CILIP | LIBRARIES LEAD THE WAY IN INNOVATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE MARKETING AND PUBLICITY

Winners of the CILIP / Emerald Public Relations & Publicity Awards announced

News 01/11/02

The CILIP / Emerald Public Relations & Publicity Awards are announced and presented today, at a Gala ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel in London. Martin Bell, former Foreign Correspondent and Independent MP for Tatton, is the special guest speaker.

The winners, in 6 categories, demonstrate the professional and imaginative way that libraries and information services are promoting themselves to existing and potential users.

"These awards highlight just some of the exciting areas of work that library and information services across the UK are currently involved in, " says Linda Smith, Chair of CILIP’s Publicity & Public Relations Group. "This year’s winning projects feature reader development, lifelong learning and local and family history. They show that libraries, both in public and academic settings, are taking a thoughtful and professional approach to marketing."

Shelly Grimshaw, Head of Sales and Marketing at Emerald says, "Emerald is very proud to sponsor the CILIP Public Relations & Publicity Awards and to be given the chance to experience the high quality work that has been produced and implemented by so many different libraries. The standard of the entrants was outstanding and Emerald is pleased to be able to be part of, and actively encourage this initiative."

The winners and runners-up for The Public Relations & Publicity Awards are as follows: (further details on the projects are in the notes to editors)

Category 1: Promotional Campaign with a budget under £500
WINNER: The Inspiration Campaign, Oxford Brookes University Library
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Change your life at Gosport Library, Hampshire County Council Library & Information Service
HIGHLY COMMENDED: National Poetry Day, Leicestershire County Council Libraries & Information Service

Category 2: Promotional Campaign with a budget over £500
JOINT WINNER: Birmingham Libraries Image Campaign, Birmingham Libraries
JOINT WINNER: There’s a new Angle at the Triangle, Bournemouth Libraries
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Libraries for Laughs, Newham Library Service
COMMENDED: From Hobby to Independent Learning, Shropshire County Library Service

Category 3: Printed Publicity Material
WINNER: ImaginAsian, Brent Libraries, Harrow Libraries, Hillingdon Libraries, Leicester City Library Services and Book Communications
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Bill Naughton Archive, Bolton Archives & local studies, Bolton Libraries

Category 4: Multi-Media Publicity Material
WINNER: The Charles Booth Online Archive www.lse.ac.uk/Booth The Library, London School of Economics and Political Science
HIGHLY COMMENDED: www.4Ureaders.net East Ayrshire Library Registration and Information Services
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Ask Chris website www.essexcc.gov.uk/AskChris Essex Libraries

Category 5: Sponsorship and Partnership
JOINT WINNER: Quick Reads, Essex Libraries and Adult Education, Essex County Council
JOINT WINNER: Readers, North Lincolnshire Libraries on behalf of The Yorkshire and Humber Reading Promotion Network.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Lighting up the Library, Blackpool Libraries and Blackpool Borough Council Illuminations
COMMENDED: A Naval Tradition, Plymouth Library Services, City Museum and Art Gallery

The Tom Farries Award for Personal PR Achievement
(Awarded with Farries International Booksellers Ltd)
Winner: Julie Spencer MBE, Senior Children’s and Schools Librarian, Bolton Libraries

For further information about any of these awards contact:
Philippa Perry Tel: 020 7247 9695 Email: pnlp@dircon.co.uk
Louisa Myatt at CILIP Tel: 020 72550650 Fax: 020 7255 0651 Email: louisa.myatt@cilip.org.uk

Notes to editors

Photographs of the winners will be available from 4 November.

CILIP: The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the major professional body for librarians and information managers, with around 24,000 members who work in all branches of the profession.

Emerald publishes the world's widest range of management and library & information services journals. For further information visit www.emeraldinsight.com

Details of the winning projects -
Category 1: Promotional Campaign with a budget under £500

Winner: THE INSPIRATION CAMPAIGN from Oxford Brookes University Library
Contact: Anthony Brewerton Tel: 01865 483139 Email: awbrewerton@brookes.ac.uk

The aim of the Inspiration Campaign was to promote the new improved library website to students during freshers’ week. The campaign combined an innovative use of posters and stickers reflecting the theme of inspiration with simple and effective images of Rodin’s The Thinker, an apple and a light bulb. Stickers with the web address and the image were distributed along with free apples for students at the Freshers’ Fair. The campaign was very successful - library staff spoke to over 500 potential customers in a matter of hours, and they received thousands of hits on the website. The total campaign cost just under £400, and was co-ordinated by the library’s Marketing Group.

Highly commended: NATIONAL POETRY DAY Leicestershire County Council Libraries and Information Service
Contact: Kate Hall Tel: 0116 2657386 Email: khall@leics.gov.uk

This tightly focused campaign promoted poetry book stock in Leicestershire’s libraries through National Poetry Day. The centerpiece of the promotion was a poetry reading by Martin Newall. Simple, monochrome graphics used to publicise the reading created mood and atmosphere resulting in a well attended and well received event. The audience was asked to complete an events survey to provide valuable contact information for the promotion of future events. The net cost of the campaign was £325.

