IFLA (LIBRARY) MARKETING AWARDS

This is really great! What is your library doing?

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) 11th Annual International Marketing Awards:

First place:

University of Tartu Library, represented by Olga Einasto who represented the project “Talking Textbooks” (Rääkivad Õpikud), which focused on meeting the needs of students who are blind or visually impaired and have difficulty studying and preparing for exams. The library employed student volunteers to read books and save them in audio files, digitize learning material and lecture notes to be used with special software to transform text into speech and read exam questions out loud during exam sessions. The library also provided a new at home library service. Library users, for whom visiting the library is difficult due to their physical or sensory disabilities, can borrow and return books with the aid of voluntary helpers. The library marketed the new services directly to potential users by partnering with the university’s Office for Academic Affairs and engaged in public seminars to obtain feedback and assessment. The first-place winner receives airfare, lodging, and registration for the2013 IFLA General Conference and Assembly to be held this year in Singapore, and a cash award of $1,000 (US) to further the marketing efforts of the library.

Second place:

Saskatoon Public Library, Saskatoon, Canada, represented by Kathryn Thompson The library launched a six-month re-branding campaign, “Collections-Connections” and solicited broad input from existing and potential library patrons as well as potential donors and library stakeholders. The tag line of the new logo – Collections. Connections. – reflects the foundation of the library (its collection) and portrays the connections the library strives to make with the community.

Third place:

Khakas Republican Children's Library, Russia for the project “Reading is a useful habit”, represented by Olga V. Lomova. The project engaged student reporters, who prepared videos announcing the library news. The project aimed at positioning the children's library as a cultural-leisure object, which develops useful habit — reading passion for the children and teenagers from the age of 7 to the age of 15.