Videos

Ferntree Gully Library has put up a promotional video about library services - it is well worth listening/watching as it gives a comprehensive coverage of their services. The cat in the hat helps with how not to do a reference interview, there is a fun New Jersey library promotion about a 24/7 live reference service (it looks like a fast food ad and is well worth watching), this shows another style of library promotion, one from Lexington Public Library which promotes active use of your library card, and another good use of a library card.

The Nebraska Library Commission has a vibrant promotion for working in libraries, Denver promotes summer reading, there is a promotion of online reference, and a quirky interview with Yorkshire accents. There is even an Arizona State University Library Channel which features videos of a conference planning for libraries of the 21st century - note this is a longer video.

All of these videos have ideas we could use to promote our services to the community. These are a series of variations on the same theme - all seeking to make people more aware of what libraries can do. If we don't tell them how will they know what great places libraries are? Using online videos is a way of reaching people who may not have thought to come to the library. It can be a very targeted promotion about a specific aspect of a library service or a general "what libraries do" kind of introduction. They do not have to have a big budget to be effective. A video would be a great partner for the online exhibitions - it would be useful to hear a curator talk about an item, and to hear a client respond as well. Imagine if after doing a search on Mathew Flinders I had found someone from work talking about/showing collection items relating to Flinders. It would be a way of helping expose the collection and the staff expertise. Videos could also be used with donors speaking about why they gave collection items or money.

I thought this video would add a touch of class.