Blog

You likely send marketing emails before your summer reading program launches to promote your upcoming program and encourage participation. But email marketing doesn’t have to stop there. By continuing to send targeted emails during and after your program, you’ll reap even more rewards for your program and your library. Douglas County Libraries in Colorado, which exceeded its summer reading participation goal by 5% using this approach, offers tips for leveraging this promotional outlet.

Transitioning from a summer reading program to summer learning can offer a host of benefits to your library — and your community. By offering patrons new ways to hone important skills and pursue their interests, you’ll expand the reach of your library in your community while combating the summer slide in more than just reading skills. From cooking to experimenting to inventing, this list of activities will inspire you to incorporate new types of literacy activities into your own summer program.

In recent decades, technology has vastly changed the landscape of libraries, making services more accessible to patrons and saving staff time and resources. Thanks to smartphones and tablets, the next era of library technology is here — library mobile apps. In this post, we’ll explore five of the many ways that a library mobile app makes life easier for patrons and staff alike.

While social media might seem like the best way to reach potential summer reading participants, traditional media, like newspaper and radio, is still an effective way to reach large numbers of community members. Follow these pointers to make the most of these tried-and-true marketing methods.

Social media can be one of the most effective ways to get the word out about your summer reading program. Check out these tips for planning and executing a social marketing campaign.

Library technology is becoming more and more intuitive, giving you the option to take administrative tasks like event and room management off your crowded plate. What should you focus on with the time you’ll free up? In this post, we’ll explore a few of the activities most worth your time and attention once you allow technology to lighten your load.

Looking for a new way to spread the word about your summer reading program? Making school visits can give you the perfect opportunity to recruit students to participate in your program.

During Library Card Sign-up Month and beyond, celebrate the invaluable services that libraries offer their communities by adding a few “nontraditional” resources to your collection, from audiovisual equipment to crafting tools, cooking utensils and science kits.

Looking for more effective ways to use your website and email to promote your summer reading program? Check out these handy tips for making the most of these digital marketing tools.

Summer reading programs are not one size fits all, but when planning them, there are a few key things to keep in mind. As you plan for next summer, here are a few tips to help you create your own planning checklist for your library.

Dr. Michael Merzenich is a pioneer in the field of brain plasticity, the study of the brain’s ability to change at any age. Over the last five decades, he’s witnessed the brain’s incredible power to grow over a lifetime, and now he’s using what he’s learned to help people of all ages live happier, healthier lives. Learn how your library can use Dr. Merzenich’s findings to make an impact on community health.

Summer reading program planning is a year-round affair. To help you stay on track and make your next program even more successful, we’ve developed this handy planning checklist.

ADA compliance extends beyond just physical spaces into the digital realm. Is your library prepared to serve patrons with visual impairments and provide adaptations to allow them to access your online resources? Learn why it matters and how you can address these needs with an ADA-compliant mobile app.

There are many reasons why members of your community may not be able to visit the library. But just because they can’t make it to a physical branch doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in the services you provide. Learn three ways technology can make it easier for remote patrons to engage with your library.

The adult age group is historically hard to engage in summer reading programs. In this post, we highlight creative ways to increase adult awareness of and participation in your program and set your library (and your patrons) up for success.

You’re already aware of your community’s need for health literacy programming, but did you know that you don’t have to go about offering this service alone? We have suggestions for five local partners who will help you get the most out of your library’s community health initiatives.

If you already host a summer reading program, you are likely used to putting a lot of time and effort into planning each year. Why not get more value out of those already invested resources? We have three tips to help you extend your literacy and community engagement efforts throughout the year.

When you’re working on launching a mobile app for your library, you’re going to want to consider a whole slew of stakeholders from the very beginning through the go-live date. In this post, we offer some suggestions on how you can engage three important groups of stakeholders from the beginning to gather their input, gain their support and ensure your mobile app launch is a success.