Geek the Library and Me

When a staff member shared with me about a new library awareness campaign entitled, Geek the Library, I was immediately taken with the idea. With funding provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and guidance given by library cooperative, OCLC, it seemed like a win-win opportunity for public libraries to get the word out in the community. I read up on the campaign and scheduled a conference call for supervisors, so we could all be on the same page in planning and implementation.

That was almost a year ago, and now as we are winding down our year of awareness building efforts, I have a few observations to make.

1. Creating public awareness for the library does not have to be hard.

• The most impressive part of the Geek the Library (GTL) campaign for me was the simplicity of it. It had a cool logo to get things started, and OCLC made it easy for libraries to take it and adapt it to our needs.
• Online resources abound in helping libraries get the message out. GTL was great to use in conjunction with Facebook, Twitter and our website -- all free and easy.

2. Getting staff buy-in is crucial to any public awareness campaign.

• Sometimes buy-in comes with buying something for the staff -- in our case it was a free t-shirt! We provided every staff member from the Director to the Maintenance Man a free GTL t-shirt and told them to wear them "outside" the library! Who doesn't like a free shirt?
• How staff talk about the library is vital in how the public perceives it. If staff complain about work, then their friends will never want to walk through our doors. If they never re-post a library event on their Facebook page, then why should anyone else. Staff are the first line of offense in getting the word out about the great public library.

3. We are only as good as a patron's first impression.

• No matter how much you promote your library in print, billboards, or online, if patrons have a bad experience when they come into our facility, that will trump all our efforts.
• Customer service must be our primary aim in all we do. Keeping them happy leads them to tell others about how great we are.
• I have also learned a lot in how to respond to patron complaints in this process, realizing that helping them to be happy in the end, helps them to remember us well to others.

4. Stories are important.

• Numbers count to some, but stories are remembered by all. Finding ways to get staff to send me patron stories has been my greatest challenge in this campaign.
• However, I'm learning that a few great stories is better than too many good ones. The community doesn't need to hear too much, but just enough to remind them about how we're meeting needs.
• The GTL campaign has taught me how to share stories through picture posts, and this will carry on long after the campaign is over.

5. Public awareness of the library is an ongoing process and has to be incorporated in all we do.

• Stories have to be shared on a regular basis.
• Frontline staff have to be on their toes with great customer service every day.
• The library has to meet the needs of the community, even if that means changing the way we do things. 

I'm thankful for the Geek the Library campaign and how it has bumped up our public image and helped us as staff to be more mindful of our message and image.