public library marketing

Brilliant Creative on a Tiny Budget: 5 Examples from an Unlikely Source

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * Has the pandemic made us more creative? I’ve been wondering this lately… Have the uncertainty and randomness of the past 18 months made us more resilient—determined to get through the insanity, to roll with the punches? And does newfound resiliency make us more comfortable taking a risk here and there? And doesn’t creativity require an element of risk? (^^ actual transcript from 3 AM Brain, lying supine and actively ignoring Right Shoulder, who since rotator cuff surgery acts like a real jerk at night—keeping everyone awake) * * * I checked to see what the Google Gods might say on it. From Dr. Michael Bloomfield, a creativity expert and researcher: If you look upon uncertainty as an opportunity for […]

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The Story of This Guy Who Grew Up in a Library Made Me Realize I Did, Too (Kind Of)

Ronald Clark’s father worked as a custodian of a New York Public Library branch in an era when library caretakers and their families lived on site. A few of these apartments are still around, although now there are no people living in them. Ronald’s dad kept the NYPL Washington Heights branch clean and tended the coal furnace. The 24/7 access to books in a pre-Kindle age changed Ronald’s life: He grew up to become not only the first person in his family to graduate from high school but also a college professor. As part of its celebration of how libraries change lives, StoryCorps a few weeks ago produced Ronald’s story as a three-minute film. There’s so much I love about this sweet little film: (1) The message of the life-altering power of libraries; (2) the animation that brings Ronald’s gravelly narration to life; and (3) the choice to use video

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