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Teen Library Website Inspiration
The Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Virginia)
This teen page for a regional library uses lots of bright colors and incorporates a variety of content without being too cluttered. Some of my favorite features:
- Integration of social media with colorful buttons and a large Facebook embed
- Easy access in the sidebar to general library resources and teen resources
- Persistent catalog and site search at the top
- Prominently displays recommended books with both cover images and summaries
Teton County Library (Wyoming)
The Teton County Library keeps things simple design-wise, but makes it really easy to find its essential information. What stands out for me:
- Use of Google calendar to display events is much more user-friendly than other library event calendars I’ve seen
- Featuring teen contest winners along with the winning entries
- Quick access to catalog, chat, and information about the teen board
- Big, colorful photos from the library’s Flickr feed
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The main teen page for the Carnegie Library keeps things colorful with artwork from a local artist and a customizable color scheme. Other features I like:
- Easy-to-read, prominent events listing
- Featured teen reviews with cover images
- The blog is amazing! It’s frequently updated with booklists, things to do in Pittsburgh, fun links, etc.
TATAL Online: Teens at the Arlington Library (Virginia)
The Arlington Public Library’s teen blog is another great example of a library blog. What work for this site:
- Integrated Facebook page information and Twitter feed
- Lots of pictures in the posts and in the sidebars
- Great links to related sites
- Frequently updated with a nice mix of book information and other fun stuff
See more library teen pages (a work in progress!). What are some of your favorite library websites?
November 15th, 2010 ♥ Libraries, Library Spotlight, Marketing ♥ 2 Comments »
Marketing: Info Fliers with New Library Cards?
So this may be a ‘duh’ idea, but I wonder how many libraries give demographic-targeted information to new library users? This struck me at my internship today when I saw a teen signing up for a library card. Employees processing the application have a unique opportunity with a captive audience to give teens information about recurring and upcoming library programs. This is usually the single moment when a library user must interact with library staff, since so many things are automated these days. Staff can relay information verbally or provide the teen with an informational flier. I could even see having a separate sign-up sheet or form for a teen e-mail list. To make this an effective marketing strategy, youth librarians need to get buy-in from colleagues, communicate relevant, current information with other library staff, and provide up-to-date fliers to service desks.
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