Library Newsletter Design: The Library Is Closer Than You Think

Cover of the summer issue of THINK....

The summer issue of the Alachua County Library District's newsletter and program guide,THINK... is due to arrive 1 July at each of its 12 branch locations as well as select non-library locations throughout Gainesville, Florida. 

With the district's 12 branches, online and handheld mobile device access, and the 24/7 Ask A Library service, the library has never been closer than ever before. The newsletter design reminds readers of this truly remarkable convenience by making use of a bulls eye target image, overlaid by a subtle compass directional pattern. This imparts the idea that "you know the library is there (physically), but it is also closer than that. It is, in fact, much closer than you think if you have a phone, a computer, and/or a mobile device in your purse or pocket. The library is there too."

The concept of library proximity, ease of access, or even one's association to it, is a loose extension of the recently launched employee advertising campaign "I AM The Library." http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2012/05/library-recruitment-campaign.html#links . It drives home the idea that you can't get any closer to the library if you are the library. And even if you aren't an employee, as long as the library is in the fore of the your thoughts, then the library is right on target for where it wants to be: a visible and relevant part of the community experience.

A work in progress: overwritten stories result in
a gray page with no visuals or breathing room.
I send writers a visual proof so they can admire
their work and see how "attractive" the page will
be if they don't want to cut their stories down.
They get the point, and we work together to find
solutions for a better balance.

For delivery to of copies to branch counter tops for patron reading by 1 July, planning and production of the newsletter takes over seven weeks. The earliest stages of planning requires librarians and event coordinators to enter all their calendar events for July, August, and September into our online calendar by the middle of May. This means that they've most likely been planning about six months in advance for their events! Naturally, some things get canceled or are added to the schedule more spontaneously, but those should be the exception to the general planning effort.


Article content and theme ideation takes place the second week of May, and assignments for articles occur then too. By the middle of the second week, I'm developing the "bones" of the layouts...updating layout master pages that contain standard information such as nameplate and masthead, page footer changes of seasonal dates, and volume issue numbers. I also begin to map out content locations to assess for article length and art requirements, then begin a search for potential images to define and support the visual theme. I'll also import raw text of calendar events, collate events that have multiple dated entries into single ones, begin styling text and importing filler art in as needed. 

The page after drastic cuts and a miniscule amount of
art inserted so that as much content as possible
could be retained to provide essential information.
See blog comments section for how we got there!

Hopefully, feature articles will trickle in during the second week as well. If so, I can import that text into place on page to see how things will fit together and what changes will be required. Often, the changes involve too much text for the allotted space. When this occurs, I send a visual proof to the editor to show how stories are affecting each other on page and where stories might need to be cut at. It may take a few rounds of back and forth in order to get everything to finally fit together.


During the third week, I send a proof of the calendar listing out to branches for review, make updates to it as feedback comes in, and after a deadline passes for that in the fourth week, I begin to place small spot art in to help text fill out each column neatly. I'll also continue to squeeze and massage feature articles into place with their respective art, if any. Once everything is in place on every page, an all-page proof is sent in the fifth week to all content editors involved for a final review prior to sending to the printer. Minor tweaks and corrections are usually made and confirmed at this point. All pages are sent to the printer early on the sixth week. I expect a two-day turn-around for a printer proof to be issued to me for approval. After they receive my thumbs-up, I can then expect printing to occur and delivery within five days of my approval. This places the process into the seventh week. After the printer shipment arrives, I then count out copies to distribute to each branch by the eighth week--usually only a day or two before the first of the month the issue covers. 

TV channel public service announcement ad (PSA).

Having printed issues out on the counter earlier than only one day before the first of the month is important. If an event is happening on 1 July and you don't place the newsletter out until the day before, then you won't be getting much of a benefit from having the even listed in the newsletter. This is why I push to get things into production early and stay on schedule throughout the process so that delivery can be made in a timely manner for the people who want to know what's going on at their library.

If you are not able to get a printed copy, .pdf versions of the summer newsletter THINK... are conveniently available online here:
www.aclib.us/files/2012_docs/THINKSummer2012.pdf