Contact Jacalyn C. Spoon
An Analysis of the
American Library Association’s
@ your library
Campaign
March 27, 2002
Professor D. Shapiro
Jacalyn C. Spoon
The @ your library campaign was launched to the library community July 2000 at The American Library Association’s annual conference. During national library week, April 1-7, 2001, it was launched to the public. According to the ALA Fact Sheet, it is a “five-year national public education campaign”. It is designed to showcase the unique and vital roles played by libraries nationwide. Adding value to libraries, librarians and the profession in the minds of community members that they serve. It is an attempt to change the attitudes and beliefs of the public from thinking of libraries and librarians as the keepers of books to knowing that libraries are modern, dynamic “community centers for learning information and entertainment”.
Target Audiences
The primary target audience are librarians, who’s support and involvement are necessary to create a successful campaign. The American Library Association through the @ your library campaign is teaching librarians how to be spokespersons for libraries. This is an attempt to change the behavior of librarians from being passive receivers of patrons into active marketers of their libraries. What and how to communicate to the public is provided to librarians, as well as examples of rewards for participation.
ALA describes it’s target audiences as users and potential users, influentials and catalysts. Students of all ages are seen as potential users and are targeted to ensure future loyalty and support. Parents are also targeted. Knowing that parents are using “computers as a substitute” for what in the past had been the place of library, the campaign is seeking to attract parents to the library to participate in hands-on free programs to “supplement at-home computer learning”.
Customers are Patrons, Influentials are Catalysts
Senior citizens are considered influential library users. Collectively they are a politically influential and growing population. This campaign seeks to educate this group about the potential role of the library in their lives as well as, their potential role as advocates for the library.
Educators such as teachers, college faculty, school boards, administrators and educational policy experts, trustees, foundations, and philanthropists are targets. The campaign seeks to educate state and local elected officials who are funding decision makers, of the need for continued and increased funding.
Logic and Emotional appeal
The campaign is appealing to librarians via the idea of recognition for themselves and their chosen profession and, the ease in becoming involved. I noticed the word “value” is peppered throughout campaign messages aimed at librarians. The “program is adding value to ALA’s communications initiative” and libraries are able to showcase their “value in the 21st century and the librarians who bring them to life”. Regardless of what appears to be low participation, messages consistently suggest positive results, keeping a positive spin on campaign progress.
Key messages
· Libraries are part of the American dream
· Libraries are places of opportunity
· Libraries are changing and dynamic places
· Libraries bring you the world
· Libraries are keeping up with the 21st century
· Libraries help ensure a society where everyone is information literate
Most libraries provide free access to everyone. Libraries are, and seek to remain, the free intellectual haven of the American people. These democratic ideals are being campaigned outside our boarders as well. The @ your library campaign has been adopted by libraries in several countries, although the international community does not appear to be an original target.
Strategies
Providing the tools
ALA has created and made available the tools necessary for amateurs to inexpensively create the promotional packages necessary to join the program and promote their individual libraries. Consistent delivery of the key messages and ways to distribute those messages are suggested throughout the campaign. With the sponsorship of 3M (a recognized name in library equipment) a 30 minute Webcast was offered to teach librarians how to market their libraries and create their own 5 year marketing plan.
Copyrighted logos are available to libraries with instructions for downloading different types for different purposes (Ap.1). Many variations on the @ your library theme are available such as: Power up @ your library used (Sept. ‘01) to promote academic libraries, Drive to Read @ your library launched (Aug. ‘01) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was used to promote teen reading and, Put it in writing @ your library a writing contest was launched (March ‘02) via Woman’s Day magazine. Flexible guidelines for use of the @ your library logo allow libraries the freedom to create a message appropriate for their community.
Recognized spokespersons
ALA kicked off the national campaign at their annual conference with recognized national political support. First Lady Laura Bush was a spokesperson at the event. She was also recognized as a former librarian, the first in the White House. In this role Mrs. Bush is serving as an opinion leader. The Drive to Read @ your library a mini campaign was launched with Ward Burton as spokesperson. For $30.00 a public service announcement is available through ALA’s store featuring Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins in 2 segments and multiple languages. The power of a recognized celebrity is understood by ALA and made available even to the under funded library.
