Video Promotions of National ... Week/Month

Want to promote at your library the latest national ... [fill-in the blank] week (or month) beyond book displays and signs? How about promo trailers? These are videos that promote a library event, program, activity, service, collection, or whatever else you'd like the public to know about. They may also be used to promote national events, such as Banned Books Week or National Library Week. Here are some examples we've made over the years (we used to call them program trailers but decided promo trailers was more accurate):

"Banned Book" Trailers, by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library

Libraries Transform

(2017 National Library Week Promo Trailer)

by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library

National Family History Month (October)
(MPL Program Trailer #11)

Native American Heritage Month (November)
(MPL Program Trailer #14)

2014 National Library Week Promo Trailer
by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library

National Library Week (April 10-16, 2011)
(MPL Program Trailer #18)

Readers' advisory videos may also be used to promote national events, such as Banned Books Week.

MEG-A-RAE #7

A Very VERY Special Banned Books Episode,

by Miss Rachel & Miss Meghan

MEG-A-RAE #8

Virtual Readout for 2012 Banned Books Week

by Miss Rachel & Miss Meghan

Promo trailers can also showcase library staff's participation in national library conferences.

Videos visually engage patrons while informing them about an upcoming national event that the library is observing. There's nothing wrong with old-fashioned book displays, but modern patrons are visually attuned. That's what over 70 years of television has done to change how we perceive things.

Some of our other posts on this blog discuss what you'll need to make your own library videos. It's really not so difficult. If we can do it, anyone can.

Comments

Using QR Codes to Promote Book Trailers on Book Displays

The ubiquitous book display is a mainstay of traditional collection promotion in public libraries . How many of these have you made over the years? Frankly, I've lost count. Book displays increase item circulation because they attract patrons' attention and provide them with immediate gratification without their having to search for what has caught their interest. The books are right there ; just grab them and head for circulation to check them out. Nothing could be easier. But what if the books are carefully wrapped-up (say, for a banned book display, which we did a couple of times), and patrons can't read the back cover descriptions? For ordinary book displays, is there something more visually engaging that could appeal to patrons than just having to read the book jackets? That's where book trailers could help "sell" the book. Wouldn't it be nice if patrons could watch the book trailers while they're look...

Using Video to Promote ALA Banned Books Week

When promoting ALA Banned Books Week (BBW), most librarians have probably turned to the ol' reliable book display, like so: Click images to enlarge Book displays are great. They centralize selected items, focus patrons' attention on a particular topic or theme, and they're relatively easy and inexpensive to produce. But they're just so, well, static. Stuff just sits there until patrons come along. Another popular static medium we use to promote BBW is the customized book mark. These take a bit more work but are fine as promotional tools, as far as they go. How about something more, say, techno-savvy? 2018 Banned Books Week Promo Trailer by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library 2016 Banned Books Week Promo Trailer by Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library Since 2010 my library has used videos to promote BBW. There are the promo trailer variety (above) that help stimulate interest, and thes...

Promo Trailers: A Library's Video Promotional Tool

(UPDATED JULY 20, 2022) Social media has become a significant promotional vehicle for libraries. Posting notices about upcoming programs or new services or the latest cataloged items on Facebook or Twitter can be more effective in reaching your patrons than even your library website. Pinterest and Tumblr are popular places to share what your library is (or will soon be) doing. Flickr and Instagram showcase photographs of library programs or events. Most commonly, posts are made to these social media by brief text coupled with photographs or images. Have you considered using video as a promotional tool for your library? Promo trailers can be used to promote any aspect of your library, from new collections to new technologies to programs to services. My library has been making promo trailers (formerly called program trailers) for over seven years, although we have been rather selective about the subjects we've chosen to promote with t...

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