Struggling to be Heard? Promote Your Library - Partner with Others

Do you worry that your library's message might not be heard above the clamor for attention in today's marketplace?  Book sellers are not your only concern.  Our Iowa libraries also compete with television, the Internet, coffee shops, shopping malls, and extra-curricular school events among others.

The bad news is that the competition has advertising budgets, is aggressively clamoring to steal the time and addition of your patrons and can react to changes in the marketplace faster than you.  The good news is that competition need not be a win-lose, end sum game.  The better news is that the brand of your library among you customers is powerful.  It is true that our libraries are a cornerstone of our communities.  Sadly, too few people use our libraries and even fewer champion our libraries.  By marshalling your contacts and your ingenuity, you can leverage the strengths of your library to effectively and cheaply meet and potentially beat your competition.

Using public relations efforts can help deepen the loyalty of library users and help attract non-users.  The Telling the Library Story Toolkit Web site, developed by the Iowa Library Service Areas and the State Library of Iowa, offers solid information and a good start on how to positively promote libraries.  However, you need to take communicating with your key audiences (politicians, users and donors) one step further.

You should develop partnerships that are win-win and are very visible:

• Often when a bank customer dies the bank will buy flowers for the funeral.  Why not ask the banker to instead pay for a library book in the deceased's name.  The cost is about the same; a book will last years while flowers last about a week.  The bank might glue a note on the inside cover reading, "This book donated in the name of John Smith, an important part of our community.  Sponsored by XYZ Bank."
• City elected officials are important to your library.  Why not invite the mayor or council members once a month to read to children.  It reminds politicians of your importance, is a tangible and immediate way the city councilman can serve their public and it can be a great photo opportunity.  Every time a politician reads to a group of students, submit a photo to your local paper and write a cut line announcing the event happened in your building.
• Police and fire departments are respected institutions in every city.  Why not occasionally take the library to them?  Partner with a fire station and invite firefighters to read to your children's book club on a Saturday.  Submit a picture to your local paper.  It becomes a win-win opportunity -- your library earns free media, the children and their parents may learn more about the fire department and you've built another bridge with potential library supporters.
• Rotaries and other service organizations invite guest speakers to almost every meeting.  Why not have these groups donate a book to your library as a gift of thanks for the speaker's time.  Business leaders and civic activities are often active in these groups.  Hearing about the library each week could spur additional interest and support.

Developing a strategy to partner and to earn visible credit for your effort will develop a bond with people who can help you.  These outside-the-box partnerships can build the goodwill that will last for years.  Just be sure to give your partners the lion's share of credit.  Be sure to place the library name in a news story or a photo, but hold your partner, whether it's a person or a business, up as the start.

And, when working with the media, it's vital to do more than simply send your local news editor a picture or ask for free airtime on the radio station.  The library is a centerpiece of your community.  Reporters need to know this.  Remind them often.  Don't fear the news--cultivate respectful, professional relationships with your local media.  It takes a lot of work and some time, but the investment is worth the effort.

Competition for the public's attention is fierce.  What you may lack in money you can make up in ingenuity.  You and your fellow librarians are community leaders by virtue of your jobs.  Ask friends and neighbors and others what is important to them.  Then find a way to build partnerships and promote them to everyone.  In some instances, asking the right question of the right person at the right time and acting on the answer can prove to be the smartest of moves for your library for your partner and for your community.