 |
The
Smartest Card. The Smartest Campaign. Put it to work for your library! |
Here are some ideas
and tips to help you incorporate
the campaign at your library:
What some of your fellow PALS libraries are doing...
- The Friends of the Lanark Public Library bought enough extra
copies of the eight-page newspaper insert to deliver them door-to-door to
all houses in Lanark.
- The Davenport Public Library will have a drawing during National Library Week for patrons to win prizes. They also plan to issue two press releases regarding National Library Week and National Library Workers Day. They will also do a display for the Smartest Card promotion, and will do a special book discussion program of "Gilead', the All-Iowa Reads book. They also plan to make buttons for staff to wear and saturate the buildings with the smartest card posters and fliers.
- Quad-City area libraries have teamed up with the Quad-City Mallards semi-professional hockey team. If hockey fans show their library card at the box office, they will receive $3.00 off their ticket for the April 2 and April 9th home games.
- The United Township High School Library has passed along campaign information to their UTTV public access television station. High school principal John Downey will promote National Library Week and the library card as "the smartest card" on UTTV.
And, nationally, seven libraries have been awarded $100 cash prizes
from the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library
Association (ALA), for their use of the “Smartest Card. Get One. Use it. @ your library®” campaign.
Here's what they have done...
- The Athens-Clarke County (Ga.) Public Library, teamed up with Chick-Fil-A
to sign up more than 800 new cardholders. The local newspaper covered the
promotion and staff talked it up on a local radio station.
- The Jacksboro (Tenn.) Public Library was awarded for its library card,
countertop cards, newspaper ads and other promotional materials using the “Smartest
Card” logo,
also special outreach to government officials. The number of cardholders
increased 10 percent; circulation by 13 percent; and the number of visitors
by 17 percent.
- The Lee County (Fla.) Library System, did special outreach to local
schools and businesses and county employees. Activities included displays
at Chamber of Commerce meetings and a “Smartest Card” presentation
to the mascot for the local baseball team.
- McCracken County Public Library, Paducah, Ky., was awarded for a partnership
with Sprint and local radio station 105.5 The Cat to deliver the “Smartest
Card” message
during Library Card Sign-up Month 2004. Sprint displayed a banner and gave
out bookmarks at a mall location while library staff signed up new card holders
- The Pamunkey Regional Library, Hanover, Va., put a “Smartest
Card” in the hands of some 1,000 elementary students during the month
of April using the “Smartest Card” theme. Said one student,
age 6, “I've been waiting my whole life to get a library card!”
- The State Library of North Carolina (Raleigh), was awarded for a statewide
media campaign during Library Card Sign-up Month, including more than 127
news stories generating 1,672,157 impressions in newspapers, TV and radio
outlets, along with many local promotions;
- The Sterling Municipal Library (Baytown, Texas), which partnered with the Baytown
Sun to produce ads featuring local celebrities and the “Smartest
Card”. The Sun also ran an editorial and feature story highlighting
the library's offerings.
Please send us news
on how you are using the campaign and success you have had at your library
so we can evaluate the success of the campaign.
We encourage you to take
advantage of this effort and to make it part of your library’s promotion
strategy this year.
Funding
for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library (ISL), a Division of
the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology
Act (LSTA)
Disclaimer ©2004-2006
