Business Use of Libraries

Here's a great article about libraries setting up business centers:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3034143/the-public-library-wants-to-be-your-office

This is an interesting issue, with two components: money, and merchandising.

Most libraries feel like money is the core of this debate. How do we responsibly allocate public funds? Here’s a quote from the article:

“Libraries catering to workers walk a fine line between appealing to business-minded patrons who help energize their once-sleepy reading rooms and avoiding the appearance of playing favorites in what has traditionally been an egalitarian space.” Is it okay to spend public money catering to businesses?

It’s so easy for the gut reaction to be “no.” But of course, we’re not talking about Altria and Nabisco. We’re talking about home healthcare workers and tutors and freelance designers and self-published writers – the all-important and over-cited “Main Street.” We spend tax dollars to run our libraries. If we can encourage local businesses, then we can serve as an economic engine as well as a cultural and learning center. We won’t cost  money – we’ll MAKE money for our community.

Should that be a concern? I don’t know if it SHOULD be, but it is. For libraries that are struggling to be funded, it has to be. Librarians understand this, but it’s hard to internalize. If you ask, “Why are libraries necessary?” you will get answers like “Because people can’t afford to buy all the books they want and need” or “Because not everyone has a computer at home, so they need to use ours.” At our library, the two largest user groups are children and seniors – groups without a lot of economic power. Lots of librarians got into the business to serve the under-served, and they are simply unwilling to make a choice based on economics. Some things, in fact, are more important than money.

This is a long-running debate that will continue in libraries for years. And it’s not academic, or confined to library staff meetings. Library users care about this issue. But exactly what is it they are worried about? Some people are truly worried about the use of their tax dollars, but others - and I think this is the larger group - are more worried about changes to the libraries that they love. Even in the New York Public Library debate, people's concerns seemed philosophical as much as practical. These were stacks that the public couldn't access, so why did they care where the books were stored? Because they love the idea of a building filled with books. 

This is a concern about atmosphere and emotion, not about budget. Which is great, because that's something we can address. We just need to listen to the real feelings behind the objections we hear. This is really just another part of listening and responding to our community. It's completely possible to set up our libraries to cater to businesses without making them feel like corporate offices. We can coexist!

What I'm reading: The Golem and the Jinni

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

A detailed, engaging, weirdly-romantic, slow-moving historical fantasy. My library copy is labeled "Historical Fiction," but to me it's pure fantasy - character-centric, magic-centric, with enough historical detail to paint a picture of the times, without that detail overwhelming the story. At its core, this book is about "nature:" human nature, and the non-human nature of non-human beings. The non-human characters in this book ring somewhat truer than usual; their thinking is more authentically different.



I was drawn into the story slowly but completely. It was easy, at first, to read the book in short stretches - until I got near the end and had to devour the rest in one sitting. But the slow-burn style was a wonderful way to read it, to sink slowly into the story and to absorb the world. I was reminded of The Historian and Jonathan Strange - high praise indeed from me.

The Hook: Planning a Sellable Event

One thing we’ve discovered when planning large events is that big events need a hook. The “hook” is the thing that reels people in – a super-cool activity, or a chance to win a great prize, or a pre-existing notion that the event is fun. Let me offer some examples:

At the library’s Comic-Con, our “hook” is the pre-conceived notion that a Comic-Con is cool. Our target audience already knows what a Comic-Con is, and they already think a Comic-Con is cool, so we don’t have to sell the idea. We just have to let people know when it is, and make sure that the publicity supports their idea of it.

At our library’s annual Teen Read Week Masquerade, we have to go one step further. Nobody knows what a “Teen Read Week Masquerade” is or what it looks like, so at the same time that we’re spreading information about our event, we also have to sell the IDEA of our event. Our hook is the prizes. We heavily advertise our grand prize, which is usually a tablet, and the winner must be present to win. In addition, we give away books to EVERY attendee. Between the chance to win a terrific prize, and the guarantee of free books, we are able to incentivize attendance in a significant way. Of course, the prizes don’t provide the fun – our activities provide the fun. The prizes just offer a hook.

A hook provides an entry point, something to make people take notice and say to themselves, “Hey, maybe I should go to that!” You’ve got to have it, and you’ve got to plan it. The best promotions in the world won’t get good attendance unless your event has an easily-stated, easily-understood selling point. “Lots of cool activities” won’t do it – not even if you actually do have lots of really cool activities. Our Dia de los Ninos event struggles every year, and it’s because no one knows what it is, and nothing that happens there is quite enough to change people’s indifference into interest.

