We’ve been busy at my library! Our huge RFID/Self-check/Carpeting project is pretty much done – yippie!
How did we connect with our community while our building was closed? Through media: local news media and social media channels.
Here are some of the mentions we received in the local news media:
- Library Conversion Going, but Book Swap is on for Saturday – WIBW News
- New Technology Pushes Library into New Chapter of the Digital Age – WIBW News
- Library Closes for Upgrade – KansasFirstNews
- New Check Out System Coming to Topeka Library – KansasFirstNews
- Employees Busy While Library Closes May 1 Through 5 – Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper
- Library to Reopen Tuesday with new checkout upgrades in place -Â Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper
We have a great relationship with local media, so it’s really pretty easy for us to get mentioned in the news (way to go, marketing dept!). Since we were closed for 5 days while we tagged all our materials, it was nice to be able to share that through local traditional media outlets.
We also used our own social media channels to share what was going on through those five days. Here’s one of our videos showing our first customer using our new checkout kiosks:
We made four more videos:
- Using our New Checkout Kiosks
- RFID Tagging at the Library, Day 1
- RFID Tagging at the Library, Day 2
- RFID Tagging at the Library, Day 3
These videos were uploaded to Youtube, and then shared out via Twitter and Facebook. We also created some Vine videos and took some quick “in the moment” pictures that went to Twitter.
Now, our customers are sharing their experience with our new checkout kiosks. The image in this blog post shows two of our customers who took pretty much the same photo, then shared the photos on Twitter (with slightly different viewpoints).
My point?
- We’re done – whew!
- Gotta have those media connections – both local and social – in place BEFORE your big project. If you don’t have that already, start working on it NOW.
just shared this with the RFID_LIB listserv. great example of marketing RFID, self check and a library closure. Videos were great. From someone who has coordinated rfid conversions and self check roll out, I was impressed with the resources (i.e. # tagging stations & staff) you used to get the job done. Thanks for the peak inside your library.
Perfect example of how important and practical the employment of social media is for both customers and library personnel. Positive transparency at its finest, keeping everyone in the loop and informed. The effects are clear via your video with your happy and enthusiastic customer who just christened your library’s latest new technology!
Thanks, Douglas!
Thanks for sharing it!