Bringing libraries into the social tech marketing age

Libraries hold wealths of knowledge and can benefit communities in multiple ways, but library usage is failing. According to a recent Pew survey, in the past 12 months only 44 percent of Americans visited a local library or bookmobile. 53 percent visited just three years earlier.

How can the value of libraries better reach the community?

Libraries need to increase their presence in the digital world. Digitization efforts have increased over the past few years in terms of programs, forums, and more. While physical copies are important, books and printed photographs require a physical visit. Many libraries use platforms like Content DM to make their archives accessible online.

But once the resources are digitized, how does the public access them? Platforms alone are not enough to engage viewers. The content needs to be better marketed. While many libraries are active on social media and even have their own library app, engagement is still not at its peak.

Chronicle, the new visual storytelling platform, provides a unique opportunity for libraries to share content and engage the community. Chronicle allows libraries to promote their historical archives while simultaneously crowdsourcing local history with the community through photographs and metadata. Libraries like Port Washington Free Public Library use the free app and website to easily leverage their archives while community members add their own photos, old and new, directly to the same interactive, chronological timeline. This creates a collaborative, ongoing visual record (see the “Port Washington, New York — 1875 to present” chronicle). The interactive chronicle better markets the library’s content, brings in new content from the community, and engages the community as part of its own history. This helps connect each resident to the greater community and reaffirms the library as a community leader.

Let’s make use of our resources and return to the glory days of the library by marketing content and engaging communities in new and inclusive ways.

Learn more about the Local Chronicle Project for public libraries.