| Give to Libraries | ** RESOURCE GUIDE FOR LIBRARIES **
There are many uncertainties as libraries begin reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, including whether additional waves of the virus may force organizations to close their doors again in the future. The importance of marketing your online resources will continue to grow.
If you have a story of how your library is serving your community, please share on social media using #GeorgiaLibraries and #LibrariesStrong.
Here are key messages to use as a frame for your marketing to funders, patrons, potential patrons, and the broader community:
- Libraries in Georgia provide many free online resources to empower their communities, support job seekers and provide educational opportunities for all ages. Just sign in from your desktop, laptop or mobile device.
- Georgia’s public libraries bridge the digital divide, providing crucial high-speed internet and WiFi access.
- Libraries provide online resources and programs that support lifelong learning, K-12 education, distance learning, workforce skills, and much more.
- Libraries build the local economy by supporting small businesses, job seekers, and workforce development.
- Libraries are a trusted and safe place for communities to connect.
For every marketing campaign that you do and especially right now, you need to be reaching your audience where they are with what they need. You can’t expect them to come to you. This means that you should share why your library is important and how people can participate in different ways: through email (to patrons, funders, your board, local leaders), on your website, on social media, through community partners, with local media, and more. You should share these messages repeatedly, in various ways and through various channels.
Basically, this means you need to share why your library is important and how people can participate in different ways: through email (to patrons, funders, your board, local leaders), on your website, on social media, through community partners, with local media, and more. You need your message to be where the people who need your resources get their information and where the people who fund you get their information.
You need to share these messages repeatedly, in various ways and through various channels.
How to use this toolkit
Each bullet below is a sentence or phrase you can copy and use for social media, website, email, and other types of marketing. You can use them “as-is” or combine them with messages you are already using.
Also, follow the linked resources for additional resources if needed.
Remember, if you have a story of how your library is serving your community, please share on social media using #GeorgiaLibraries and #LibrariesStrong.
GALILEO resources
Many patrons don’t necessarily know what GALILEO is; help them understand the many benefits by highlighting some of the key programs within it, focusing on how GALILEO resources can benefit them.
- Looking for college prep tests? Your local library can help. Check out Learning Express on @galileolibrary with your GA public library card for easy, online, and free resources. #georgialibraries https://www.galileo.usg.edu
- Learning Express through @galileolibrary has online math and reading skills improvement tests for grades 4 to college. From numbers and operations to Quantitative Comparison and Word Problems, Learning Express Library has your kids covered. Go to https://www.galileo.usg.edu and enter your public library password. #georgialibraries
- Check out the reading & math skills in Learning Express Library through your local library. Go to https://www.galileo.usg.edu and enter your public library system password. #georgialibraries
- Prep for your GED in English and Spanish through Learning Express. Go to https://www.galileo.usg.edu and enter your public library system password.
- Prepare for your Citizenship Exam in English or Spanish through Learning Express & your local library. Go to https://www.galileo.usg.edu/ and enter your public library system password.
EBSCO Learning Express Job and Career Accelerator
- Your library card offers the fast track to getting hired! Explore more than 1,000 occupations, search jobs & internships, create a professional resume and cover letter, master interview techniques & more through Learning Express Job and Career Accelerator from your local public library. Check it out here: https://www.galileo.usg.edu #georgialibraries
- Create your resume, search jobs, and master the interview. All you need is your public library card or public library system password to access Learning Express Job and Career Accelerator. https://www.galileo.usg.edu/ #georgialibraries
- Another reason to love your #GeorgiaLibraries card: you get free access to @mangolanguages, which features over 72 foreign language courses. https://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=ango @galileolibrary #georgialibraries
- Language learning that’s available anytime, anywhere through #georgialibraries Check out @mangolanguages through your local library, online!
- Research your family tree with HeritageQuest through @galileolibrary. HeritageQuest Online provides genealogical and historical sources for more than 60 countries, with coverage dating back as early as the 1700s. https://www.galileo.usg.edu #georgialibraries
- Tackle simple legal tasks with help from Gale Legal Forms Go to https://www.galileo.usg.edu/and enter your public library system password.