Branding
The @ your library logo is free to use in accordance with the program guidelines. Our common culture and the current generation identify with branding as acceptable and expected of a quality product or organization. Libraries, librarians and other library professionals need recognition from their communities if they are to succeed financially. Without regularly increasing funding libraries as institutions will not be able to attract the professionals required to maintain them technologically and intellectually. Libraries are, and seek to remain, the free intellectual haven of the American people. The branding of libraries can be seen as adding value. Librarians are encouraged to buy @your library paraphernalia such as hats, mugs, denim shirts. Guidelines suggest that purchases can be sold in library gift shops.
Not only has ALA accepted a brand for itself, it has also accepted the brands of it’s corporate partners 3M, and Morningstar Foods Inc.. ALA has also chosen a preferred sport with the Hit a home run @ your library mini campaign and, Get on top of your game @ your library (Ap. 2). What could be more American than baseball?
Ethical issues
The American Library Association is a not for profit group advocating for libraries. It cannot be denied that libraries have a right to remind people of their purpose and even to redefine that purpose to reflect the needs of today’s technologically advanced society. Attracting people to the profession is one of the many goals of this campaign. A future shortage of librarians has been predicted. Librarians are not known to be in a high paying or high status profession. Most libraries exist on government tax dollars. Is it ethical to market products to librarians while at the same time recruiting them to participate in the campaign that the products are designed to market? ALA has a right to recoup costs for it’s products. If the products were free they would appear to have less value. Is it ethical to allow 3M advertising space within the campaign? Will they have an unfair advantage over another company when vying for librarians dollars? They did provide sponsorship.
Effectiveness
According to an article I found on the press releases web page titled ‘@ your library campaign kicks off new year with more that 1,000 libraries on board’ as of January 2002 1,000 libraries were participating in this campaign. According to ALA statistics there are over 120,000 libraries in the United States. While this appears to be an impressive number, it is still less than 1% participation.
I do not believe this campaign is currently as effective a national public communication campaign as it could be. I believe it is still under utilized. It may be an effective campaign when recognized for it’s ability to teach librarians how to become actively involved in promoting their libraries as well as the need for promotion. In the future I believe it may be an effective campaign as more librarians bring their libraries into the campaign, creating the social pressure necessary to get even more librarians involved.
More effective use of web pages is in order. According to the Hit a home run @ your library web page this feature is to be implemented online in March. As of yesterday it still does not connect.
Dates are often missing from special features as well as articles making it difficult to understand if these are future plans or in an implementation stage. Because this is a 5 year campaign dates are essential.
The ALA website has developed an area for a featured “library of the month”. This campaign has been ongoing for almost one full year and this feature has yet to be developed. When greeted with “check back here soon”, I get the impression that there are no libraries participating. This link should be deleted from the campaign web site or appropriately rerouted. Several of the press releases name libraries which have participated in the campaign any of these could be posted.
ALA has provided a link to subscribe to an e-mail list serving the @your library campaign. I have tried several times from various computers and have not been able to join this list. This gives me the impression that ALA is not as technologically advanced as it claims to be. I did email a representative regarding this feature and was answered within 24 hours. Perhaps with my input this feature will be repaired.
The target audience was described by one ALA representative as a challenge due to it’s diversity. In the document describing the target audience, ALA admits to the potential of losing impact through it’s decision to select such a huge target and breaks it down into mini campaigns within the main campaign message. These mini campaigns target public, school, academic and special libraries, and may prove to create successes in a wave. If school libraries are successful in educating students they will pass these educated patrons on to academic libraries who in turn will pass them to public or special libraries.
With this campaign well underway I have seen little recognition of it in the media. I have not seen the Susan Sarandon or Tim Robbins public service announcements aired on my cable television stations or during my travels. I have not seen the @your library logo used at my public library or at the library in which I am employed. I have however seen Governor George Pataki in a PSA supporting libraries, although not lately and I don’t remember the @ your library logo appearing.
This program is
consistently portrayed as high benefit and low cost both financially as well as
in time. Much of the hassle of writing and finding approval from higher ups has
been done by ALA. It is only through participation by librarians that the
campaign will see positive results. This year National Library week is April
14-20, 2002.
Appendices
(Ap. 1)Available logo in English
(Ap. 2) Baseball
Bibliography
The American Library Association Home page (http://www.ala.org)
ALA store (http://alastore.ala.org)
Fact Sheet (http://www.ala.org/pio/presskits/nlwkit/campaignfactsheet.html)
Getting started (https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrary/gettingstarted.cfm)
Hit a home run @ your library (http://www.ala.org/news/v8n2/homerun.html)
Press releases (https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrtary/pressreleass.cfm)
Target Audiences (https://cs.ala.org/@yourlibrary/targetaudiences.cfm)