The larger lesson here is a familiar one: marketing begins in the planning stages, not in the promotion stages. You’ve got to know what you’re selling, and you have to be sure that people want it.

Value Frameworks

Here's some good reading:
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2013/10/who-counts-grappling-with-attendance-as.html

And it does bring up the question: is attendance our main measurement for success? I work in event planning, so let's use that as an example. Are the most popular events the best ones?

In terms of what we report and measure, we certainly act as though popularity is the only thing that matters. But we know, we know in our hearts, that it's not. An event where 100 people watch a skateboarding dog is NOT a "better" event than a class where 20 kids use Lego to learn about science. I think most library people would feel like the science class was more valuable, and a better use of taxpayer dollars, than the skateboarding dog.

Which means that we need to use another framework to define our success. To put it another way, when someone asks, "How did the Lego program go?" we need an answer that doesn't relate to attendance. "It was wonderful, the kids had fun and learned a lot!" is a good start.

But of course, that's just a start. Most of the time, when we are explaining why something is valuable, it's important to be professional and convincing. Which means that you need to take that statement and turn it into something you can tell your boss, and maybe something you can tell the board, or tell the taxpayers.

My quick and dirty method for doing this is to find one thing to measure that isn't attendance. Use your library's mission statement, your strategic plan, or your department's goals to figure out what this should be.

For example, if your mission has to do with learning, think about doing a quiz question at the end of the Lego class. Did the kids get it right? You can report that 90% of the kids in the class displayed an understanding of the such-and-such principle after your class. If your mission has to do with inspiration, try asking them instead if they plan to go home and use what they learned to make more Lego creations. If your mission has to do with providing opportunities, ask the parents whether they would have been able to do this with their child at home.

If you don't have a stated mission or goals, then just find some commonly-agreed-on Good Thing to support. If your boss is always happy to hear that people are checking out books, try setting up a display of Lego books in the classroom. Count how many of the items get checked out, or count how many kids take books from the display. Then you can say "75% of attendees checked out Lego books after the program!"

This is going to help you in several ways:

First of all, it will help you express the value of what you're doing. Right away, your projects will sound more purposeful and more impressive. If you work in a library (or other non-profit) then you probably believe pretty strongly in your work. This is going to help you get other people on board.

Second, it will actually add value to your projects. Here's a recent example from my job: I was using this method to think about a "Hunger Games" party the library is hosting. I wanted something besides attendance to measure, and I wanted it to be related to reading. Maybe we could measure book checkouts somehow? Then I had the idea to create a cool read-alike book display that would encourage the teens to check out books. What a fun idea! And it doesn't just articulate the value - my program is better because of this idea. In a small way, I am better expressing our mission.

Third, it will help you prioritize. You'll be able to sit down and say, "What should I schedule for this summer? A Lego science class, or a skateboarding dog?" You won't have to guess which would be "better" - you'll have a framework that helps you evaluate which program fits with your organization and helps you accomplish your mission and goals.

My Day in Design, May 5, 2013

At long last, another "My day in design" post! Lots of signage and architecture elements, mainly from Carytown, with a few from downtown Richmond.

Interesting Presentation on Physical Library Spaces

http://grimmandparker.com/links/PDF/The%20Library%20of%20the%20Future%20VEFP%20G+P%20website%20version.pdf

Results and quotes from a survey about the future role of libraries and the likely future needs for library spaces. Not too long, and interesting reading.

Wonderland: The Library Experience for Book Lovers

Do you remember reading Roald Dahl's Matilda? (if not, go read it now. Dahl is still very good reading for adults.) Remember her library experience? For book lovers, that story still rings very true - the world of wonders just waiting in books. It's the same reason we love The Never-ending Story movie, and we identify with Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Books are magical for us, and libraries are wonderlands.

I've posted before about the clash between this nostalgic affection and the image of the "modern library." But I've come to realize that while our wonderland libraries do clash with the library-as-consulting-agency model, they are delightfully consistent with another new idea of libraries: the library-as-destination.

Library-as-destination is really a beguiling vision. Libraries from this vision are community centers, coffeehouses, hubs of literature and conversation. We'll have concerts and storytimes and philosophy discussion groups and many, many book clubs. One of the high points of this vision is that we don't have to give up our love of books! Literature will be a focal point of our passionate community centers. Our teen areas will be cool to hang out in, and our children's areas - well, they will be wonderlands! Bright, magical spaces with toys and climbing furniture and walls of bright, colorful books.

