IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET!
by Marylaine Block
You know, every once in a while you come across newspaper articles about libraries being "the best-kept secret." In my view, if a library is still a well-kept secret in the age of the internet, there may be something terribly wrong with its web site.
In the course of my research for my forthcoming book, The Thriving Library (Information Today, Spring, 2007), I've spent hundreds of hours examining library web sites to find out about the library's services, programming, and purpose. I hope I will discover there answers to these questions: who does the library collect and program for, what kinds of special collections and online services does it provide, what kinds of programs does it offer, what kinds of public spaces does it provide for what purposes, what does it look like, what is its mission, vision, and long range plan, and how has it spent the community's tax dollars?
I also want to see how visible any of this is from the library's web site. Because if people cannot easily find answers to these questions on the library's web site, many of the library's most treasured resources and functions are effectively invisible to the audience that will want them.
The library's web site is the only marketing tool that people will voluntarily look at. It's where effective communicators can address a wide range of people with widely differing interests and say to each, "This is what's in it for you." And since space and printing costs are not an issue, it is potentially the library's most comprehensive showcase, where layer by layer, it can display all its treasures, with words, images, even sound and video.
So in this issue, I'm beginning a series about strikingly effective library web sites and what they're doing right, starting with the Springfield-Greene County Library District <http://www.thelibrary.org/index.cfm in Springfield, MO.
Let's look first at what the web site says about who the library stands ready to serve. Prominently on the front page it links to its kids page (KidSpace), which virtually any library does, and to teen services, which is less common. The web site tells teens right up front that they are valued customers. At the bottom of the page, where users are invited to complete the customer satisfaction survey, the words En Español announce another group that the library welcomes.
What is the library's mission? Even a quick glance is enough to suggest that librarians care a great deal about serving local community needs and advancing good citizenship. Why? Boxed areas in the prime display space offer three big hints: "The Informed Decision: Your Guide to Local Issues," "Community Matters," and "Local History."
Click on "The Informed Decision" and you'll find current local hot topics (eminent domain, red light cameras, pit bulls, and minors at bars), with synopses of and articles about those issues, and links to recommended databases and web sites for further research.
Click on "Community Matters," and you'll find "Reports," such as the Springfield Demographic and Statistical Profile, the City of Springfield Vision plan, the Report on Child Welfare in Greene County, the 2005 Community Health Report Card, etc. You'll also find "Funding and Nonprofit Sources." This takes you to a library-created blog called "The Nonprofit Prophet," which offers news and links to a variety of resources on grants, fundraising, starting a nonprofit, and much more. "Community Matters" also includes a database of community services and service organizations, an event planning calendar, and "Library Partnerships." One of those partnerships, with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, is Character Education, wherein the library recommends books for both kids and parents centered on each month's character education word.
On a revolving basis, the "Local History" box on the front page focuses on one of the prime resources or databases - one month it might be the Ethnic Life Stories project, the next it might be Chronological Listing and Index to Divorce Records. Click on the link to Local History on the navigation bar, and you'll find FAQ files (Genealogy, Missouri & the Ozarks), collections and materials, and research guides, including tutorials for basic genealogy and Native American research.
Other items boxed and highlighted in the prime display space on the home page include this month's "Featured Resource" (Newsbank this month, the Springfield News-Leader last month), and "Program Highlights" (this month a children's program, last month a book discussion on The Founding Mothers).
Highlighted off to the side are NextReads ("receive e-mail newsletters about books that interest you") the library's blogs (the Kids Blog, Nonprofit Prophet, and Teenthing), and THE EDGE (the Community Technology Center in the main library, which offers classes, online tutorials, and EDGE TECH guides).
A simple mouseover of Services on the navigation bar reveals a number of services, some standard, some unusual - the Bestsellers Club, Test Proctoring, Voter Registration, etc. - but my favorite is the Ready-To-Go Bags, for expectant parents, book clubs, and family reading; there are also science, toy bags, math and health kits for classrooms, and multisensory kits for programs on a variety of topics.
Some general comments about the site's design: First, the site is phrased in terms of what users want to do on the site. The lefthand navigation bar invites users to Find a Book, Renew Books, Search Magazines, Search Local Newspapers, etc.
Second, the site is unusually transparent and thinly layered. The entire home page fits on the screen with no scrolling required, and everything important is obvious either from the front page directly or by mouseover of the navigation bars. You rarely need to go more than two clicks deep to find what you want.
Third, there is personality and imagination in the site, in its language, design, and color. This site tells the world that human beings live here, and have fun doing it.
Fourth, somebody on staff clearly monitors and updates the site regularly. You may think that this goes without saying, but my experience is that many library web sites are obviously and embarrassingly out of date (well into October my own local library's home page still featured a September program).
I'm not saying this site couldn't be improved. As one who values public accountability, I'd like to see the library's annual reports and long range plan online, for instance. I'd also like to see links back to the home page on every single page of the site, and pictures of the libraries, or even a virtual tour of the main library.
But these are minor quibbles about one of the best library web sites I've seen. It's simple, attractive, user-friendly, and highly informative. Kudos to the library for its imaginative services, and to its web designer, who let library users in on the secret.
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COOL QUOTE:
But what, really, is the word "marketing" loaded with? For librarians, I think it might sound too sales-ish, which is a direct affront to our core values of free and equal access to anyone and everyone regardless of their social or economic status. We don't sell things, we provide services after all. Right?...Wrong! OF COURSE we sell things! We sell the idea that information literacy is an important skill to have; we sell our expertise as information providers; we sell our values of privacy and equal access to information; we sell our buildings as community hubs and we sell our collections. We sell all the time, everyday, and we even profit from it. We count our profits in terms of gate counts, circulation, positive word-of-mouth, repeat users and yes, even money in the form donations and special taxes. Moreover, there's nothing wrong with this. You can call "selling" persuading, convincing, or educating, and you can refer to "profits" as higher usage, bigger budgets, or an information-literate public, but it's all the same thing.
Jill Stover. "Marketing Is Code for Customer Service." Library Marketing, January 5, 2006, http://librarymarketing.blogspot.com/2006/01/marketing-is-code-for-customer-service.html
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