Highly commended: CHANGE YOUR LIFE AT GOSPORT LIBRARY, Hampshire County Council Library and Information Service
Contact: Julie Denyer Tel: 023 9252 3431 Email: julie.denyer@hants.gov.uk
Or Angela Gill Tel: 01329 227537

This campaign targeted adults with an interest in life-long learning, giving them course information and help with CVs. It involved setting up an event in a local shopping center and other public places. Having gained a quality mark for provision of education and careers information, the campaign was designed to publicise the high standard of information available at Gosport and enable users to take full advantage of learning opportunities. The net cost of the campaign was £343.50.

Category 2: Promotional Campaign with a budget over £500

Joint winner: BIRMINGHAM LIBRARIES IMAGE CAMPAIGN, Birmingham Libraries
Contact: Brian Gambles Tel: 0121 303 3372 E-mail: brian.gambles@birmingham.gov.uk

The Image Campaign was designed to radically re-brand and reposition Birmingham Libraries as a relevant changing service for the community, targeting the challenging 16-25 age group. Market research was conducted to develop a detailed marketing and promotion strategy, which began with a month-long media campaign. Evaluation demonstrated that the campaign has been hugely successful in raising awareness of the library service amongst its target groups and has gone on to encourage new library users.

Joint winner: THERE’S A NEW ANGLE AT THE TRIANGLE: THE OPENING OF THE BOURNEMOUTH LIBRARY Bournemouth Libraries
Contact: Shelagh Levett Tel: 01202 454615 E-mail: shelagh.levett@bournemouthlibraries.org.uk

This campaign focused around the recent opening of the new Central Library in Bournemouth. Using a combination of simple, eye-catching and effective advertising on local buses, radio and press, the campaign was designed to target young people, children and families. The results were highly successful, with over 2,500 extra visitors on the first day of opening and over 10,000 visitors in the first week of the new library.

Highly commended: LIBRARIES FOR LAUGHS Newham Library Service
Contact: Zainab Jalil or Geoff Bell Tel: 0208 430 3994 Email: zainab.jalil@newham.gov.uk, geoff.bell@newham.gov.uk

Libraries for Laughs took place at four of Newham’s libraries from 18-26 May this year as part of London’s Comedy Festival. The programme included top comedians, readings and workshops for writers, special events for children and young people and book displays. The campaign attracted much interest from the media (including local television) and resulted in 5,000 extra visits to Stratford Library during the week.

Commended: FROM HOBBY TO LIFELONG LEARNING Lifelong Learning and Retired People, Shropshire County Library Service
Contact: Gordon Dickins Tel: 01743 255 005 Email: gordon.dickins@shropshire-cc.gov.uk

This campaign promoted the value of independent learning to retired people in Shropshire. The library service invested considerable effort in publicizing a series of events to demonstrate the scope and value of their resources. Archive coffee mornings, ICT sessions and pre-retirement courses attracted large audiences, and the campaign received extensive local media coverage. Information from attendance surveys was used to develop the range of events further.

Category 3: Award for Printed Publicity Material

Winner: IMAGINASIAN Brent Libraries, Harrow Libraries, Hillingdon Libraries, Leicester City Library Services and Book Communications
Contact: Mike Perry Tel: 0208 9373570 Email: mike.perry@brent.gov.uk

ImaginAsian is the first major reader development project of its kind, aiming to raise the profile of writing in Asian languages and books in English by Asian writers. The publicity benefits from a clear brand that reflects the culture through typography, copy writing and appropriate graphics. This well co-ordinated and planned project benefited from a substantial budget and resources that were exploited to the full. Besides the high quality leaflets and posters, a range of printed media was designed to enable partners to customize publicity for the local community.

Highly commended: BILL NAUGHTON ARCHIVE Bolton Archives and local studies, Bolton Libraries, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Contact: Sam Collenette Tel: 01204 353185 Email: sam.collenette@bolton.gov.uk

Bill Naughton is a famous local playwright and author of Alfie and Spring and Port Wine. This brilliant archive brings together writings, articles, photographs and cuttings. A beautifully designed booklet promotes the archive. Its clear typography, layout and good reproduction of photographs, posters and excerpts from original writings, makes it a souvenir visitors will want to keep. The guide and the archive itself have received extensive media coverage.

Category 4: Award for Multi-Media Publicity Material

Winner: THE CHARLES BOOTH ONLINE ARCHIVE
http://booth.lse.ac.uk/ The Library, London School of Economics and Political Science
Contact: Sue Donnelly on 0207 955 7223 Email: s.donnelly@lse.ac.uk

Charles Booth was a Victorian who led a survey into life and labour in London from 1886-1903. He created London Maps on which he colour-coded streets according to social status. Careful market research and project management has provided the base for a comprehensive, high quality website. Serious researchers and those with a new interest in family history have recorded their delight in the site. It also has the advantage of reducing research time; preventing the wear and tear of a valuable archive and making a rich collection accessible to a worldwide audience. The library has also produced attractive publicity to promote the website, archive and enhance their profile.

