Public Relations Program Plan for Drexel University Library



Public Relations Program Plan for Drexel University Library

As compiled by Betsey Cichoracki of the Attentive Marketing Firm

As education innovators who see the needs of their students first, Drexel University has invested in all of our futures by building a state-of-the-art library that will encourage and inspire students to excel in their course-work, preparing them for the working world as some of the finest engineers, doctors, business-persons, and so on, that that the world has seen. What follows is a plan to make the public aware of this brand campus addition and all of the potential it has to offer.

Situation:

The general public tends to see libraries as these somewhat dull encyclopedia warehouses and what Drexel has built on their campus is far from that. Our aim is to have people understand what is beyond the glassy exterior before even entering the building so that they are instantly comfortable with its need and purpose. Some citizens may be intimidated by all the “bells and whistles” but we’re here to calm such claims and make this new library as welcoming as it is futuristic.

Objectives:

We want students and the general public alike to see the new building as place where minds go to engage – observe – absorb. This should be seen as a place where anything can be found, from a far off country, to a new favorite author, to that tiny piece of the puzzle that solves one of the world’s toughest math equations. We fully want to highlight that rush that comes from intellectual discovery. By doing so, we’ll place a spark in people’s mind encouraging them to visit the library and we’ll keep them coming back for more discovery through special, on-going events and promotions.

Audience:

Our goal is to reach all faculty and students at Drexel University, prospective students and parents, and neighboring college campuses. We also want the surrounding community to feel comfortable using our services as well. This includes residents, particularly older, retired persons, nearby businesses, and local precinct law enforcement. We are also going to invite our friends in the media to visit and publicize the library’s opening as well as its on-going events.

Strategy:

Using the outlined methods we will create awareness of the library’s grand opening, establishing a need for and general excitement about the building. We will establish in the public’s mind that this is not just another library but a place of cultural significance not unlike the city’s many highly regarded museums. This will be followed up by keeping the excitement level high about what the library has to offer, resulting in increased return visits and word-of-mouth publicity. We will also provide many ways for the news media to cover the library and the university’s continuing expansion.

Tactics:

( Through a series of press releases, we will alert the news media of the grand opening event that will feature J.K. Rowling, famous author of the Harry Potter series, as the guest of honor at the ceremony. J.K. Rowling and the university president will be available for interviews the day of the event for both local and national publications. Both will also be speaking during the ceremony about the importance of reading, continued education, and where technology fits hand-in-hand with both.

( We will also press release the building’s features, highlighting the beautiful glass and steel structure as designed by BK Skinner and Associates. Shortly after the grand opening, there will be a promoted event that will include a guided tour of the entire building for the press and community leaders with the architect. Abbreviated walk-through tours will be available to the public every other Wednesday during “open houses” where the public and prospective students and parents can come in to ask questions and learn more about the university and its wonderful new library.

( Another of the library’s features is the over 125 works of commissioned artwork. We will look to art magazines to cover some of the budding artists featured and host an opening reception just for the gallery. The art reception will be partnered with the Drexel University Art Department, having art students on hand to talk about the collection.

( We want students to think of the new library as a superior alternative to the chain bookstore. The cost is already included with each student’s tuition and through on-going promotions, they’ll find out how to make the absolute most of it. During student orientation in the fall, students will get a tour of the new library along with the first library newsletter announcing some of the upcoming promotions with ways for them to sign up for the events. Existing students will have the newsletters mailed to them prior to the school’s start and library’s grand opening event.

( One of the on-going promotions is going to be a monthly book club where students can sign-up and gather to discuss classic books as well as brand-new “best-sellers” that the library has to offer. There will also be monthly movie screening in one of the library’s sound-proof conference rooms where students can view and discuss just one of the great movies the library has available to rent. These movies will range from social documentaries to studied Hollywood classics.

( Also to keep in-line with what a traditional bookstore has to offer, the new library’s website will have a “recommended if you like” and “librarian favorites” highlighted along with the book’s location in the library. There will also be a forum where students can discuss freely some of their latest reads and finds in the library. Through the website, there will also be a monthly scavenger hunt where every week a clue it given as to where a small token is hidden in the library. Whoever finds the token first will win $20 Campus Dining Dollars. The integrated use of the library’s website will keep the students connected to the main building supplying them with reasons to return and ways to utilize the university’s electronic resources.

