That wasn’t quite the tagline for our Welcome Back to the Library campaign last fall, but we did offer a chance to win McDonald’s and Target gift cards!
As the summer of 2021 approached, Warrenville Library was starting to plan for a fall return to pre-pandemic hours and services. We were hopeful about resuming in-person programming, returning seating and tables to our public spaces, opening study rooms and offering our usual amenities.
To remind everyone what a valuable resource our library is to the community, we knew we needed a special incentive to welcome back our library visitors and attract new cardholders. We decided to contact local businesses about contributing gift cards or free service offers for a prize drawing among Warrenville residents. We prepared an information packet outlining sponsorship opportunities and the benefits of having their branding appear in our printed newsletter distributed to about 6,000 residences, biweekly emails to over 5,000 subscribers, website, social media and in-library posters.
I made the “pitch” in person to select small and chain businesses, talking up the sponsorship levels and providing the packet which also included our summer newsletter and some library bling. A manager at the Warrenville Target actually commented, “we’ve been looking for ways to contribute to our community because other opportunities have fallen away due to pandemic.” The McDonald’s manager was similarly interested. No other local restaurants or businesses chose to participate.
We received two $25 gift cards from Target and a $50 check from McDonald’s which we then used to purchase two $25 McDonald’s gift cards. From there, we firmed up the details of our campaign to promote a monthly gift card drawing for anyone who registered for a library card or used their existing card to checkout even one item at the library in September, October or November. The entire front cover of our newsletter, delivered in mid-August, was devoted to the gift card drawing and the return of full library services. An image of our library card was prominently featured along with the gift card images of these brands... three cards that look great together!
We had some success with this promotion, though it’s hard to say if it was the incentive that brought people into the library or the accompanying announcement that library services were returning to pre-pandemic levels. In fall 2021, we registered forty percent more new library cards than we did in the fall of 2020, though our numbers were still about half what we typically register in the fall months. Physical checkouts also increased each month compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Was it worth the time investment to drop by local businesses to make connections for the library? Absolutely. Perhaps next time some of the locals will be in a better position to contribute. And with the cost of food skyrocketing, and the year-end holidays right around the corner, who wouldn’t want to win a $25 gift card?
Today's guest blog post is from Kathy Gaydos. Kathy is the Marketing & Communications Specialist at the Warrenville Public Library District.