Highly commended: WWW.4Ureaders.net
East Ayrshire Library Registration and Information Services<
Contact: Gerard Cairns Tel: 01563 554324 Email: gerard.cairns@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

www.4ureaders.net is the outcome of a reader development project that involved young people, school and public librarians in the creation of a website that speaks the authentic voice of young people in East Ayrshire. The site is set up for different age-groups E-Claire for girls, The Lads and Girls with Attitude. It is easy to use and does away with library and education speak, replacing it with friendly vocabulary such as homework help and informaniacs (a new term for librarians!). They have taken an imaginative approach to the promotion of this site within schools and libraries and have also produced a promotional CD for local retail outlets.

Highly Commended: ASK CHRIS WEBSITE
www.essexcc.gov.uk/AskChris
Essex Libraries
Contact: June Turner Tel: 01245 244953 Email: june.turner@essexcc.gov.uk

Ask Chris is a reader-centred website offering a database with powerful searching mechanism, combining bold design with interactive features and ease-of-use. It is based on a combination of staff enthusiasm and knowledge and reader-to-reader recommendation. There is particular care and attention paid to design that is appropriate for visually impaired people. In nine months the site has grown to 1,374 books, 2,464 user reviews and 14,227 hits. The site has won accolades from users who say that it has encouraged them to read more widely and compliments from the library profession. It is supported by an attractive booklet that includes a clearly explained guide to the site and a glossary of internet terminology.

Category 5: Sponsorship and Partnership

Joint winner: QUICK READS Essex Libraries, Essex Adult Education, Essex County Council
Contact: June Turner on 01245 244953 Email: june.turner@essexcc.gov.uk

The Quick Reads project promotes reading for pleasure to emergent adult readers. The project combines the different skills of library staff and basic skills tutors to create the means of identifying and promoting mainstream books accessible to this group. The project showed a significant impact on Essex libraries and proven benefits to the partners. This is illustrated by comments from the adult learners and their tutors - ‘Quick Read books are nice and easy to read’ - ‘involvement in the project has made a great impact on my students’.

Joint winner: READERS The Yorkshire and Humber Reading Promotion Network
Contact: Janet Stopper Tel: 01724 860 161 Email: janet.stopper@northlincs.gov.uk

This campaign involved libraries throughout the Yorkshire and Humberside region in the coordination of ten Reading Festivals. The partnership also extended to involve a large number of commercial organisations, major publishers and voluntary organisations. There was extensive press and media coverage and positive comments from partners and participants alike. Reading festivals are not new, but this was conducted in a professional and meticulous way.

Highly commended: LIGHTING UP THE LIBRARY Blackpool Libraries and Blackpool Borough Council Illuminations
Contact: Elaine Midgley Tel: 01253 478 082 Email: elaine.midglet@blackpool.gov.uk

A chance remark resulted in an innovative project to promote Email and ICT facilities available in Blackpool Libraries. The opportunity came at a prize giving ceremony at Blackpool Borough Council’s Illumination Department where Library staff asked about the chances of featuring the library service in the illuminations. A partnership was established to create a tableau to promote Email facilities available to residents and visitors. And what better way to do this than use the town’s major visitor attraction.

Commended: A NAVAL TRADITION Plymouth Library Services, City Museum and Art Gallery
Contact: Ann Henderson Tel: 01752 306 795 Email: ann.henderson@plymouth.gov.uk

This partnership promoted the local studies collection and archive, charting the lives of the people of Devonport and Keyham who were directly affected by the Dockyard during the 18th - 20th century. The project, A Naval Tradition, was funded by the DCMS/Wolfson British History Challenge Fund. Quality publications and printed publicity were enhanced by appropriate branding and have proved successful in the promotion of walks, talks and exhibitions linked with this project. Specially printed postcards were used to encourage participants to record their comments, all of which were positive. Promotion has also extended to the local media and the professional library world.

The Tom Farries Award for Personal PR Achievement Winner: Julie Spencer, Senior Children’s and Schools Librarian, Bolton Libraries
Contact: Ken Beevers Tel: 01204 332340 Email: ken.beevers@bolton.gov.uk

Julie Spencer's career spans over twenty years, working in Nottinghamshire and in the North West. During this time she has taken an innovative approach to encouraging people to read. She has played a leading role in the first North West Libraries Regional initiative - it is now a vibrant consortium of twenty one libraries. This has been the inspiration for other authorities throughout the UK to develop similar programmes. Julie was a key player in securing £200,000 of Wolfson funding to create a reader development project. She is now the regional coordinator of this project that encourages socially excluded 16 - 25 year olds to read through the medium of ICT.

Amongst her other achievements is the organization and delivery of the 'Everybody's Reading Conference' in 2002; the construction of a related website to cascade good practice and the provision of high quality promotional material. Julie Spencer has harnessed her wide experience in mounting these campaigns. This combined with initiative, enthusiasm and a great deal of energy are what make her such a worthy winner of the Tom Farries Personal PR Achievement Award.

Updated: 09 August 2004