While creating one of their in-house brews, employees at Johnson City (Tenn.) Brewing Company brought in some unexpected assistants to pour barley into the batch: library staffers.
The pre-Prohibition-style lager they crafted together was called 1895, a nod to the founding year of Johnson City Public Library (JCPL), located just a few blocks from the brewery’s downtown taproom. Inspired by beers of the late 19th century, it features three flavors: coffee (for its connection to books), black currant (for a vintage flare), and blood orange (for an eerie association with mysteries and thrillers). The signature beverage was made in partnership with JCPL to promote its 125th anniversary in 2020.
“They really gave us a lot of creative control,” says JCPL Marketing Coordinator Hannah Kiger, who, along with JCPL Director Julia Turpin, offered the hands-on assistance. “It’s one of my favorite partnerships we’ve ever done, because it felt truly like a collaboration.”
The beer’s debut was celebrated with a socially distanced release party and curbside pickup. Johnson City Brewing Company rereleased the lager in 2024 to celebrate the brewery’s 10th anniversary. Kiger notes that the brewers told her 1895 is a favorite among their staff.
JCPL already had a relationship with the brewery, which hosted book clubs and other library events, making it a natural fit for promoting the milestone anniversary, especially among millennials and Gen Zers, says Kiger.
The partnership marks a growing trend of libraries working with local brewers to create signature drinks for fundraising and awareness campaigns that expand the library’s visibility to younger adult crowds.
Public libraries do a great job reaching kids, teens, and older adults, says Kiger, but adults who visit breweries tend to be in their 20s and 30s, an age group that can get “lost” in the library world. “That’s a demographic we do not know that well because of the way programming is set up…. This was a way to try to reach [them].”
A ‘win-win’
Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library (CML) partnered with two local breweries to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023: BrewDog created Shelf Life, a nonalcoholic hazy IPA, and Land-Grant Brewing Company created Read Ale, a fruit-tinged red ale with notes of honey, caramel, and toffee.
Gregg Dodd, CML’s director of marketing and communications, says that because much of the 150th anniversary programming revolved around youth, the library wanted to broaden its offerings for adults, particularly nontraditional patrons ages 21–35.
“We worked with these local breweries knowing that they attract that customer base that we were after,” Dodd says, “and it was an absolute win-win.”
CML’s foundation raised about $2,000 through a portion of sales from both beers at the breweries. Dodd says they were thrilled with that outcome, adding that expanding CML’s marketing footprint was more significant to the library than raising money. The profits benefited the library foundation, music programs, summer reading challenge, and other 150th celebration activities.
The library event, which included a tasting and beer unveiling, had the largest turnout for a collaboration that Land-Grant Brewing had seen in its nine-year history, employees told Dodd. He adds the event reinforced that libraries have strong support and people have enthusiasm for community partnerships.
Books and beverages
Over the past two Septembers, Anchorage (Alaska) Public Library (APL) has commemorated Library Card Sign-Up Month by teaming up with a local kombucha brewer to produce a vanilla chai to complement APL’s fall-themed library card sets.
Zip Kombucha, which sells its fermented tea at a local taproom and in stores across the state, took inspiration from mystery novel puns and created To Chai For. Zip sold the spiced brew on tap throughout September 2023 and September 2024, with part of the proceeds going to APL. Patrons also received a discount by showing their library cards.
We worked with these local breweries knowing that they attract that customer base that we were after. —Gregg Dodd, director of marketing and communications, Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library
Alaska has one of the country’s highest statewide rates of binge drinking, and drug overdose deaths hit a record high in 2023, according to its state health department. Mindful of Alaska’s substance misuse challenges and the rise of sober lifestyles, APL opted for a nonalcoholic kombucha, which contains only trace levels of alcohol from the fermentation process.
During tasting events held both years, patrons could purchase from a selection of Zip kombuchas and then request a book pairing from APL’s librarians based on their selection. For example, To Chai For was paired with the mystery novel Death by Intermission by Alexis Morgan.
“The most important thing for us was drawing it back to our collection and drawing it back to the library,” says Misty Rose Nesvick, APL’s communications coordinator. “So not just, ‘Hey, it’s fun and it’s a kitschy flavor,’” but rather offer an event that allowed people to connect with the library whether they ordered the drink or not.
Each year, APL has reached its goal of 1,000 card sign-ups and raised more than $1,000 for two groups: the Anchorage Library Foundation, which supports library infrastructure and long-term planning projects, and the Friends of the Library, which helps purchase books and funds programs like summer reading and author visits.
Nesvick says the goal of the partnership wasn’t to pay for itself or bring in major funds for the library, adding that APL spent about $8,000 on advertising and promotion. Staffers, she says, measured success through different objectives: Did we engage millennials with the tasting event? Did we check out books and sign people up for library cards? Did we raise awareness among our target age group?
Social media engagement and community feedback demonstrated the partnership’s impact, Nesvick says. Locals shared their excitement online by checking in to the taproom on social media, posting stories about drinking the kombucha, and expressing their appreciation for seeing their library collaborate with a local business.
APL also provided promotional support for Zip through social media, fliers, and radio ads. In return, the company donated labor, ingredients, and materials to create the product. Nesvick advises other libraries seeking partnerships to look for similar exchanges.
For libraries considering collaborations, JCPL’s Kiger suggests partnering with businesses with similar missions. For the library and its brewing company partner, she says they share a passion for collaborating with neighboring organizations and nurturing a third space for locals to gather and socialize.
“It didn’t feel like a transactional kind of partnership,” Kiger says. “It was really about shared values.”
