Bay Area Libraries Launch Marketing Campaign at Start of National Library
Week
Participants in Launch Contest are Eligible to Win Prizes, Including the
Chance to be Showcased in Future Advertising
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- At the start of National
Library Week, Bay Area libraries are launching an unprecedented marketing
campaign to reintroduce communities to their local libraries. Taking its
cue from "Got Milk?" and similar industry image-raising efforts, the Free2
Campaign is designed to raise awareness of the central role libraries play
in people's lives and how libraries are meeting increased demand for a new
host of services, from Internet access and video games to health care
information and dance classes.
The Free2 Campaign will be an 18-month effort involving interactive and
traditional advertising, sponsored initiatives, special events and
promotional activities at 165 library locations in San Francisco, San
Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. According to Luis
Herrera, City Librarian in San Francisco, the campaign will help dispel
clichés about libraries while promoting how such vital democratic
institutions keep adapting in the digital age.
"Thanks to libraries, we are free to do so much," he said. "We surf the
Web. We can compete with friends in video games. We discover new worlds. We
transport ourselves to other times and places through good books. We
research new business ideas. We learn English as a second language. We
attend lectures, panel discussions, author readings and more. We connect
with friends and family. The library is an amazingly empowering place to
connect, learn and play."
Implicit in the campaign's core concept, Free2, is a question for
library customers and supporters: What are you free to do -- or be --
thanks to your local library? The campaign is launching with the
Free2Contest, inviting audiences to describe, in 25 words or less, how they
are "Free2."
Ten grand prize winners will be chosen and announced in June, plus be
eligible to be featured in future campaign ads. Entries can be made online
at WeAreFree2.org through May 15, 2008.
Some notable names have already shared their ideas on how they are
Free2, including:
-- California Senator and Assistant President pro Tempore Leland Yee, who
represents San Francisco and San Mateo. Senator Yee considers libraries
a place where we are "free2make history."
-- David Talbot, founder of Salon.com and author of Brothers: The Hidden
History of the Kennedy Years. Because he was "free2wander" at Bay Area
libraries, Talbot pursued his "career as a journalist, researching and
writing articles and books - and even doing the deep-well information
drilling I needed to launch my own media business. Libraries are
writers' temples!"
-- Craig Newmark, the Web entrepreneur behind Craigslist.org, who
appreciates how libraries are "free2make things better for everyone."
"The Free2 contest and campaign is a chance for us to invite more
dialogue about how libraries can continue to grow, improve and help meet
our communities' most pressing challenges," said Herrera. "It's also a
chance for us to take our marketing to the next level in a way that allows
us to celebrate libraries and give back to our communities."
The marketing campaign is the first of its kind for a library system in
California, with thousands of ads, fliers, posters and stickers appearing
across the Bay Area, from Oakland and San Francisco to Pleasanton and
Livermore down to Saratoga.
The ongoing marketing campaign is spearheaded by the Bay Area Library
and Information System (BALIS), Silicon Valley Library System and Peninsula
Library System, representing 165 locations in the Bay Area. Upcoming
activities, events and special features will be highlighted on the
campaign's Web site: http://www.WeAreFree2.org.
Contact: Tamara Murray, 415-901-0111, tmurray@fenton.com
SOURCE Bay Area Library and Information System
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.WeAreFree2.org
CONTACT:
Tamara Murray, +1-415-901-0111,
tmurray@fenton.com, for Bay Area Library and Information System
|