The best thing abut this vision? It's appealing to our most passionate users, our "core" group - book lovers. Book lovers would flock to this library. And it makes more sense, really, to build a library that appeals to the people who already love us, rather than trying to build libraries that will draw in people who are currently indifferent.

So what's in the way? Mainly conflicting visions. A library cannot brand itself as both a cool modern library of expertise and professionalism and as passionate literary hub. We have to pick one. And sadly, there are practical concerns at work here. Our governing body (also our source of funding) is the county government, and they are eager to prioritize economic development - which means that the consulting-library is easier to sell than the wonderland-library. We would need an amazing amount of community support to work towards a different vision. And I think we could get it- it's just a matter of selling the dream.

What I'm reading: Maggie Stiefvater

It's been a while since I've been this excited by finding a new author. Maggie Stiefvater writes Young Adult fiction. I've read two of her books in the past month, and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

The Scorpio Races
Engaging, with appealing characters and the perfect level of magic. It's hard to suffuse a story with magic but keep the world believable, but this book manages it deftly.

The Raven Boys
I liked The Scorpio Races; I was utterly enchanted by The Raven Boys. For one thing, it's set in Virginia but rich with old-world magic. And the magic has that undefined and undefinable quality of being "right" - at least for me, this magic is plausible, believable, and real. "Yes," I think. "If magic was real, this is how it would manifest."

Character-wise, The Raven Boys was maybe weaker than Scorpio Races. I would love to hear a male opinion on this subject, but I felt like the expressions of maleness in The Raven Boys were a bit off - it rang like a woman writing about men, which of course it is.

But the appeal of the characters, the charm of the magic and the world, overcame all my reluctances. The Raven Boys - read it! Be charmed!

Portfolio Blog!

After years of shyness, procrastination and sloth, my design portfolio website is finally up and running! Yes, it's still under construction - but I have a web presence!

Find me at katedenwiddie.wordpress.com.

What I'm reading: "Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay

I'm still trying to decide if each of Kay's books focuses on a single theme, but this one definitely does: Under Heaven is all about power. Wealth, influence, physical strength, knowledge, family connections - all these and more run through Under Heaven, exploring how individual lives and the fate of nations are shaped by the power that people have over each other, and the ways they choose to use that power.

Kay's worldbuilding, as usual, is excellent - there's enough scenery to catch the imagination, without drowning you in detail, or telling the reader things just to prove that the author knows them. Characters are well-drawn, with a believable shared worldview, and extremely human. They might be more or less sympathetic, but they mainly avoid being caricatures.

On the topic of characters, however - there are just too many, and some of them are too random. I can see why you might want to narrate a scene from the point of view of the guy on top of the wall. I guess. But do I really need his backstory? In my opinion, I do not. In my opinion, it interferes with the story. Also because of the character-jumping, I had some trouble keeping track of who-was-supposed-to-know-what.

Overall, I enjoyed Under Heaven, but I didn't respond to it whole-heartedly. Perhaps that's because I don't care enough about the subtleties of power, or perhaps it's because this is one of the less fantastical of Kay's books (I like when there's lots of magic in my stories.) In any case: I cared what happened, but...not as much as I often do, with Kay's work.

I'm currently debating whether to go back and re-read a bunch of Kay's other work, to look for these recurring themes. It came to me, very clearly, that Tigana is about loyalty, and that I REALLY responded to that book. Off the top of my head, I would say that Fionavar Tapestry is about identity, the Sarantine Mosaic is about legacy and creation (what we leave behind us), and that Lions of Al-Rassan is probably about courage. Thoughts?

Pantone Color of the Year 2013

...Emerald!

Pantone.com

This is a trend prediction for next year, not an analysis of last year. We'll see how it goes - I thought their prediction for 2012, a reddish-orange, fell flat, while the prediction for 2011, a bright pink, was spot-on.

I'm always happy when green is involved!

Relevance

Recently, I discussed the issue of relevance with a group of librarians at our monthly "think tank" meeting. As we discussed the issue, it reinforced my personal opinion: that yes, we can be relevant, but we have to make some decisions about what makes us relevant - and then commit to those projects.

