Engaging Your Library Community Through Storytelling and Social Media

@JuliaCSocial www.jcsocialmarketing.com 1

Today’s Takeaways
 Why storytelling is so vital to
any fundraising & marketing
strategy
 Ways you can use social
media to tell stories
 Examples from libraries and
nonprofits who are doing
great storytelling

Story Sample
“The ‘new economy’ of twenty-four-hour online shopping,
global markets and just-in-time inventory churning, have
created a demand for "flexible" labor--rapid-fire changes in
schedules, shift-swapping, on-call staff.
In a new book, Unequal Time, sociologists Dan Clawson and
Naomi Gerstel survey how time is distributed across this
new economic landscape, and finds that flexibility--and its
evil twin, unpredictability--is creating a new social order
that brings chaos to the workplace and the home.”
When the Workday Never Really Ends, The Nation,
Michelle Chen on October 15, 2014

Story Sample
“In a typical last-minute scramble, Jannette Navarro, a 22-year-
old Starbucks barista and single mother, scraped together a
plan for surviving the month of July without setting off
family or financial disaster...
‘You’re waiting on your job to control your life,’ she said, with
the scheduling software used by her employer dictating
everything from ‘how much sleep Gavin will get to what
groceries I’ll be able to buy this month.’”
Working Anything but 9 to 5: Scheduling Technology
Leaves Low-Income Parents With Hours of Chaos
By Jodi Kantor, Photograph by Sam Hodgson, August 13, 2014

Why Storytelling?
 People don’t
remember bullet
points.
 People respond to
emotion.
 Feelings, not
analytical thinking,
drive actions.

What Storytelling Will Not Do
 Fix bad management or ineffective programs.
 Replace other marketing strategies.
 Replace tried-and-true fundraising tactics.
 BUT if done well, it will
augment all other
communication efforts!

How To “Do” Storytelling?
 Think of your audience
FIRST and ALWAYS.
 How can you tell a story in a
way that will resonate with
them?
 What is important to them?
 What will inspire them to
action?
 What are they interested in?

Change In Mindset
 Become a storytelling
organization.
 Most library
communications are
boring and org-centric.
 What is interesting and
new?

Focus on People
 Need to focus on
BENEFITS, not
features.
 Need to focus on
PEOPLE, not
programs.

“It’s less about technology and more about what the visitor
can bring to the equation.
In the end, we want people to feel ownership of this museum.
We ask them to tell us what they think.
They can give us a bad review; when we make a mistake they
can come to our rescue.
We want to engage with our community.”
~Shelley Bernstein, Chief Technology Officer, the Brooklyn
Museum

5 Main Types of Stories

1) Creation Stories
 What was the need?
 What is the need now?
 Story of the founders
 The real WHY you exist

Creation Stories
It began with a question. A small boy begging in the
streets of India. “What do you want most in the world?”
“A pencil,” he replied.
I reached into my backpack,
handed him my pencil, and
watched as a wave of possibility
washed over him.

2) Resilience Stories
 Continuous improvement
 Show that your org is always
trying to adapt, change,
evolve
 Challenges faced
 Mistakes made
 Lessons learned

Resilience Stories
The Denver Foundation
 10 Years 10 Stories – Celebrating 10 years of
inclusiveness
 Stories from the Journey – stories told by the
nonprofits awarded grants
 Nonprofits discussed what they learned and
what they still have to work on.
 Focused on their target audience and thought
about what would resonate with them.

3) Behind-The-Scenes Stories
 Feature donors
 Feature Board members
 Feature staff
 Feature volunteers

Behind-The-Scenes Stories
Central Rappahannock Regional Library in
Fredericksburg, Virginia
“Libraries Will Survive” on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QjjKrEK
7Y

@JuliaCSocial www.jcsocialmarketing.com
The rise of the
#shelfie
http://www.daily
mail.co.uk/femai
l/article-
2614974/The-
selfie-
intellectuals-
Rise-shelfie-
geek-chic-social-
media-trend-
book-
collection.html
23

4) User-Generated Stories
Geek The Library: www.geekthelibrary.org
“Yes, librarians geek, too. See what they are
passionate about and why they think the public
library is a vital community resource. Are you
a librarian? Tell us what you geek.”

User-Generated Stories
Libraries for Real Life:
http://www.librariesforreallife.org/stories/

User-Generated Stories
https://www.pinterest.com/
nypl/ireadeverywhere/

5) Impact Stories
 Showcase the
difference you are
making
 Showcase the impact
on the community
 Doesn’t have to be
sugary sweet

Impact Stories
"I am a mother of 3 who is trying to finish my
bachelors degree. I love the quiet glass
enclosed room. I come here regularly to study,
and because of this solitude I have been able to
accomplish much more of my classes than I
had been able to do at home. Thank you for
providing a quiet, non-distracting place for me
to study!!"
http://www.librarypoint.org/patrons_love_st
ories

Impact Stories
 Always show donors where
their money is going.
 Make them smile when
they see the results their
gift helped achieve.
 https://www.fb.com/
BostonChildrensHospital

Where To Find Stories?
 Everywhere!
 Everyone is responsible!
 Requires a big change of
culture.
 No silos!
 Get on the front lines.
 Talk with people.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/
whyineedmylibrary
30

Everyone Has A Story
Everyone has a
story – it
might not be
one that you
can use, but it
might lead
you to an idea
or person who
can help.

