Last week saw an Talis/CILIP-sponsored event called 'Re-imagining the library'. The speakers ranged across a number of topics, but all were trying to lift the thoughts of the delegates out of the library and towards the new audiences that are out there.
My small contribution boiled down to understanding the new expectations of an internet-connected, socially-connected, instant-gratification-oriented crowd and knowing the skills and value that librarians can deliver. The punchline was "get the library to visit its users." Through their computer screens, of course.
The high spot for most was Antony Brewerton's session on branding. He brought to life his methods for garnering attention and 'business' for his academic libraries (Reading, Oxford Brookes and Warwick universities, in that sequence). His approach to branding was very unstuffy and resonated well with the undergraduates.
He was not afraid to be playful and he made great use of good images. Jammy dodger biscuits with a heart-shaped cutout formed the basis for a survey, "What do you love about the library?" The same biscuit broken with, "What breaks your heard about the library?" 'love' and 'heart' were the biggest words.
Later, he chose pictures of 45rpm singles to make points about noise in libraries. Song titles did the hard work: "Silence is golden", "Happy talk" and "Hanging on the telephone", for example. Oh yes, and "Dead ringer for love." He did cake-oriented promotions with slogans like, "Crumbs ... who'd have thought the library had as much on offer?" My favourite was Newton's apple (lovingly prepared by Antony) captioned, "inspiration" and "available now from the library."
His point was "Promote resources, services and benefits" rather than the library itself.
Given the mainly poor image of the public library in the UK, I came away wondering whether he shouldn't be put in charge of a national campaign to boost the public's understanding of its library services.