Some of Megan Bratton’s favorite memories were made at the Forsyth County Public Library in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
“I went to a new concept charter school in downtown Winston Salem that was housed in the basement of an office building,” explains Megan. “The school didn’t have many amenities, like a gym or library.”
“This meant that we got to go on regular walking field trips to the main branch of the Forsyth County Public Library. We even got to decorate our own cotton tote bags to use carting our book finds back and forth. My dad worked in an office downtown and would often pop into the school or library for fun surprise visits.”
Megan went on to work in corporate marketing before getting her MLIS from the University of Denver. She initially intended to work in an academic setting but was more interested in the public library world. She ended up at the Natrona County Library in March of 2019, working as a part-time Children’s Librarian.
“I found it truly astonishing what all public libraries were able to do for their communities in response to immediate needs and in anticipation of future needs,” recalls Megan. “No other large organization can pivot and change that quickly. Plus, they were doing it all for free and for everyone.”
“As a marketer, I realized there was a major need here. Public libraries are these bastions of creativity, advancement, support, and acceptance, but not enough people know about these free services. I wanted to find a way to put my skillset to use promoting public libraries, and it wasn’t long after I started working at Natrona County Library that their marketer decided to move on to new ventures. In October of 2019, I stepped into my current role as head of Marketing and PR.”
Natrona County is the second-most populous county in Wyoming, with 80,000 residents. The library has a main branch in downtown Casper and a branch about 40 miles away in a small town called Edgerton. They also have a bookmobile.
Megan says nearly a third of Natrona County residents have an active library card, and the library enjoys high visitor and circulation rates and robust program attendance. That may be due in part to the work Megan has done in marketing.
At her library, Megan is a team of one, overseeing all social media, public relations, website development and management, advertising, graphic design, and branding.
“I do ask that our programmers and other library staff try to keep a ‘marketing mindset’ to help capture photographs at programs or throughout the library space that could be used for social media,” shares Megan. “I am all about efficiencies and delegation, so I have licensed programs like LibraryAware and Canva which come pre-populated with professional-looking templates that staff can use to make their own bookmarks, flyers, signs, handouts, and more.”
I reached out to Megan after seeing the Natrona County Library’s website. It’s clean and modern, with a thoughtful layout and what I can only describe as a “cool” vibe. I told Megan it doesn’t really look like a typical library website.
“The website (as I inherited it) was broken and battered. It had been built before mobile devices were a thing,” recalls Megan. “We needed to start fresh with a ‘mobile first’ mindset, simplify the navigation structure, integrate new event software that made our program calendar more visually appealing, and incorporate a blog to position ourselves as thought leaders in our community and the larger Wyoming library community.”
Megan partnered with a local creative agency on the website rebuild in 2021, thanks to the generous support of her library Foundation.
“Because of my extensive web background, we had an unusual arrangement where I worked side-by-side with their web guy as we built it out,” explains Megan. “As you know, library websites have a LOT of pages, which can make a new website a costly build. Because I was able to tackle about 75 percent of the pages (using templates, structures, and design influence from the agency-built pages) myself, it cut the cost in half, which is how we ended up with such a professional-looking website on a public library budget.”
For some libraries, the website can be a point of contention: everyone has different opinions about what should be featured on the homepage and drop-down menus. Megan needed to make decisions based on her knowledge of her customers. Later, analytics let her know if her instincts were correct.
“There are a couple of items that live in multiple places in the menu, like the Bookmobile, to accommodate multiple thought processes or visitor types,” explains Megan. “My goal, ultimately, is to put things that make the most sense to our staff, because they are the ones referencing the pages the most.”
“But we are all in agreement that the most important pieces of information are to be at the very top of the homepage. Static across the entire site is the search functionality for our catalog, log-in to one’s account, library hours, and our phone number. I treat our website like a database in that sense.”
“Anecdotally, and through analytics, we’ve come to realize that our patrons don’t spend a whole lot of time on our website. They mostly come for hours, contact information, and to get to our catalog. They may also enter through digital ads, social media, or from other places directly to landing pages, but don’t tend the linger.”
The website is also the home of Natrona County Public Library’s blog, Library Stories.
“Our blog is a byproduct of our bygone print newsletter,” explains Megan. “It was important to me that we have a way to not only highlight that content for larger audiences but also share it differently, as blog articles can be interacted with much differently than print pieces.
“The blog is a great place to put press releases or share important library updates without building individual landing pages that disappear over time. Depending on the content, I do find that the blog articles drive traffic, especially if the blog article is about the library itself.”
“For example, we shared a press release about a recent exploration of a bank building as a potential new location for the library, and it got a lot of visitors (as well as a lot of commentary on social media). The same thing happened when we increased the number of security guards and shared that information with the community.”
“The blog is an excellent resource for the media and can be a great way to remind our community of our policies, procedures, and things like funding sources, as these are things that seem to come up often in social dialogue.”
Megan says if your library is considering a website refresh, make sure you make that digital space as welcoming and friendly as your physical locations.
“Also, when you’re talking to your staff, stakeholders, and patrons about the library website, they have no idea that there is often a difference between your website and your catalog,” adds Megan. “I realize that some libraries have their site and catalog combined, but that is not the case for us.”
“Our website is built on WordPress, and our catalog is through ByWater Solutions’ Aspen. We also have integrations with LibCal for our event calendar, room booking, appointments, and Library of Things. Patrons have no idea that these are all separate things, and a patron can shut down during conversation if you start talking about them as such.”
“That’s why it was super important that all these disparate–but integrated–sites feel cohesive so that patrons and end users don’t even realize when they’re navigating away from one and can easily and seamlessly navigate back to where they came from.”
You can read more about the rebuild of the Natrona County Library website here.
Hey library marketing friends: Every promotion you create brings the joy of your library to someone new. That’s something to be proud of!
P.S. You might also find this helpful
Google Does It Again! What New Changes in Search Ranking Mean for the Discoverability of Your Library’s Website
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