September is a season of fresh starts. Students are settling into new routines, football is back, and the first hints of fall are beginning to appear. For libraries, it also marks one of the most important annual celebrations: Library Card Signup Month.
This year, we looked beyond the usual promotional resources and explored new ways libraries can encourage card registrations and community engagement. Whether you’re planning activities for Library Card Signup Month or looking for ideas that can work year-round, these three strategies can help attract new cardholders and connect more people with everything your library has to offer.
1. Discounts at local businesses for library card holders
A library card opens the door to books, digital resources, programs, and services. Why not extend those benefits into the community?
Partnering with local businesses to offer discounts or special offers for library card holders creates an additional incentive for residents to sign up while rewarding existing patrons. These partnerships also give local businesses positive exposure and reinforce the library’s role as a community hub.
Coffee shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, tutoring services, and fitness providers can all be strong partners. Hamilton East Public Library in Noblesville, Indiana won an award for their program, and their partners include a Tae Kwon Do studio and a math tutoring service! Their success demonstrates that effective partnerships do not need to be limited to traditional retail businesses.
The key is to focus on partners that align with your community’s interests while creating benefits that are easy for patrons to understand and redeem.
Hamilton East Public Library on Instagram
2. Host a library card signup drive at a community event.
Community events provide a ready-made audience of residents who may not visit the library regularly. Farmers markets, county fairs, festivals, and neighborhood celebrations can all become opportunities to introduce new people to library services and register them for a card on the spot.
Show off what your library has to offer and bring sign-up forms or a tablet or computer to sign new patrons up right then and there!
Libraries like the San Bernardino County Library host their own farmers market every week.
Weber County Library in Utah is offering a special design for patrons that register and renew at their county library this year! Visit the Weber County Fair today!… – Weber County Library | Facebook
3. Hold a library card design contest.
Contests are a great way to bring a fresh design to your library cards beyond just your library logo. A custom library card design contest turns patrons into participants. Rather than simply promoting library cards, you’re inviting the community to help create them. Contest winners can be recognized across different age groups or with different theme categories.
A design contest will connect with local students, artists, and just the average patron that is interested submitting a design. Choose your winning designs by popular vote or by a committee and keep it local! Lots of libraries have held these contests, and it’s a great way to connect with your patron base. Promote the contest across your branches, on your social, and leverage your earned media opportunities with local newspapers, tv, or radio stations.
Here are some examples of successful library card design contests:
Library Card Design Contest | Dayton Metro Library
Commemorative Library Card Design Contest | Washington-Centerville Public Library
Boston Public Library Card Design Contest | Boston Public Library
What is your library doing for Library Card Signup Month?
Reach out to us and let us know!
