Angela Hursh, manager of engagement and marketing at NoveList and author of the Super Library Marketing website, presents at the American Library Association's 2023 LibLearnX conference in New Orleans on January 28.

Market Your Strengths

January 28, 2023

But what about those libraries that leverage their marketing platforms to head challenges off at the pass? What does it look like when members of the profession decide not to back down? At “No More Neutral: How to Use Marketing to Position Your Library in Challenging Times,” a January 28 session at the American Library … Continue reading Market Your Strengths


Gale Engage provides dashboard visualizations of library data.

Target Acquired

May 3, 2021

Gale Engage User: Riti Grover, director at Farmington (Mich.) Community Library What is Gale Engage? Gale Engage is a marketing and analysis tool designed to optimize the library’s effectiveness through data analysis and dashboard visualizations that enable library staff to best focus their efforts within the community. How do you use it? We use Gale … Continue reading Target Acquired


Librarian's Library by Allison Escoto

Pandemic Pivoting, Continued

May 3, 2021

Going Virtual: Programs and Insights from a Time of Crisis By Sarah Ostman Going Virtual is a timely, practical guide that offers pragmatic advice and creative examples of programs for communities of all sizes and types. Divided into four sections—learning, conversation, connection, and entertainment—this book provides a wealth of ideas for programs that can be … Continue reading Pandemic Pivoting, Continued


Images from Morgantown (W.Va.) Public Library System’s 2021 Wild and Weird fundraiser calendar, featuring library workers and adoptable cats

Raising Money for a Good Claws

December 30, 2020

Created as a fundraiser with the help of local animal adoption agencies, Morgantown (W.Va.) Public Library System’s (MPLS) limited-edition 2021 calendar features librarians posing with adoptable cats. Thus was born our 2021 Wild and Weird calendar. Each month features library workers from MPLS—all fully clothed, of course!—alongside an adoptable cat, including Cadillac Frank (a gray … Continue reading Raising Money for a Good Claws



In Practice, by Meredith Farkas

Your Library’s Story

January 2, 2020

The idea that the library data we all collect and share could be used against us is troubling, and it has left me thinking about how important it is that library workers find ways to control the narrative about our own value. In an era of shrinking budgets, libraries must find ways to tell our … Continue reading Your Library’s Story


Photo: © Monkey Business/Adobe Stock

Get the Word Out

May 1, 2019

Know your audience Who do you want to know about summer learning? Parents and caregivers? Teachers? The teens themselves? Other organizations serving youth in the community? While the answer is undoubtedly all four, think about your library and community. How does word get around about your events? Maybe it’s from parents reading your quarterly newsletter … Continue reading Get the Word Out


Dispatches, by David Lee King

Making Library Videos

November 1, 2018

Video marketing popularity has surged. According to Cisco, video comprised 73% of global IP traffic in 2016, and by 2021 it is expected to increase to 82%. Your patrons are already consuming videos, so it makes sense for your library to create video content for them. Making videos can be an effective way to share … Continue reading Making Library Videos


April Aultman Becker, dean of library and research technologies at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, used Microsoft Publisher to design this series of bookmarks in her previous role as education coordinator at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center Research Medical Library.

Cutting Out the Clip Art

September 4, 2018

“The first flier I ever designed had a clip-art border,” confesses Lamarre, head of children’s services at Duxbury (Mass.) Free Library (DFL) and a freelance graphic design consultant. “I had no idea that that wasn’t the proper way to design an eye-catching flier.” Pixelated photos, inappropriate font choices, and other design depravities—including, yes, clip art—often … Continue reading Cutting Out the Clip Art


Screenshot from University of Minnesota, Morris's "Welcome to Briggs Library," featuring the school's cougar mascot, Pounce.

Pounce into the Spotlight with a Library Introduction Video

August 10, 2018

There was only one problem: We had never created a library video before. The process was as much an introduction to video making for us as the finished product was an introduction to the library for our students. Assembling the cast and crew As with any Hollywood blockbuster, a team had to be assembled to … Continue reading Pounce into the Spotlight with a Library Introduction Video


Charlotte Roh, Isha Lee, and Darlene Gillard

A Welcoming and Empowering Future

January 21, 2017

An attentive and engaged audience lost no time connecting library professionals’ work to these innovators’ approaches, from citizenship corners to entrepreneurship programs for teens and young adults. Several attendees’ noted their libraries’ participation in National Welcoming Week, an event organized by Welcoming America that helps communities bring together immigrants and U.S.-born residents in a spirit … Continue reading A Welcoming and Empowering Future


Panelist discuss great marketing initiatives for libraries. From left: Sandra Singh, chief librarian, Vancouver (Canada) Public Library; Christie Koontz, associate in research at Florida State University’s School of Information; Silvère Mercier, IFLA Marketing and Management Section; and Nancy E. Gwinn, IFLA Management and Marketing Section.

Inspirational Library Marketing

August 19, 2016

Christie Koontz, associate in research at Florida State University’s School of Information, offered this wisdom, along with basic marketing definitions and best practices, at the outset of “What Makes a Great Marketing Initiative in the Library?,” a session at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress in Columbus, … Continue reading Inspirational Library Marketing