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Blogging is a powerful way of both telling your library’s story and, as importantly, getting that story in front of as many people as possible. This is especially true when your library blog articles deliver real tangible value by positively impacting the personal and professional lives of your patrons. Your blog can help patrons connect with your library at a more personal level and, potentially, mobilize them into becoming your advocates in the community.
In our last blog piece, we went into how you can generate compelling blog ideas for your library (with examples). In this post, we’ll unpack nine great real-world library blog posts to show what they did well, why they’re unique and powerful, and how you can emulate them.
Library Blog Examples
1. Stark Library
Writing a story about your patrons is an effective way of creating a relatable and personable link with your readers. Not only does it put names and faces to the patrons using your services, but it showcases how your library contributes to their personal growth. When done right, a great patron story can inspire someone to follow in the footsteps of the person they’re reading about and, in turn, visit your library.
For example, this amazing blog post by Stark Library talks about a family (Stephanie King, Ellie, and Isabella) that visits their local branch at least once a week. It’s not just a story of the family’s visits to their library; the blog post showcases how the children (Ellie and Isabella) are growing thanks to the library’s services. For example, Isabella, a third grader, is not just reading more, but is tackling bigger books and even entire series. It’s a great look into how Stark Library enriches lives in the community.
But on top of all that, Stark Library also wove in how its programs and campaigns also played a role in fuelling Ellie and Isabella’s interest in books. For example, Stark Library mentioned how Stephanie and her daughters enrolled in the library’s ‘Summer Break – Adventure Awaits’ program. The contests and points incentivize both daughters to read more so they can earn rewards and compete for prizes.
There’s no doubt that your library is home to many great patron stories. Every part of your library tells a story. For example, Harris County Public Library has a great story of how a local artist found them using Google and, in turn, became a great local advocate. In any case, these blog posts tell a powerful story on how the library delivered a tangible value to an individual or group in the community.
Overall, when people think about their library, they won’t just think about a building, but people they might know or, at least, personally relate to when pursuing their own life goals. In fact, seeing their family, friends, and neighbors thrive could also motivate people to share patron stories across their own social media channels, thus giving your library more organic reach online.
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2. Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library
You can also speak to a community member while also reflecting on the history and development of your local area. For example, Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) has a podcast series on Cincinnati’s West End. In this specific blog post, CHPL interviewed David Daniels, a community member, to discuss and reflect on the loss of his neighborhood. Not only does this blog post provide lots of first-hand information and historical research, but it leverages different multimedia, like images, audio clips, and not least, promotes CHPL’s podcast series.
This approach not only helps readers connect with the people you’re interviewing or featuring, but it also helps them connect with their community. They leave the post with a better understanding of their local history and, in turn, look to your library for more historical information. In other words, blog posts like this help build and reinforce your library’s credibility and thought leadership.
3. Christchurch City Council Libraries
You can also tell the story of the patrons who help define your library’s personality. For example, Christchurch City Council Libraries wrote a piece on a frequent visitor, Jeffrey. Not only did the staff highlight how much Jeffrey engages with the library, but they also interviewed him with the goal of shining a light on who he is as a person, i.e., his interests, ideas, and recommended reads.
This is an excellent approach to celebrating your best patrons, community volunteers, and others in your local community. It shows the community that you care about its people and, in turn, helps readers bond with the library through people who they can relate to, empathize with, and emulate.
4. Alameda County Library
Many people look to their local libraries for leadership on current affairs issues. For example, a member of the community reached out to Glenview Public Library to enquire about the library’s activities about Pride Month (read more about it here). A great library blog can discuss — or, potentially, even advance — an issue of importance to the community.
One example is a recent blog post by Alameda County Library about the current conflict in the Middle East. However, Alameda Public Library isn’t taking a side on the issue;, instead it’s educating parents on how to help their children process the situation. It’s a powerful example of delivering tangible value by walking parents through a real issue with credible and accessible resources, thereby making a really challenging issue a bit more surmountable.
