The My Library Is… campaign is all about helping libraries do marketing and advocacy in new ways. And libraries aren't shy about discovering these new ways! Libraries are curious, creative places. Even though they might not have huge budgets to hire expensive graphic designers, videographers, etc., they constantly find a way to promote themselves and the programs and services they offer.
Many of them are using Canva. If you don’t know about it, Canva is a great free/low-cost tool that allows libraries to do their own graphic design and marketing. It’s pretty to easy to use and puts a lot of power into the hands of library staff. You can even share templates and allow others within your building to edit.
We wanted to get an idea of how libraries are using Canva, so we asked for some examples. Thank you to all of the libraries who responded! I should also note that you can search the My Library Is... Sharing Showcase tags for "Canva" to find all of the items created with that tool. Here are just a few examples:
Chillicothe Public Library District
Evergreen Park Public Library
Huntley Area Public Library District
Huntley Area Public Library District uses Canva in many different ways. They even created a video using both Adobe Creative Suite and Canva!
Kane County Law Library
La Grange Park Public Library
- Resource Guide - created using Adobe InDesign, but with Canva elements added
New Lenox Public Library
The New Lenox Public Library has created a number of templates for their staff to use. All of their logos, colors, and typefaces are set up in Canva so staff members in and outside of Creative Services can creat branded content. A few examples:
- Flyers
- Calendar/youth services learning log
- Badges, Beanstack, Instagram Staff Picks and Library Wordle
- Shelf Talkers
- Staff Picks
North Riverside Public Library
Princeton Public Library
Princeton Public library used Canva for a marketing campaign to celebrate National Library Workers Day. The campaign included placements on a billboard (across the street from the library), by the movie theater, on the monitors at the park district gym, and in the newspaper.
Vespasian Warner Public Library
- 247 Digital and History Rack Cards
- Community Partner Flyer
- Garden Table Sign
- True Crime Event Sign
- General Advocacy Pamphlet
- Seed Library Signage
Worth Public Library District
Have something to share? Or if I missed any suggestions, please feel free to post about them in the comments below or you can post them to the Sharing Showcase using the tag "Canva." You'll make it easier for libraries to do design work in the future!
