Agenda What is Geek the Library? The Research The Pilot The Latest The Campaign The Keys to Success The Return on Investment

What is Geek the Library? Highlights the vital role of public libraries Educates the community about the challenging funding issues many public libraries face Provides opportunities for people to engage with the campaign and share their stories Makes a personal connection with the public and can be easily localized Helps start important local library funding conversations

The Research Geek the Library is based on research results from a study published by OCLC in The research had two main goals: To understand the factors that drive and limit local library funding support To answer the question: “Can a national library support campaign effectively increase and sustain funding for U.S. public libraries by reaching and influencing the segments of the voting population that have the most potential to become committed library supporters?”

Most Americans are unaware of how the public library is funded. Elected and appointed officials are supportive of the library but most (over 70%) feel that the library has sufficient funding. Most people claim they would support the library at the ballot box, but fewer, just 37%, are firmly committed to it. Library support is unrelated to using the library. Support is an attitude. Perceptions of the librarian are highly related to library support; perceptions that their librarian is involved in the community, an advocate for lifelong learning and passionate for keeping the library relevant are strong indicators of library funding support. The Research: Key findings 5

People who see the library as a transformational force in people’s lives and communities are more likely to support library funding. Most people are unaware of the range of “transformational” programs and services that libraries provide, and see the library predominately as a source of information. Overall, the key to increasing funding support for the library is to change the library conversation, and the library perception, from services and information, to a conversation about how the library provides transformational opportunities for each resident and the community. The Research: Key findings 6

The Pilot OCLC partnered with nearly 100 libraries in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin, to pilot the campaign from June 2009 through April The results are encouraging! Incredible campaign awareness in both primary markets (Iowa and Georgia) Positive movement in perceptions and attitudes towards libraries, librarians and library funding Geek the Library has the potential to increase long-term library funding by positively impacting public perceptions of libraries and library funding.

The Latest Libraries across the U.S. have embraced Geek the Library and people are paying attention! Libraries in over 20 states have enrolled since the pilot ended Huge following on the official Facebook site Hundreds of articles from local media The campaign was even featured on NPR

The Campaign It’s different! Unexpected Eye-catching Focused on educating the community about the library— not usage

The Campaign Everyone has something that they are passionate about—something they geek. Maybe you geek football or hip hop. Maybe you geek organic gardening or volunteering. Or maybe you just geek the weather. Whatever you geek, fun or serious, the library supports you. So share what you geek. Share what your public library does for you and your community. And spread the word that the library needs everyone’s support.

The Campaign: Advertising Print advertising Online advertising Billboards

Back of Insert 12

The Campaign: Web Site and Social Networking Sites 13

The Campaign: In the Library

The Campaign: In the Community

Keys to Success Time and Staff: This campaign is geared toward getting the message out into the community. Attending community events is essential. Budget: Advertising creates vital campaign awareness therefore having a budget for this important.

Keys to Success Personalizing the campaign for our community

Keys to Success Advertising helps establish high awareness in a short time Active outreach is essential Partnering with local businesses and organizations ensures that the message doesn’t only come from the library Engaging with key supporters helps spread awareness Events large and small provide a great opportunity to tell the library funding story Direct engagement with decision makers by library leaders is vital to the funding cause

Keys to Success: The Resources OCLC provides field support, materials, and access to an online Campaign Management Center.

The Return on Investment The goal of the campaign is to improve long-term funding by educating the community about the vital role of the library. The ROI will come in many forms and will be different from community to community.