It seems to me that whenever someone says that libraries are becoming less important, someone from ALA stands up and shouts "We are so!", and then begins to list every reason they can think of for the relevance of libraries: we are job search support, computers and Internet for the low-income, we are more reliable than search engines, we are early literacy educators, financial literacy educators, a social hub, a meeting space, a haven for seniors, a place to learn ESL, educational support for schoolchildren, and on and on.

I fear that we're hurting ourselves with this lack of a coherent, cohesive message. In this economy, we are  in a position of needing to justify our continued existence and use of funds - not by shouting "How dare you?!" when someone questions that allocation, but by offering powerful, convincing reasons why donations and tax dollars given to the library are well-spent. Small projects and half-baked initiatives are not going to be convincing, not in the way we need them to be. 

I think we are going to need to narrow our focus. We might end up needing to spend less money and time on Financial Literacy in order to do a FANTASTIC job on early literacy. Because doing a fantastic job is the only way to win support, both from our users and from financial decision-makers.

Obviously, each library/library system will make different decisions about their raison d'être, leaving the ALA to give the same old list. But if we can choose and succeed at out own reasons for relevance, we won't need the ALA to justify our existence. We'll be demonstrating our value every day.

Marketing electronic resources: our five biggest mistakes

...and how to fix them!

5. Poor web design

Databases are a complex resource, and unless you're careful, they'll be hard to find, hard to browse and hard to search.

The fix: Let designers into the mix. Develop clear web way-finding, make sure we have good instructions and write a good "What are these and how do I use them?" introduction.

4. Marketing them as a lump

Saying "there's great stuff in the resources" isn't working. Very few people think "Ah-ha, THERE'S the great stuff! Just what I was looking for!"

The fix: We need to be promoting what individual resources can do. "Genealogy research? Try HeritageQuest!"

3. Using technical language and jargon to explain them.

You might not think "databases" is jargon, but I think it is - to a lot of people, a database is how you keep track of sales data, not a complex indexing of articles. We also need to watch out for "search Find It Virginia"' and other brand names.

The fix: My personal favorites are "articles" and "research," but you can use anything that makes sense to your non-library friends and family.

4. Attacking Google and Wikipedia.

Google and Wikipedia are fine for most people, who are just trying to find a good-enough answer and get on with their day. When we say "google isn't reliable" without putting that statement in context, we sound like this: "What's that, sonny? The inter-what? No, I don't trust that computer-thingy."

The fix: context! There are circumstances when you really need a specialized resource. When we talk about the differences between subscription databases and Google, we should be giving examples of times when Google won't do the trick.

5. Acting like they are equally useful to everyone.

They're not! Electronic resources are useful to certain subsets of our users, like students, scholars, business owners, etc. So again, be specific about what you're advertising, and to whom.

The fix: we should be marketing specific resources to the particular groups that will find them useful.

2012 Retail Marketing Expo

Once again we visited the Retail Marketing Expo put on by our local retail merchants' association. A quick and belated recap:

Hot topics:
Video for business
The one area where I saw more vendors than I have previously. And it's relevant to us, too - we're in a space to consider videos as part of our new branding effort, or as part of a grant. Prices were actually lower than I expected; I saw packages advertised for $1,500 - $2,000. Lots of money, but not too much to consider. 

Cheap or "ganged"' printing
I thought there were more printers here this year than last year, and they were advertising their discounts pretty heavily. I was surprised, though, about how little they were able to offer in the way of information (and not just networking). I was there to actually SHOP, and I had specific products in mind, and it was rare for someone to be able to tell me a price, or even to show me a paper sample. I would have liked an opportunity to get information that I can't get from a website - like the feel and weight of a paper.

Social media strategy
As a library, we really aren't in the market for this kind of service - and I guess they knew it! Even for the simpler types of services (that we might have been able to afford), there were not many ideas for how to apply the service to a nonprofit scenario. : ) To be fair, this was the Retail Marketing Expo - I think we need a Nonprofit Marketing Expo to really meet our needs.

Overall, I'm not sure I will want to go next year. There were some interesting things to see, but frankly the "making contacts" element of this event often seems wasted on me. I might want to for for an hour or so, but not to spend all day.

Interactivity

I've recently fallen in love with a museum blog. I'm finding that we have a lot of overlapping issues, both in terms of our business model (not "visitors=sales=money", but "visitors=stats=convincing people=money) and in terms of our goals and struggles - stay relevent, get people through the doors, engage younger people, get people interested in you and talking about you.

