Welcome to the world of symbols and logos. The image above is the internationally accepted symbol used to indicate “library.” It is a generic symbol, when, in 1982 the American Library Association sought to create and use the resulting symbol to “identify all types of libraries, hoping to increase public awareness of the institution of libraries.” The resulting symbol, however, is not the distinctive logo or brandmark of your library. Please don’t confuse the two.
If you want your library to be recognized for it’s own distinctive brand identity, developing your very own unique mark is the place to start. Leverage your own uniqueness; build your own brand relationship with the community, starting with your identity. It is your biggest asset for visual recognition. Otherwise, you’re just: (your name here) + “library.”
An interesting side story regarding this symbol: About a month into my tenure at the ACLD, I was talking about this symbol with a librarian. I mentioned that it incorporated the implied letter “L” into it by way of the reader’s arm. She had never realized this. I was quite shocked; it seemed so obvious.
I almost wanted to blow her mind by saying that if you worked hard enough at it, you could almost spell out the entire word “library” through implied lines and rotating the image. Go ahead, try it.
You can see examples of the National Library Symbol at the ALA Flickr website here:
www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/sets/72157624096423882
You can also read more about the National Library Symbol and even download it in different formats at the ALA website here:
www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet30.cfm
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