John Cotton Dana Public Relations Awards Announced!
This month, libraries with exceptional outreach programs were awarded the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award. The winners included an academic library, a state library and four innovative public libraries. These libraries launched public relation campaigns using social media, public events and community engagement to encourage library use and improve utility to the patron. The results included an increase in library usage, teen attendance and the return of more overdue books.

For example:

"The King County Library System, Issaquah, WA, was "cited for "Look to Your Library…Especially Now," a campaign aimed at providing job and career information. Use of database resources increased, with a quadrupling in use of Resume Builder.

Pasco County Library System Hudson, FL, won for "Rockus Maximus: Battle of the Bands," a library- and community-sponsored Battle of the Bands competition that involved social media like YouTube and MySpace, with a Battle of the Bands live concert. Teen attendance at library programs increased nearly 50% afterward.

San Francisco Public Library won for "Return the Books," an overdue fine amnesty program involving quotes from well-known personalities such as Captain "Sully" Sullenberger. The result: a 23.6% return on overdue materials."

The article, as well as a video one of the winning campaigns can be found here.