Here's a post I loved about interactivity:
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2012/06/17-ways-we-made-our-exhibition.html

and another post about how to create a successful interactive element:
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2009/04/design-techniques-for-developing.html

I think these ideas have a lot of potential applicability in libraries, especially when working with teens. Because one of the major struggles of adolescence is finding and expressing your identity, teens tend to like being encouraged to express themselves. Temporary or permanent interactive displays would be a great way to get teens engaged with the library.

Old-fashioned Charm: Love it or lose it?

Where I work, we build very sleek, modern libraries. They are lovely - high ceilings, lots of light, open spaces, modern signage. They fit well with the image we're trying to create (to the extent that we think about our image at all.) We try to portray ourselves as a new library for a new age - we are modern, slick, efficient; we are cool and professional. We use Barnes & Noble as our model. We're seeking a place in the business world, we're emphasizing our role in health information literacy and financial literacy, we think of our librarians as consultants. Our publications should portray us as "a winner."

Are we going the wrong way?

One thing I've noticed is that when people speak of libraries with affection, they are almost always talking about an old-fashioned experience. They love the feeling of peace and quiet, or they love the nooks and crannies, they love the sense of mystery, and the wonder of being surrounded by books - for many people, the older the books, the better. I've heard people wax nostalgic about paper dust. They don't want the experience of a large chain bookstore. They want the old-fashioned charm of a library.

While I love the open, airy spaces of our new libraries, and paper dust makes me sneeze, I can identify with this other perspective. I love old-fashioned libraries. I love mysterious staircases and hidden corners and yes, I love old books. I once read a quote that said that the love people have for their library is inversely proportional to the size of the library - that small libraries would always be beloved, in a way that large libraries never would be.

I think that New York Public Library gives this the lie. Look at the recent reaction when they considered moving their stacks. Their reading room is beautiful and well-used, and they have a rich array of cultural programming. The lions that flank the entrance are so iconic that they had a children's television program named after them (PBS's Between the Lions). They are a huge library serving a huge population, and yet they are loved.

The simple fact is, old-fashioned libraries are an emotional brand with a lot of positive resonance. As we move our library into a sleek, almost corporate image, what will our emotional impact be? We've worked hard to get away from the old-fashioned nostalgia, but I'm worried that we've driven away the people who love us the most. How will we regain their love? How will our sleek professionalism gain anyone's love?

I'm not ready to give up on the modern library yet, but we're going to need to think hard about the way we brand ourselves. We want to be professional, but we need to stay human, need to be approachable - we need to be able to be loved.

Tips to Encourage Creativty

Here are some of the ideas I gleaned from reading Imagine. I'm focusing these tips on group creativity - the kind that is more concerned with creative problem solving than with making pretty posters.So, what can you do at your library to encourage creativity?

1. Arrange for people who don't usually work together to run into each other. My library started making everyone conduct their staff meetings in the administrative offices. Now we see people from different branches on a regular basis, giving us the opportunity to share ideas.

2. Create teams that have some people who already know each another, and some who don't. This will help people feel comfortable enough to share freely, but still inject new ideas.

3. Go to conferences and retreats. They don't have to be very expensive or very far away. Getting away from your routine locations will also help you get away from routine thinking.

4. Keep conversations positive, but always encourage free debate. It's important to share ideas, and it's also important to discuss - talk about the pros and cons, talk about the flaws, talk about the failures as well as the successes. You're more likely to get the conversation you need to find a good idea, and to transform a good idea into a great one.

5. Share office space. I know, it's a pain - you can't hear on the phone, and you can't eat a king-sized bag of M&Ms without feeling judged. But people in shared space tend to talk, and it turns out that it really does help to bounce your ideas off someone else.

6. Make connections between people with different job functions. Don't just put all the librarians together on a team, and all the circulation staff together, and all the managers together. Again, this is a way to keep your brain open to new ideas - you have to hang around people with a different perspective.

7. Allow everyone some time to pursue new ideas and areas of interest. You'll drastically increase your idea pool, and you'll create some mental room for innovation.

To learn more about these ideas, read the book!

What I'm Reading: Jonah Lehrer's Imagine

I know Jonah Lehrer has been getting some bad press lately for recycling his writing, but he's still one of the most gifted science & psychology writers I know of. So I'm not going to worry about it.

Imagine is about creativity - not just artistic creativity, but productive creativity. How do people come up with good ideas? And how do they turn those good ideas into finished products, like inventions or albums or websites? These are the questions that Lehrer addresses in this book, with a combination of psychological research and individual stories.

