.
Now she serves as director of the library, where she started working 14 years ago. Rappahannock County Library is a small, rural library that serves a population of just over 7,000 people.
“Currently, we have 3.5 FTE employees, me included, so we all do a bit of everything,” explains Amanda. “If there is an idea, we work together to see it through, usually a person or two handling every detail from planning to presentation and assessment. It is a lot of work, but the reward of successful library services and programs is immeasurable.”
With such a small staff, the library must get the most out of every tactic they use to promote their library. Rappahannock County excels in two areas: their word-of-mouth promotions and their partnership promotions.
Partnership marketing involves collaborating with other organizations, businesses, or influencers in the community to achieve mutual goals. Word-of-mouth marketing is all about building a buzz through community members, staff, and volunteers. It encourages people to spread positive stories, experiences, and testimonials about the library.
Staff members are often the key to both strategies. They are trained to spread news about new services and upcoming events and look for partnership opportunities.
“It really is a way of optimizing resources,” says Amanda. “Especially with a small staff and a small community, it helps to have as many happy patrons as possible and community partners advocating for you and spreading your news. We have friends of friends, clients, and members of partner organizations attending our events, using, and recommending our materials and services.”
“For as long as I have worked in libraries, and even prior, my focus has been on positive experiences and connections. I want everyone to have a positive experience or association with the library, be it through participating in a program, staff interaction with individuals, or staff collaboration with community partners.”
“We know people talk, so let’s give them wonderful things to say about the library and library staff! In a small community, I think word travels faster, and our organic tactics have evolved into strategic decisions.”
Amanda says libraries of all sizes should focus on what they do best in their community. Then, build and maintain healthy relationships with patrons and community partners around those key resources.
And don’t be surprised if it takes time to see the results from word of mouth and partnership marketing.
“There is a reality that you can work hard to get the word out and make connections, but there will always be people who will not receive your message,” explains Amanda. “It’s frustrating when you do everything to share information and someone says, ‘I did not know you offered that!’”
“If you have the opportunity, talk to the person, and see where they seek or find out information. Learn from each interaction and try to meet people where they are with a positive library or library staff experience. After a positive experience, your mentions will stand out and have more impact.”
The strategy’s success is easy to see if you look at Rappahannock County Library’s Facebook page. They are often tagged in photos and posts by their partnership organizations. That gives their library exposure to a whole new audience of potential patrons.
“We want our patrons and partners to tell people about us, send people our way, and even send us or our services to people. It’s a cycle of working for people, and if all goes well, they seem to work for us by continuing to market for us without even realizing it!”
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