( Through the website we’d also have links to where students can join the university library’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. Through these social networks, there will be updates on when new releases arrive, video of interviews and lectures taped at the library, general University news, classic facts about authors, and more.

( We have partnered with a local furniture manufacturer who has agreed to supply a rotating set of furniture for the front lounge area. This will act as a show room for the furniture company and keep things new and fresh for the students and visiting community members.

( We would also like to work with the science department to have demonstrations in one of the conference rooms for students in the college of science. These demonstrations would engage students to learn from their peers and be witness to what amazing scientific discoveries are being made at their school. This will work towards school pride and is an over-all fun, hands-on event.

( Also to focus on school pride, there will be a section in the library devoted to published Drexel University alum and faculty. To coincide with this feature, members of the faculty would host once-a-semester, one-day, writing seminars at the library. We’d also like the art department to get involved by hosting an open-to-the-public, once-a-year, workshop on “The Art of Book Illustration.”

( The library would also be host to competitions for charity. A chess or sudoku tournament, for example, would be a quiet activity that would not disrupt those who are using the library for studying but would also draw-in those who like to watch and participate in tournaments. Students would pay a small entrance fee and the tournament winner would get to choose from a list of local charities to donate their winnings to. These competitions would appeal to the university’s social clubs who are looking for new ways to raise money for charity and encourage teamwork.

( We’d also like to highlight a “career in focus” section of the library that will offer books and resources to develop resumes and portfolios. There will also a computer station located here where students can view job interview tutorials and access the latest in job and co-op opportunities offered to Drexel students.

( For the community, the library would be host to lectures and public meetings about community issues. Monthly topics would include recycling and sustainability, voter registration and understanding local government, community safety and events, and more.

( During National Library Week, we will partner with the Free Library of Philadelphia with a book trade, offering titles not available in the University library with those in the Free Library catalog and vice versa. The goal of this is promote life-long library use and awareness.

Calendar:

| |July |August |September |October |November |December |

| | | | | | | |

|Press Releases |  |  |  |  |  | |

|Grand Open build up |  |  | | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Student Orientation | |  |  | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Community Reach-Out | | |  |  | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Lectures | | |  |  |  |  |

|Editorial Opportunities |  |  |  |  |  | |

|Guided Tour / Art Gallery |  |  | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Website Development |  |  |  | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Competitions | | |  |  |  |  |

Student Evaluation | | | | |  |  | |

Evaluation:

To measure the success of our program we’ll look at the quantitative numbers of the amount of press releases sent matched to the number of news stories published as a result. We’ll gauge the amount of foot traffic through the library at first from it’s grand opening, with that number being set as a monthly goal number. We understand that when the library first opens, there will be the most excitement about the new building and opening ceremony resulting in the most foot-traffic. We’d like to take that opening month number and see how much it tapers off or increases around each monthly promotion. We’ll print off thousands of library newsletters to disseminate around campus to faculty and staff, seeing how long it takes for a person to receive the newsletter and access the website or one of the social pages to sign up for more information on events. The website will give us additional information on what promotions are being clicked-on the most and have the interest of the pubic. At the end of the first term, there will be a campus wide electronic evaluation sent to student and staff school email accounts asking them how frequently they used the library, for what need, was it school or social, what their favorite feature of the library is, if they have talked about the library with a friend or family member, and their past library use. This evaluation will allow us to see how the student or staff member feels about the building and how it has changed their library habits. For the community, at the end of any of the promoted public events, there will be drop cards available where they will be asked how comfortable they felt with using the library and if they saw any of the featured news stories about the building in the past six months. This will gauge public opinion of the library as well as the reach of any press articles. Aside from these two forms of feedback, the library’s new website will have a section where students and the general public can take a poll of the library, its services, and how it works along with the Drexel University mission statement.

Through our combined efforts we will reach and impact the student body and surrounding community with the idea that this state-of-the-art library is a near embodiment of that stated mission. It here where they will find the most comprehensive intergraded academic offering enhanced by technology and collaborative learning in a modern, urban setting that’s as welcoming to its national and international students as it is to any community member.

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