LMCC24

Library marketing activities should always be informed with user data. When conducting market research, you don't need a large sample to see the "big" picture. Developing scalable micro assessments such as mini surveys, usability studies, interviews, and focus groups with only a few questions can add value to your library's marketing and outreach efforts. With quantitative research, you are expected to have a large sample. However, that is not the case when conducting market research. In this presentation, micro assessments will be shown to be more effective, easier to manage, and garners more responses than more lengthier surveys.

When was the last time you (or your patrons) looked at your library’s automated emails? System-generated messaging may be the most frequently used—yet overlooked—avenue of patron communication.

We collected interview and survey feedback from over 500 patrons and uncovered a range of issues with existing email templates related to library jargon, email length, emotional impact, and more. Drawing on our data and best practices, we created an evidence-based email content guide to facilitate clear and concise communication in a consistent library voice.

Join us to learn how to improve your email content and elevate your library’s brand.

As library workers we believe that “libraries are for everyone,” but what does that mean for your marketing and communications? In this session, participants will learn the basics of accessible design, and how to create inclusive and trauma-informed messaging. With these tools, participants will feel empowered to effectively promote library programs, materials, and services, and meet diverse community members where they’re at.

In the past, Rochester Hills Public Library’s email campaigns mainly consisted of one big news piece followed by a wall of event promotions. Recognizing that the majority of our patron base rely on email communication for library news, we decided that it was time for a refresh. Over the course of a year, our small but mighty team has transformed our email marketing by implementing audience segmentation, refreshing our templates with eye-catching designs, and employing cross-platform messaging utilizing Vega Promote.

In this presentation, we'll guide you through our journey of creating a monthly newsletter from drafting to delivery. We'll share valuable insights into effective communication and design practices, ensuring that your email messaging serves both your library's objectives and the unique interests of your patrons.

Join us as we delve into our year-long celebration of the Robarts Library's 50th anniversary. We'll share the story of how we transformed a restricted-access, brutalist building perceived as closed-off and daunting into a warm and inviting opportunity for community engagement. From curating an exhibition and launching an immersive microsite, to hosting engaging events and leveraging social media, we'll reveal our strategies for maximizing impact with limited resources. Discover how archivists, librarians, and staff collaborated to elevate this milestone and engage with students and alumni around the globe, and leave with practical insights to apply in your local context.

Is your library wallpapered in signs and flyers that are meant to be helpful but are a confusing hodgepodge? Does your website need an update? Have you been thinking about creating a brand guide but don’t know where to start? This session is for you! Learn how one library updated its brand guide (including a new primary and secondary color palette, designated fonts, and design and photography guidelines) then used it for a systemwide wayfinding and signage project and web redesign project. The result? A consistent experience for customers, whether visiting online or in person.

In a consortial environment and a short-form content world, how can we ensure that long-form communications meet the mark for librarian engagement, relevance, and reach?

The Scholars Portal Newsletter is a triannual publication dedicated to resource sharing and collaboration in library services across the 21 member institutions of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL).

Working closely with Cait McKinney’s writing on feminist lesbian newsletter networks of the 1970s-1990s in Information Activism, this presentation will discuss how priorities of research newsletter networks from the past can inform successful long-form, community-based communication strategies in library resource sharing today.