Library Marketing Design: SIX Winning Library Marketing Designs at the 2015 American Library Association / LLAMA PR Xchange Awards Competition

25 June 2015

SIX Winning Library Marketing Designs at the 2015 American Library Association / LLAMA PR Xchange Awards Competition

I was pleased to receive news that SIX of my marketing design projects for the Alachua County Library District won national PR Xchange Awards at the 2015 American Library Association annual conference held in San Francisco, June 25-30. Announcement of these awards brought my receipt of national PR Xchange awards from the ALA to a total of nine awards in three years. From what I gather, it is also the very first time any library has ever received six—the most ever—PR Xchange awards in a single year.

The annual PR Xchange Awards recognizes the very best public relations materials produced by libraries in the past year. Entries are evaluated based on content, originality, and design by a team of experts in public relations, graphic design, communications, and marketing who select winner(s) in each category. The PR Xchange Awards are sponsored by the Library Leadership Administration and Management Association's Public Relations and Marketing Section of the American Library Association and are overseen by the PR Xchange Committee. More information about the PR Xchange can be read here: http://www.ala.org/llama/awards/prxchange_bestofshow .

In May, a panel of 7 judges oversaw selection of print entries and 5 other judges oversaw selection of digital media entries. In all, 374 entries were submitted from libraries across the country, of which 120 were digital media projects.

Although I wasn't in attendance at the conference, a slide show of winning entries was presented to attendees, as were certificates of recognition to winning entrants during the PR Xchange event sessions Sunday, June 28, from 11:00am-1:30pm. The PR Xchange sessions also enabled libraries to both display and share samples of winning and other marketing projects with conference attendees.

Designed communications don't happen in a vacuum all by themselves. They require the input and collaboration of others who provide both the content of projects as well as their potential aesthetic preferences as a framework from within which the designer must seek solutions in order to fulfill the requirements of the project. So for those who were involved with each of these recognized projects, I share these kudos with you too.

2015 PR Xchange Awards I received were for the following projects
(each were in the $15,000,000+ annual library budget category):

1): THINK... Spring 2014 Online Newsletter & Program Guide, Calendars of Events / Newsletters category. ( you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/04/integrated-marketing-designs-for-kids.html )

2): Kids Summer Reading Game Brochure, Reading Programs: Children and Family category. ( you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/04/integrated-marketing-designs-for-kids.html )

3): Teen Summer Reading Bookmark, Reading Programs: Teen and Young Adult category.
( you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/04/integrated-marketing-designs-for-kids.html )

4): Adult Summer Reading Brochure, Reading Programs: Adult category.
( you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/04/integrated-marketing-designs-for-kids.html )

5): Volunteer Luncheon Event Program Booklet, Special Programs, Exhibits and Events category. ( you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/05/design-collaterals-for-2014-library.html )

6): Youth Services Directional and Collection Signage System Redesign, Services and Resources Available / Patron Orientation Materials / Policy Materials category.
(you can read my blog post about it here: http://librarygraphicdesign.blogspot.com/2014/04/new-signage-design-for-library.html )

Images of winning entries from the 2015 PR Xchange Awards are posted online at:
www.flickr.com/photos/prxchange-awards/21066240645/in/album-72157652883684574/
and at:
www.slideshare.net/markaaronpolger/2015-pr-xchange-award-winners

You can also view images of winning entries from the 2014 awards at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97060948@N06/ (of which I had two winning entries) and winning entries from the 2013 awards, located at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/97060948@N06/sets/ (of which I had one winning entry).