Sunday morning’s PR Forum featured a panel of five experts who offered tips and tactics that will help libraries get their stories told through both new and traditional media. The program was sponsored by the PR Assembly of the ALA Public Awareness, supported by ALA Public Information Office staff.
George Eberhart, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Tom McNamee, Dave Baum
First up was longtime Chicago broadcaster and media trainer Dave Baum, who gave a quick tutorial on how to be relevant on the radio. “Find out what radio stations in your market area can feature you as a guest,” he said. “Usually there is a news and talk radio station that appeals to the 18-49 audience.” And don’t forget internet radio stations — a recent poll showed that 13% of all radio listeners tune in online. Baum also warned that you must have a convincing pitch ready for radio producers: “Give them an issue they can present both sides on, like banned books, or tell a story about how your library works. People go to sleep without stories.”
Baum heaped praise on ALA’s Public Information Office: “Of all the clients I’ve had since 1974, PIO offers you the thickest, the best, the most content-filled book of issues and answers I’ve ever seen. Don’t go wandering around in the news wilderness,” he recommended. “Check in with ALA first.”
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Page Editor Tom McNamee echoed Baum’s emphasis on stories. “Have all your information ready before you contact the newspaper,” he advised. “Tell the city desk you have three library patrons they can contact who will tell them how the library has helped them. Give them their names, email addresses, and phone numbers.”
Kevin Kirkpatrick, executive vice president of the public-relations consulting firm Metropolitan Group, presented a dynamic demo on the power of social media to deliver the library’s message. “Social networking is not just a story, it’s a conversation,” he said. He showcased the District of Columbia Public Library’s website as a good example of social interactivity, featuring podcasts, webinars, live homework help, a live construction webcam, text message holds notifications, and catalog searches via Google gadget.
Twitter can be important as well. (”If you haven’t tweeted, you haven’t lived,” Kirkpatrick quipped.) The Newberry Library in Chicago promotes its holdings on Twitter. However, he admitted that Twitter and Facebook are often better for customer service than publicity.
Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, creative director of the Metropolitan Group, summarized his recent report on how libraries can communicate effectively with multicultural populations (PDF file). “By 2050,” he said, “49% of the U.S. population will be nonwhite.” He offered many case studies that emphasized principles and practices for working with groups that are culturally, racially, and ethnically different from your own.
Finally, AL Direct Editor George Eberhart explained how libraries can get their news into ALA’s weekly newsletter. “Ask yourself the four E’s,” he advised. “Is your news Essential for a national or regional audience? Can other libraries Extrapolate ideas from what you’ve done? Have you Explained the significance of your event? Did you inject sufficient Excitement into your announcement about your program?”
Eberhart offered tips on writing press releases: “Use the active voice. Don’t say, ‘The library is pleased to announce’ something,” he said. “Even if your library is normally grumpy, the fact that you are now pleased does not constitute news.”
He gave some examples of press releases that work: “Use humor (’Librarian transformed into human popcorn ball’), allusion (’The endless summer reading list’), mild exaggeration (’Discover the truth about twittering’), intrigue (’Oprah sends her regrets’), lists (’27 things to do before conference’), and, if all else fails, use clarity (’Registration opens for online courses’).”
“Let us know what’s going on in your libraries,” Eberhart concluded. “Other librarians will be interested too.”