Engaging current affairs topics puts your library in the discussions taking place in your community, and by providing the right guidance and resources, you can emerge as a credible figure amidst those issues.
Get more details on how BiblioWeb and BiblioEmail can enhance your public library’s website and marketing emails.
5. Harris Public County Library
There’s a lot of value in engaging the topics that matter to your local community, but don’t shy away from reaching out with your own stances. Harris County Public Library, for example, wrote this very informative piece on book censorship in response to Banned Books Week.
Harris County Public Library took the opportunity to inform its readers about the issue, provide real thought leadership through research, stats, and visuals, and – most importantly – highlight what it’s doing about book censorship. Not only does this piece establish the library’s stance on the issue, but it also informs and helps educate the community about it. It’s a powerful way of engaging both staff and patrons alike about an important issue.
6. Lawrence Public Library
Staff lists are a great way of putting a spotlight on your collections, programs, and resources. It helps generate visibility and, in turn, drive patrons to use more of their library. But Lawrence Public Library goes a step further by incorporating a little storytelling into its staff list.
In this piece – titled, “Fiends of the Library” – Lawrence Public Library produced a list of horror titles with a short, but humorous, snippet about the library. Consider taking a similar approach with your own staff lists, especially in response to key events, holidays, and other occasions. For example, try your hand at a little poetry when creating your next staff list for Valentine’s Day.
7. Canton Public Library
You can also use your reading lists as a recap for a program or event. Canton Public Library, for example, wrote a recap blog on its Storytime session on sharks. Not only did it prepare a list of books about sharks for its young target audience, but it also incorporated a cute staff-made video with a song for the young ones to sing along to. It’s a really engaging approach because even if the books aren’t available to check out, parents can still come away from the blog post with something for their kids.
Get more details on how BiblioWeb and BiblioEmail can enhance your public library’s website and marketing emails.
8. Glenview Public Library
In this blog post, Glenview Public Library highlights the resources it has for high school students, such as books on mental health, study rooms, homework support, volunteering opportunities, and makerspaces. This is a great approach to driving visibility to different parts of your library. It shows the reader all of the tangible value you offer while also making it easy for them to leverage those services.
In addition, Glenview Public Library wrote the post for a specific audience (i.e., high school students). So, when packaging your resources in a blog post, keep a specific audience group in mind. Make your post as relevant as possible to that group’s specific needs. Also, be timely with your content so that it aligns with key events and situations in your patrons’ lives; for example, Glenview Public Library published their post for high school students at the beginning of the school year.
It's important to plan ahead as much as possible so that you have content ready for key dates or events, such as the start and end of the school year, holidays, and so on. You can serve your resources through a wide variety of topics, such as upskilling, advancing careers, addressing mental health, making the most of summer vacation, voting, or starting a business, to name just a few. Not only does this approach help you generate lots of topics, but it also connects you with more people in your local community. In fact, it can even help you reach out to people who may not have explored your library without you giving them better awareness and context of what’s available.
9. Saint Paul Public Library
Finally, celebrate the work and achievements of your staff. Saint Paul Public Library’s spotlight on one of their staff – Edmond Ngeh – is a great example. Not only does the post introduce the community to their librarian, but it also helps Edmond tell his story about who he is, where he came from, what he wants to achieve, and how he plans to grow in the long-term. It’s authentic content that drives patrons to connect with your library at a deeper level because they can personally know and relate to the people who work there. It’s also an effective way of showing the diversity in your team.
Next Steps
A big component of effective blogging, especially as a library, is your ability to leverage your collections and services in your content. For example, when you write a blog post about a current affairs issue, you want to provide relevant literature and media. What better way to provide that than to connect your readers to actionable reading lists where they can place a hold as soon as they read your blog? In other words, a key piece to delivering tangible value is to provide something people can walk away with, and the right technology stack can help you do exactly that.
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