Limited Edition Library Cards
Allen County Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
The Allen County Public Library (ACPL) launched three new, limited edition library cards available to Allen County residents featuring local art. The partnership celebrated Allen County’s thriving public art scene and the artists who make the community a vibrant place to call home. The cards featured three different artists’ work, including Theoplis Smith’s depiction of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, Bryan Ballinger’s mural “The Blue Birds,” and Tim Parsley’s homage to poet Walt Whitman's “Arouse, for you must justify me!” A team of ACPL staff chose the pieces to reflect the diversity of materials, services, and thoughts the ACPL aims to represent. Patrons were invited to choose their preferred design in person at any ACPL location or by applying online, while supplies lasted.
Challenge/Opportunity
The project was developed after a successful 2023 Library Card Sign Up Month campaign led to an increase in new patrons and a need to replenish the library’s stock of cards. The library typically orders cards in bulk to last for approximately a year and staff decided this annual purchase could be more than just a restock. As marketers, we believe that our library card is more than just a tool to access the library – it is a key marketing opportunity. We approached it as an opportunity to promote our brand, reinforce our mission, celebrate our community, and foster a sense of pride and connection with our patrons.
Key Elements of Innovation
The library reached out to the City of Fort Wayne and Art This Way to inquire about accessing the rights to the artists’ works who were eager to participate in the project. We knew the campaign would drive heavy internet registrations and so we needed to make it easy for people to sign up without coming to our library. That meant our team had to leverage our newly implemented ILS, Polaris, and website, Vega Promote Web, to support the campaign. We edited the Polaris registration site to incorporate card options with photos based on patron references (a first for both our library and Polaris). Our team developed new systems to distribute the different cards and we created a powerful marketing mix to drive the campaign through media relations (media advisory, press conference, news release, photo opp), print materials (banners, poster, flyers, yard sign) and digital communications (blast emails, paid/organic social media). Supporting documents/samples linked below for review.
Achieved Outcomes
The success of the campaign was staggering—in the best way! The first morning after launch on Feb. 7, our circulation team was welcomed by a stack of more than 475 online applications and as of July 4, we have distributed more than 11,800 limited edition library cards. That is a 23% change over the same time frame in 2023.
Along with bringing new people to the library and re-engaging existing patrons — the campaign garnered extensive media attention including coverage by our 3 television stations, newspaper, and local NPR affiliate. We also saw extensive engagement on social media.
https://www.wfft.com/community...
https://www.journalgazette.net...
https://www.wboi.org/news/2024...
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