I found it to be a fascinating read. As I said, Lehrer is a gifted writer, and the book reads quickly and smoothly. I learned that caffiene is helpful when we need to focus on refining and perfecting an idea, but that it impairs the "remote associations" that allow us to germinate ideas and come up with novel solutions to problems. Because of those same remote associations, we are more likely to have an "aha!" moment when we're relaxed, and thinking about something else. And in order to change our thinking, it helps to change our scenery - travel really does help get you out of a creative rut!

Mostly through anecdotes and case studies, Lehrer also covers group creative processes - the things that help us be more creative and productive as teams. I found these chapters to be especially interesting. I was inspired to think about the way my office/group works at the library, and about whether we really operate in the best way to encourage our creativity and productivity.

The next post will be some quick tips based on this book for encouraging creativity in your library or organization.

Favorite Library Logos

The logo research continues, and I've been looking at a LOT of library logos lately. (Alliteration: just one more service I offer.)Here are some of my favorites.

(I've linked to the library websites whenever I could, so you can see the logos in their native habitat.)

First, logos with books in them:
Anchorage Public Library
This is one of my absolute favorites. It's a book, but at the same time it looks very digital - you can see it as being more about reading and knowledge than about the physical object of the book. Great colors but still nice in black-and-white.

Beech Grove Public Library
Simple and elegant book-and-tree. The downside: the lettering. Why is the H large? And what's with the kerning? The bottom line especially.







Hamilton Public Library (Ontario)
What I like about this logo is the hand that holds the book. First of all, GREAT use of negative space. Second of all, it adds so much warmth and humanity to this image. It's not a picture of a book - it's a picture of a person USING a book. Wonderful.

Daniel Boone Regional Library
A fun, colorful logo that still holds up in one color. Also check out the fun tie-in on their Bookmobile Jr: http://www.dbrl.org/outreach/bookmobile (scroll down)



Place-based logos
These logos focus on the LOCATION of their library, rather than of the CONTENTS of the library.

New York Public Library
We're all jealous of New York Public Library. So beloved, such rich history. Their logo shows the lions which flank the entrance.

Chicago Public Library
I love the simplicity of this piece. Somehow it manages to seem like a solid institution of long standing, without seeming stodgy or out-of-date. The "Y" symbol, which forms the book in the center, is the "municipal device" of the city, and represents the Chicago River. (Read more here: http://chicago-outdoor-sculptures.blogspot.com/2010/01/y-symbol.html )

Orange County Library System
Okay, so this logo isn't exactly to my taste, and I think there are some things wrong with it, and yet...it's bright, it's fun, and it represents its community. I had to include it here.



Graphic Logos
It's hard to do a good graphic logo, but when you get it right, it can be both modern and timeless. Here are a couple that I do like. (You may be noticing a tendancy towards circles at this point. I confess. I do like circles.)

Hennepin County Library
I really like this. So simple, so bold.

Westport Public Library
It's graphic, it's flowing, it works in one color and at a small size. Very good.


Marion Regional Library
Being a design and type geek, of COURSE I like this logo! (Note: This logo seems to be ENTIRELY HOMELESS on the internet and to exist only within Google Images. I can't find a library with that name, and the designer's site won't load either.)

Jefferson-Madison Regional Library
A local favorite of mine.





And a final, self-indulgent category...... RAINBOW LOGOS!
This section really has nothing to do with my professional opinion. I just happen to love rainbows

Library Book Logo - pros and cons

Our library is exploring a new logo. Not that we really have a logo right now, so I guess we're exploring the possibility of A logo.

And there's one large question that keeps coming up: Do we or don't we use the image of a book in the logo?

Pros: Books are still the single image that people associate most with libraries. (http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm) A logo with a book is immediately recognizable - a book is an easy thing to visualize, and when people look at it, they see "library."

There's also an affection factor. People who already love books are probably the most inclined to love libraries, and we can tie ourselves into that. I love books, and my favorite library logos all have books in them.

Cons: Books can be seen as old-fashioned and boring, which we definitely want to leave behind. A book image doesn't help us expand ourselves. We don't necessarily want to play into the libraries=books stereotype. If we want to start moving into a new niche, we need to start creating a new brand, and associating ourselves with a new image. We are trying to remove our association with "things" like books, discs and computers, and associate ourselves with intangibles like service, community, and intelligence.

 :) Now if I can only find a way to create a visualization for community and service...