2010 Winners of the IFLA International Marketing Awards

 At the IFLA ceremony, L-R: Dr. K. Mohan (winner), Raymond Berard (chair of the M&M committee), and Dinesh Gupta (chair of the award jury)

IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, presented its International Marketing Awards at its annual conference this past August in Gothenburg, Sweden. Dr. Christie Koontz, who's a member of IFLA's Marketing and Management section (which organizes the award), wrote a complete article that will appear in the Nov/Dec issue of Marketing Library Services newsletter. On this blog I'll share the most basic news; see the newsletter for complete details and info on other interesting entries.  

This year’s first-place winner was the Learning Resource Center (LRC) at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The LRC created a product line of information alerts called “Global InfoWatch.” Faculty and students receive factoids regarding industry trends and strategic articles on business and management. Koontz pointed out, "The LRC’s award-winning and value-added product line makes the library and its trained professionals appear more important in these 'We have the internet, so why do we need the library?' times."

Second place was awarded to the Gail Borden Public Library District in Elgin, Ill., in the U.S., for its project “StoryTubes: Kids Go Live With Books.” StoryTubes started in 2007 when local children filmed themselves talking about their favorite books and uploaded the videos to YouTube. People watched them at www.storytubes.info and voted for their favorites. In the past two years, the contest has grown to more than 400 entrants. This project is a good use of social media and also a unique example of “kid-to-kid” marketing!

Third place was given to the University of Bergen Library in Norway for the campaign called “The Magic of the Library—A Fun Presentation of The University of Bergen Library.” In 3:23 minutes, this video provides an interesting, funny overview of the library’s resources and departments, narrated by a memorable man. (This version has been dubbed in English.) It’s intended to motivate students and to re-ignite their interest in their library, and it really speaks in a way that relates to this target audience.  

For this 8th IFLA International Marketing Award, there were 26 applicants from 13 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Korea, Lithuania, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and the U.S. Thanks to award sponsor Emerald Group Publishing, the first-place winner received airfare, lodging, and registration costs to attend the 76th IFLA, as well as a cash award of $1,000 (U.S.) to further the marketing efforts of the library.

Any library, agency, or association in the world that promotes library service was eligible to receive the award. It honors organizations that implement creative, results-oriented marketing projects or campaigns. 

In August 2011, IFLA will hold its 77th General Conference and Assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the 9th International Marketing Award will be bestowed! The deadline to enter is Nov. 30, 2010.  You can find details and an application here.