How To Get Good Stories
 Look over all of those thank you notes!
 Ask users– include a “share your story” page on
your website, conduct surveys, ask at live events.
 Be enthusiastic.
 Choose your language:
Memories, experience, tips,
advice, thoughts.

How To Get Good Stories
 Explain the purpose.
 Keep the stories varied.
Talk about kids, adults,
teens, community, schools,
sponsors, donors.

Story-Generating Questions
When did our library:
 Help you through a difficult situation?
 Make you laugh?
 Make you think?
 Teach you something important?
 Contribute to your education, empowerment,
employment, etc.?
 How would life be different if the library didn’t
exist?

Stories from the Field
Delainey L. (Lincoln), 7th grade, Gere Library customer
One summer, boredom got me full throttle. I would basically
lay in my room, wishing I had something to do besides swim
just to stay cool. Then one day my mom asked if I would like
to go to the Library with her, and loved it so much! I had
been to the library before, but that day really got me into a
reading frenzy, which I've had ever since! I love going to the
Library, it has done a lot for me :)
favorite book: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowlings
currently reading: Indigo by Alice Hoffman
http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/info/Your_Library_Stories.htm

Have A System
 Collect stories & all story ideas. Keep these
confidential for now.
 Nothing is too small to collect.
 Save your stories & ideas in a virtual Story Bank.
 Use Dropbox or Google Drive.
 Form a Storytelling Committee.
 Start thinking like a reporter.
 Use your smart phone, tablet, GoPro, flip camera.

Mine The Gold
“Think of the story itself as gold. You mine the
gold, capture the story.
Then you bring it back to your office and you need to
pound that gold into different shapes and sizes
depending on whom you’re talking to, or also
where you’re telling it.” ~ Andy Goodman

You Need to Go Multichannel
Print, electronic, mobile and everything in between.
Be where your users are, not where you want them to
be.

Channels for Storytelling
 Website – HOME BASE
 Blogs
 Email newsletters
 Publications
 Social media
 Public speaking, community education
 User-generated –encourage your online
community to share their stories

Library Website
 Website is the HOME BASE for all
communications
 Have a place to collect stories on your website
 Share stories frequently, with photos
 What do you want your audience to do when
they hit your website?
 You have two seconds (if that).
 Capture visitors with an email sign-up form.

Library Blog
 Blogging is great to build an audience of loyal
readers and for search engines!
 Dive deeper into stories than you can on social
media.
 Have a purpose for each blog post.
 Can be 300 words and a video or great photo.
 FAQs, myths about libraries, what are the 10 things
you are always asked?

Library Email List
 Building your email list should be your first
priority – before social media!!!!!!
 Make it easy to sign up.
 Give people an incentive. Why would they sign up?
 Email regularly and make it valuable information.
 Showcase a story in each email.

Library Social Media
 Light, entertaining, valuable, humorous.
 Audience-focused.
 What do your members have in common?
 They love to read.
 They love paper books.
 They like to learn.
 They support their community.
 What else?

 Create and share posts around what your audience
likes – their interests and passions.
 100 libraries to follow on Facebook:
http://www.mattanderson.org/blog/2013/01/31/100
-libraries-to-follow-on-facebook/
 I Love Libraries on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ILoveLibraries (an
initiative of the American Library Association)

Virtual Tours
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
 https://gardnermuseum.culturalspot.org/exhi
bit/gAIyZKoNat4oLA?position=0%3A0
 They use the familiar story: In the early
morning hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of
thieves disguised as Boston police officers
entered the Gardner Museum and stole 13
works of art.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Foundation
Used direct mail, email,
social media
Missives and personal
videos from Josh, a 16-
year-old patient at the
hospital
Use humor, insider info,
his genuine voice and
personality

Library Snapshot Day
https://www.flickr.com/groups
/snapmass/
50

Conclusion
All government orgs
and nonprofits need
to start thinking
visually and in
“micro-content”,
mobile-first terms.
You can do this!

Think of using social
media for
storytelling as a
great opportunity to
show the world what
you do and why you
do it!
http://bookfessions.tumblr.com/
Conclusion

References
25 Years After Heist, Gardner Museum Asks Us To Focus
On The Art, Not The Empty Frames
http://artery.wbur.org/2015/03/18/gardner-museum-
heist-anniversary
7 infographics that promote reading:
http://ebookfriendly.com/infographics-promote-
reading/
Social Media for Libraries:
https://www.pinterest.com/pinallibraries/social-
media-for-libraries/

Resources
JCSocialMarketing.com
JohnHaydon.com
BethKanter.org
NPTechForGood.com
TheGoodmanCenter.com

Questions?
Twitter: @JuliaCSocial
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/
jcsocialmarketing
Email: julia@
jcsocialmarketing.com

Engaging Your Library Community Through Storytelling and Social Media

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