Learn how to reach and engage with your community more effectively to build the programs and services they need.  

Course Description 

Unite your marketing and outreach functions to better identify your patrons’ needs, develop programs and services that fill those needs, and create communications strategies that ensure your community is aware of your offerings.

In this half-day, online course, you’ll learn how to assess who you’re not reaching with communications and services, and establish a strategy to connect with them through traditional and alternative channels, including innovative outreach and mobile programs, partnerships, PR, and more. You will learn to develop effective feedback mechanisms with clear metrics to ensure your library’s outreach and engagement efforts are data-driven. For libraries with limited budgets and staff, we’ll brainstorm low-cost, creative ways to boost engagement with limited resources. 
 

The live sessions run on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 from 12:00 to 4:00 pm ET (recorded for on demand viewing). Don’t miss this opportunity!

Who should take this course?

This course is geared toward librarians with new or emerging marketing and outreach skills and will be most relevant for librarians who are involved in community programming, engagement, outreach, marketing, and communications.

Course Features 

This will be a half-day online course and will include:

• Live sessions: Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field. (All sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.) 

• Facilitated discussions: Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

• Early access on-demand resources: Access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace. 

• Online Classroom: The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends. 

Expected time commitment

If you attend or watch the recordings of all live sessions, you'll spend approximately 4 hours on this course. You'll earn 4 hours of PD credit and a Library Journal certificate of completion. 

On-demand access

All live guest speaker sessions are recorded and available on-demand for six months following the initial broadcast as a part of your purchase.

Certificate of completion 

Complete the course and earn 4 professional development credit hours. We provide a certificate that is emailed to you. 

Accessibility

All guest speaker sessions feature live captioning and are made available on demand after the initial broadcast. Please email libraryjournal@edmaker.co upon registration if you require any special accommodations and we will make our best efforts to facilitate them.

Support

For support with online courses, please contact libraryjournal@edmaker.co.

Group Rates

We offer discounts for groups of 3 or more. 

For larger groups of 15 or more, we offer the option to apply group rates across multiple courses to receive significant discounts. For more information, select “Bulk Course Credits Packages” in the form below. 

Request a group discount!

By registering for this event you confirm that you have read and agree to our Code of Conduct.

Half-Day Online Course | Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Session 1 | 12:00-12:45 pm ET

Marketing and Outreach: Creating Engagement & Awareness

Learn the fundamentals of marketing and public relations, and how they intersect with outreach in a library context. You will learn best practices that you can implement at your library in order to reach more customers and increase your library's presence in the community you serve.

Session 2 | 12:45-1:30 pm ET

Uniting Marketing and Outreach: Internal Communications and Buy-In

What are the differences between marketing and outreach, and what are the ways both efforts can coincide to enhance your library’s community impact and engagement? This session will answer those questions and provide tools to establish clear internal communication and alignment between all involved staff. Learn strategies to streamline efforts by increasing staff and colleague buy-in and creating a culture of collaboration.

Break | 1:30-1:40 pm ET

Session 3 | 1:40-2:25 pm ET

Start with Research: Using Data to Enhance Marketing and Outreach

Take the temperature of your community and figure out what matters to them by gathering and analyzing useful data. Learn how to make better use of the data you already have access to as well as opportunities to gather new data and make connections with non-library users. This session will help you identify metrics that can help you shape marketing and outreach plans, and then demonstrate how to use that data to enhance your outreach, programs, and partnerships.

Session 4 | 2:25-3:10 pm ET

The Power of Storytelling and Empathy-Centered Communication 

Storytelling and empathetic communication are powerful, often underestimated tools in marketing and outreach. Centering empathy for your patron’s needs and experiences in your communication strategies will enhance the efficacy of your reach and will help you better understand who you’re serving. Applying storytelling best practices alongside empathy-centered communication will ensure you’re drawing in your audience meaningfully and sustaining their engagement. You’ll leave this session with clear communication strategies that simultaneously support your community and your services.

Break | 3:10-3:20 pm ET

Session 5 | 3:20-4:00 pm ET

Centering Community: How to Move from Outreach to Engagement

Outreach is a great starting point to help raise community awareness about your programs and services. However, increasing community involvement, impact, and trust requires steps beyond outreach. This session will teach you how to engage in community-centered outreach and how to continue your journey into consultation, collaboration, and shared leadership within your community.

Online Course Preview

A preview of how we build your library skills and bring inspiration to your projects with our online learning experience.

Course Features

Live session with Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace	Live Guest Speakers Sessions Guest speaker presentations by leaders in their field.  Audience participation in Q&A and discussion with guest speakers.

Recordings of guest speakers

Recordings Available On Demand Sessions are recorded for on demand access for six months after the course ends.

Asynchronous workshop

Online Classroom + Asynchronous Workshop The virtual learning platform that holds all course content and is accessible for six months after the course ends.  Live session recordings. Peer conversation via discussion forums.

Early Access On-Demand Resources

Early Access On-Demand Resources Bonus: Register early and get access to a series of past live session archives from Library Journal and School Library Journal courses to explore at your own pace.  Some courses include supporting resources in the online classroom.