The assumption that
‘library’ necessarily
means ‘analogue’ is
long outdated
net. To disenfranchised citizens, libraries are still a vital
conduit to many of the web-based services needed to
conduct modern life, such as setting up a bank account,
searching for a job, applying for housing or just feeling
part of the conversation.
The lesson for any business reticent to invest
in a digital offer for fear of damaging its bricks-and-
mortar presence is that the relationship between the
two can be symbiotic – as long as everything you
do, irrespective of channel, shares a clear mission
statement. ‘Driving traffic to our locations wasn’t the
primary goal,’ says Richert Schnorr, the NYPL’s director
of digital media. ‘We were more interested in inspiring
people to read more, though we have seen an increase
in visitors to our main branch on 42nd street.’ Schnorr
hopes projects like this one will bring the joy of books
and libraries to new audiences, while demonstrat-
ing how they continue to be a vital force in so many
people’s lives.
Combining entertainment, education and com-
munity under one roof, the library could even be seen
as the original embodiment of many of today’s most
popular online platforms, a point recently outlined by
the Milwaukee Public Library in another youth-focused
campaign. Again appealing to younger readers’ love ofinternet culture (as well as of appropriative memes), MPL
reconstituted the term in the style of the logos of various
net unicorns: ‘library’ in Amazon’s chubby semi-serif with
smiling arrow, ‘library’ in Netflix’s too-tall red capitals,
‘library’ in LinkedIn’s blue-boxed glyphs. The message
landed: new card registration went up 53 per cent as a
result and e-book checkouts by half.
You often ‘see this tension between books versus
digital’, Brian Ganther, co-executive creative director
at BVK, the agency behind the work, told Adweek. ‘The
world isn’t that way anymore. A library is simply about
access to knowledge and the most modern access to
knowledge today is through these digital platforms.’ ●
motherusa.com
nypl.orgIn its campaign for the Milwaukee Public Library,
MPL reconstituted the term ‘library’ in the style
of big internet-brand logos, thus eliciting younger
readers’ love of online culture.Co
ur
te
sy
o
f^ M
PL
an
d^
M
ilw
au
ke
e^
Pu
bli
c^ L
ibr
ar
y
FRAME LAB 151