Courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Promoting your library can feel a lot like feeding a very hungry, very demanding giant.

You want your community to know that your library is the source of rich and valuable information. But, let’s be honest. When you are doing the entire job of promoting your library by yourself or with a small staff, keeping up with the audience’s expectations can be exhausting.

Heck, doing it with a big staff is exhausting. Marketing is tiring.

And the more exhausted and overworked you get, the more your original content suffers. You can’t put your best work out into the world when you are weary.

Your original content, like blog posts, videos, newsletters, and social media posts that talk about what your library offers and how your library helps your community, must be as engaging as possible. Those pieces of content take precedence. You should devote your energy to making those shine.

But there are so many content holes to fill! That’s where a little trick called content curation can be super helpful.

Content curation is sharing articles, infographics, case studies, videos, and other content created by other organizations on your library’s platforms.

Now, I know this sounds counter-intuitive to promoting your library. Why would you share the work of someone else with your audience? Shouldn’t you take every opportunity to engage your followers with your library’s stuff?

That would be ideal. But I know darn well you don’t have a staff of 20 writers to fill your content needs every day. And besides helping you fill your editorial calendar, content curation has other benefits.

Sharing content that aligns with your library’s mission, vision, and values will strengthen your library’s brand. It does this by building trust in your library as an institution of knowledge and inspiration. And it helps you to drive home important messages, like the joy of reading.

Before you begin sharing

The library I used to work for was huge: 600,000 plus cardholders and 41 locations. However, I had a small marketing staff. We often shared content from other sources to fill gaps in our social media and email calendars.

We set a focus for this shared content: anything we shared from outside sources had to be related to books and the literary world. This aligned with one of our library’s overall goals to drive circulation.

That focus was both simplistic and broad. It allowed us to fill our content needs with posts about authors, new books, books being made into movies, health news related to reading, beautiful libraries around the world, historic libraries (including our own), and a lot more.

Our library’s curated content led to higher organic reach on social media. Those pieces of shared content were intriguing additions to our emails. The curated content got a high click rate.

This strategy positioned us as a news source for all things related to the book world. Our followers and fans thought of us as more than a library. They turned to us for information on all topics related to literature.

So, I advise you to set a focus: one that is simple and aligns with your library’s strategic goals.

For example, Hennepin County Public Library’s strategic plan includes the line:  “Offering free access to essential technology and connectivity.” Their curated content focus can be on technology and the benefits of open access to a community.

Here’s another example. One of Montgomery County Public Library’s strategic goals is to make sure all children ages 5 and younger are ready for kindergarten. Their curated content focus might be on shared literacy tips for caregivers of young children, as well as any content that helps caregivers prepare their kiddos for school.

Once you’ve set your focus, you can start sharing. Here is a list of 13 websites where you can find library-related content to share with your audience.

Do you know of a website I should add to the list? Comment below the post to let me know!

BuzzFeed Books

This fantastic BuzzFeed spin-off is a rich source of fun content related to books, authors, and celebrities.

reddit Books

This list of user-generated content on books, libraries, and the literary world is invaluable. Use the discussion boards to give your ideas for fun, and interactive polls to create for your social media followers or email subscribers.   

NPR Books

A good source of more high-brow literary news and lots of book reviews. Use this site to help you decide which books to highlight for individual promotions on social media and through email.

HuffPost Books

Like NPR Books but with a lot of news about politics, book challenges, and diverse authors.

Book Riot

Find in-depth articles and interesting angles on literary themes. Scroll down to the bottom for links to a host of podcasts on every kind of literary subject.  

Electric Lit

A high-brow website with a fun, cultural perspective on literature.

NoveList

My team is responsible for the blog and newsletters, and we work hard to make sure they are a rich source of content curation or promotional ideas for your library. Steal away!

Library Journal’s technology section

Periodic stories about how technology can impact libraries and their patrons. They publish about once a week.

School Library Journal

A great source for posts about books and other library-adjacent services for young readers.

The Princh blog

This company is based in the UK and sells printing options for libraries. Their blog is rarely about printing. Instead, they cover library topics like the impact of early literacy strategies and the joy of volunteering at a library.

American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom blog

Need help curating content that educates your community about the dangers of book challenges? This is the premier spot to find it.

Content Prompt

This daily email from Megan Kowalski (profiled here) will give TONS of great, daily ideas for content. She’s a whiz at following those little-known holidays that can make for great fun on social media (Hello, Fish Tank Floorshow Night!)

Any blog from another library or one of your partners!

If you type “library blog” into Google these days, you’ll come up with a whole list of libraries that are publishing content on a variety of subjects. They’ll appreciate you if you share their content. And you’ll know those content pieces are well-researched and written from the library’s perspective.

Your partner organizations will also be flattered if you share their content. For example, if the town yoga instructor who occasionally holds a class at your branch posts about how yoga helps relieve stress, and your content curation focus is on mental health, share that post!

P.S. Want more advice?

Empathy Marketing: How To Use Greed, Fear, Love, and Hope To Motivate Your Audience

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