'LibraryAware' Promo-Material Creation Tool Launched at PLA

At last week's Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia, there was a lot of activity & news. For me, the biggest marketing-related thing was that NoveList (owned by EBSCO Publishing) launched a software tool called LibraryAware. It looks like a really simple, useful software package that will help librarians create materials quickly and efficiently while maintaining a consistent brand across everything. 

Nancy Dowd demonstrating
LibraryAware at EBSCO's
booth at PLA.

And I'm not just saying that because M Word founder Nancy Dowd happens to be the project lead for LibraryAware. Although I'm betting that her marketing expertise helped shape the product to be as good as it is. 

I was assigned to cover this launch for Information Today, Inc., and to write a NewsBreak on it. That was posted here yesterday, and it includes all the details. Here is a main part of the explanation of what the product will do: 

LibraryAware is a simple tool that takes public librarians step-by-step through the process of creating print and electronic materials. The first screen asks what target audience the item is for (children, teens, adults, seniors) and what type of item you want to create. There are many materials to choose from:

• Bookmarks
• Brochures
• Catalog inserts
• Email blasts
• ENewsletters
• Evaluation forms
• Fliers
• Invitations
• Letters to the editor
• Op-Ed pieces
• Social media content
• Sponsor requests
• Thank you letters

The next screen allows you to choose from a handful of professionally made templates; each has been designed to appeal to the audience you’ve chosen. For example, there are colorful photos of kids on the children’s materials, more business-like designs for others, etc. One major feature of them all is that they have the library’s customized “boilerplate” information embedded—the name, logo, contact info, etc.—all in the library’s official colors and fonts. The LibraryAware team will work with each customer to set up this section to ensure proper branding across all of an organization’s materials; then it can only be changed by the users who have administrative access to the software. Keeping fonts, colors, wording, and overall branding consistent is something that large systems constantly struggle with since so many people end up creating materials on their own, making this feature an especially attractive one.

Go to the Info Today site to read the full news article and to see if this product can help your staff create better promo materials. Comment here to let me & Nancy know what you think or to ask question about it.