Regular Customers

At the ILA Session, Small Opportunities Big Returns, it was pointed out that how many of our regular customers don’t know the other services or programs we offer?

So let’s not forget to market to them, we often have a relationship with them and can easily in conversation point out a service they might not be aware of.

How are you marketing to your regular customers?

 

Save Illinois Libraries Display Idea

Jim Dinnerville, Reference Librarian at Blue Island Public Library, created this display for Halloween.

Librarians on Cereal Boxes!

The American Library Association (ALA) is working with Safeway Inc., on a roll-out of the first two of five Safeway-brand cereal boxes with back-panel content about libraries and librarians. The boxes will launch this October and will be available at Safeway’s 1,500 stores across the nation.

” We are proud to partner with the American Library Association and collaborate in the creation of educational panels for our line of Safeway Brand cereal. This is a way we can support the efforts of the ALA and bring education and enjoyment to our consumers,” said Mike Minasi, Safeway president, marketing.

“We want to thank Safeway for presenting us with a unique opportunity,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. “The cereal boxes will bring information about some of the exciting ways to enjoy libraries – and about the value of libraries — straight into people’s homes.”

The first boxes to feature the library-related content are Toasted Oats and Honey Nut Toasted Oats. There will be a staggered launch for the rest of the panels.

The panels focus on five content areas:

• Get rich @ your library lists free resources available at libraries and encourages readers to add up how much they save by using the library’s resources;
• Learn for a lifetime @ your library features the ways that school and public libraries encourage lifelong learning;
• Great mysteries answered @ your library contains fun facts about libraries, including the number of questions answered weekly by reference librarians at our nation’s academic and public libraries;
• Discover the world @ your library positions a library card as a passport to the world; and
• Discover your family tree @ your library encourages readers to go to the library to research their family tree.

All feature the @ your library® brand of ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries and links to resources available at www.ilovelibraries.org, ALA’s advocacy and public awareness Web site for the public. The first panels focus on genealogy and international libraries.

Community Media Workshop

The Community Media Workshop is a great resource for marketers/pr folk.

The offer classes, an annual media guide, and a great website.

The recently refreshed their website with new content, new navigation, and more. It’s a great place to find articles and information of interest.

IL Sec. of State Jesse White Helps Kick Off Save Illinois Libraries Campaign

IL Sec. of State Jesse White Helps Kick Off the “Save Illinois Libraries” Campaign in Peoria. NSLS Exec. Director Sarah Long spells it out.

Styles from the Stacks and Forever Green Fashion Show

Styles from the Stacks featured creative literary wear and also included a Forever Green Fashion Show. Click here to see the creativity.

Inspiration Station Delivers Great Ideas

Inspiration Station reflected tons of wonderful work in Illinois. Here are some photos of this great collection of materials.

Extreme Makeover: Adult Summer Reading Programs

Thursday morning Kara Kohn, of the Plainfield Public Library, Gail Conrath from Geneva Public Library and Susan DeRonne of the Elmhurst Public Library presented great ideas on how to improve your summer reading program.

If you’re doing a winter reading program get theme ideas from the Upstart catalog.

Purchase a prize wheel – this can do double duty – use it in the summer to hand out prizes and also use it when you go out to community events to entice people into your booth. Plainfield gives away new books, instant lottery tickets, and $5 gift cards.

Have a separate staff summer reading programs, so they get prizes too. Plus then they’re more motivated to promote the Summer Reading Program.

Plainfield Library sent a follow up survey after the 2009 program, and most adults responded “forgot to log books” as the number one reason they didn’t complete the program. So in 2010, the staff is planning to send a weekly email reminder to log books.

One of the premium prizes Geneva Library gives away is Fine Free Card. The card has a $5 value.

Energy Abounds at 2009 ILA Conference – Transformation See Tomorrow Today

Great presentations in the room, great products in the exhibit hall and a lot of cheering for Secretary of State Jesse White and the new Save Illinois Libraries campaign. See the photos.

Readers, Writers, Books and Blogs

Karen Kleckner, Deerfield Public Library, and Rebecca Vnuk, Glen Ellyn Public Library gave an entertaining and informative program on using blogs to stay on top of books being published and to help provide  readers’ advisory service.

Also, discussed was how to share this information with customers. Don’t be afraid to link to blogs from you library website.

The two have started their own blog, to help librarians with readalikes for those popular titles which you can’t keep on the shelf. Check out shelfrenewal.com for their blog, and use their blogroll as a great way to get started on knowing what blogs you should read to keep up with all the book and publishing news.