The Allen County Public Library (ACPL) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the 2024 Sara Laughlin Marketing Award by the Indiana Library Federation (ILF) in recognition of its communication strategy for the 2023 rollout of the Library’s System Upgrade.
The Sara Laughlin Marketing Award honors and recognizes a library for its successful, creative, and contemporary marketing efforts and is presented to an institution that met the criteria for excellence in creative use of current marketing approaches and calling attention to the indispensable role of the library in the community.
Nominees must provide documentation of planning and program materials, data, evaluation, letters of support, and in-house publications that give concrete examples of how data was used to make decisions, how creative efforts were employed, and how the project resulted in positive outcomes for patrons.
The System Upgrade’s intricate technology and accelerated timeline required cross-departmental collaboration and focused communications. The award recognized not only the external communications that supported patrons, but also the internal communications that ensured employees were informed and trained as the project was rolled out.
“Our librarian colleagues worked tirelessly on the system upgrade to give Allen County the best library experience possible and, as the communications team, it was our job to make sure everyone was aware of the changes to come,” said ACPL Director of Communications Aja Michael-Keller. “The project was vast and affected all aspects of patron services. Our team is proud of the rollout overall and it is so rewarding to be recognized for our part in its success through strategic marketing efforts.”
Michael-Keller, along with ACPL staff members Nate Burnard (Systems Services Manager), Jeff Garver (Digital Communications Specialist), and Chris Ford (Marketing Manager), accepted the award on November 19 at the ILF’s annual conference in Indianapolis. They were presented with a crystal trophy and a $1000 monetary award which will be placed in gift funds to support library or staff initiatives.
