GCPL faced the challenge of engaging families who could not regularly attend library early literacy programs in person due to various socioeconomic barriers. Seeking to use technology as a way to create access across various library programs, the livestreams and video series would allow families to have access to important educational programs that their children need to build a foundation of literacy.

The GCPL marketing team purchased a Mevo live event camera and worked with the youth services department to identify programs that could easily be followed along by children at home. Toddler and Pre-K storytime programs were selected to livestream one to two times a week through GCPL’s official Facebook account. Don’s Corner was also developed as a biweekly series to inform parents about new resources available to them from the library.

There was an average viewership of more than 500 customers during each roughly 20-minute livestream. Don’s Corner became a success with more than 2,500 views per episode. Programs were originally planned to be organic posts with minimal social advertising, but livestream storytimes and Don’s Corner both saw targeted paid campaigns focused on Gwinnett County residents who were likely to have children in their household. Customers began requesting topics and bilingual storytimes were added to the rotation.