Posts by: Kevin Kernen

Thousands of libraries have already discovered why MessageBee is the ultimate patron communication tool. MessageBee is a service that converts your ILS-generated notifications to colorful emails, easy-to-read SMS messages, or simple phone notifications. On top of ILS transactional notifications, you can also send newsletters or any other kind of mass communication to your patrons, all … Continue reading “3 reasons MessageBee is perfect for consortiums”

Most public-facing organizations (including libraries) believe they are providing truly great service. However, people as well and companies notoriously overestimate our competence and as a result really don’t know how their customers feel about their brand. That is where NPS comes in. Let’s take a look at measuring customer satisfaction using NPS. We are going … Continue reading “What is NPS, how does it work, and can libraries benefit? World-class patron service with UniqueChat”

The Chicago-area SWAN library consortium has implemented MessageBee for their patrons for 2023. The 100-location collection of libraries will now be able to send automatic notifications to their patrons. MessageBee comes with both transactional (hold, predue, overdue, etc) notices as well as newsletter and list funtionality. SWAN Libraries is implementing SMS text messaging with MessageBee, … Continue reading “100-location Library Consortium adds MessageBee”

Unique gave Arlington Public Library a tool that they didn’t have: Data. About Arlington Public Library The Arlington Public Library serves the northern Virginia county of nearly 250,000 people. Arlington uses Koha for their ILS. The library’s extensive Virginiana Collection holds things like maps from the 17th century and microfilm newspapers from as early as … Continue reading ““We are so much happier with MessageBee!” How Unique unlocked data for this Virginia library”

A step in the right direction When Regina Public Library started Unique’s MessageBee service in July 2021, they made a positive change for their patrons. Gone were the old ILS email notifications that were hard to read and not helpful. Unique replaced the drab messages with eye-popping messages that made people want to read its … Continue reading “How MessageBee can double the click rate for your emails”

Unique Library has awarded the second annual Defender of the Collection Award to eight libraries across the United States. The nationwide award recognizes libraries for outstanding commitment to their patrons and library materials. Together, the eight winners from across the U.S. recovered a combined $2.6 million in overdue materials and brought more than 19,000 patrons … Continue reading “Unique Management Announces Second Annual Award Winners”

When the Martha Cooper Library made the decision to expand their library starting in November 2022, they needed to let their patron base know. Good… One option was to send a mass email to all patrons of the Pima County Public Library System in the Tucson, Arizona area. However, since the service area covers about … Continue reading “Transactional notifications with MessageBee: smart and effective”

“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” – Theophrastus If you could get several hours back per day, what would you do with the time you saved? With Unique Library, it’s not just a thought exercise. It is something to plan for. With staffing as tight as ever nowadays, it’s vital that … Continue reading “6 Things library staff can do with new free time”

You’ll never guess what membership gets you at these libraries September is library card signup month, so to celebrate we asked a question: What is the least expected thing you get with a library card? Everybody would expect libraries to offer books, movies, and maybe some computers or other electronics available to borrow. We found … Continue reading “Library Card Benefits Article”