- Legal resources at the ready! Check out Gale Legal Forms through your public library. https://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Address legal affairs with confidence: Gale LegalForms through your public library can help you understand common legal procedures through customizable legal documents that you can easily modify to create accurate, reliable forms without stress. Forms are accessible online, mobile responsive, and downloadable in Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and other formats https://www.galileo.usg.edu/ #georgialibraries
- Covering both U.S. and world history topics, History Reference Center through your public library is a full-text database featuring historical reference books, magazines, journals and thousands of primary source documents. Check it out through your local library! Go to: https://www.galileo.usg.edu/scholar/databases/zbht/
- Need resources for your next history assignment? Your local Georgia public library offers History Reference Center for FREE online, featuring historical reference books, magazines, journals and thousands of primary source documents: https://www.galileo.usg.edu/scholar/databases/zbht/
- ProQuest databases provides a single source for scholarly journals, newspapers, reports, working papers, and datasets along with millions of pages of digitized historical primary sources and more than 450,000 ebooks – all of this for free with your public library card: https://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Use Ebook Central to quickly and easily find relevant ebooks and chapters; read online; search within the ebook; and highlight, take notes and bookmark pages in your online copy, stored on your bookshelf for you. Login today with your public library’s GALILEO password or your library card number: https://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Search digital archives that offer full-page images of recent editions of essential and most-requested newspaper titles through ProQuest NewsStand using your Georgia public library card: https://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Find new books to read, or print a list of all the books in the series you are reading, with NoveList Plus. https://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Ancestry Library Edition brings the world’s most popular consumer online genealogy resource to your public library. Check it out with your public library password or PINES card number: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/
- Unlock the story of you with Ancestry Library Edition sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more. Ask your librarian or access online through your library: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/ #georgialibraries
- Did you know that students of all ages can freely access @galileolibrary from home to find resources not freely available online? #georgialibraries https://galileo.usg.edu
- GALILEO is Georgia’s virtual library. You can use it to access articles, eBooks, historical documents and photos, and much more. Go to https://galileo.usg.edu and enter your public library system password or PINES card number.
eRead Kids
- Now is the perfect time to get started with eRead Kids! Your library card gives you free access to 20,000+ electronic and audio books for children from pre-k through fourth grade. georgialibraries.org/ereadkids #GeorgiaLibraries #KeepGALearning
- While school is out, keep your kids reading with eRead Kids, a free resource available through all public libraries in GA. You just need your library card number and PIN: georgialibraries.org/ereadkids #GeorgiaLibraries #KeepGALearning
- Check out the new ebooks and audiobooks in eRead Kids – we just added 2,110 additional titles! #GeorgiaLibraries #KeepGALearning
Summer Reading Program through Beanstack
Check out our Summer Reading Program marketing toolkit here.
Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI) Toolkit
- All public libraries in Georgia offer FREE access to Entrepreneurial Mindset Training, an online, self-paced course focused on the attitudes and thinking that lead to entrepreneurial success. georgialibraries.org/eli #GeorgiaLibraries
- Discover your business potential with online, self-paced #entrepreneurial mindset training through #georgialibraries. Learn more and get started here: https://georgialibraries.org/eli/
- Learn how to identify, evaluate and transform your business ideas into a sustainable success with entrepreneurial mindset training. Keep learning while you’re home through this free resource available through #georgialibraries https://georgialibraries.org/eli/
GLS (Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled)
- If you or someone you know needs accessible reading materials, be sure to check out Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (GLS) gls.georgialibraries.org #georgialibraries
- Georgia Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (GLS) patrons can access digital braille and audio books through BARD and BARD Mobile https://georgialibraries.org/glass/bard/
- GLS staff are answering our phones to assist customers with GLS resources including digital talking books, BARD, BARD Mobile, Bookshare and more! gls.georgialibraries.org or call 800-248-6701 Keep reading!
- Accessibility is not an “other” – it’s about people whose life has changed. It’s about all of us. Learn how #GeorgiaLibraries are a source of accessible programming and technology.
- GLS users, we are happy to announce that our mailing service & duplication on demand cartridge production is available. Patrons can receive cartridges loaded with their choice of titles. Read more: https://georgialibraries.org/gls-to-restart-mail-service/ #georgialibraries
Archival Services and Digital Initiatives (ASDI)
- There are many local history resources available online through #GeorgiaLibraries Check them out here: georgialibraries.org/homeplace/gene…
- Public libraries often preserve local culture and history. Ask your librarian or explore online resources here: https://georgialibraries.org/homeplace/genealogy/
- Looking for homeschooling resources? Georgia Historic Newspapers gives you free access to over 1.5 million newspaper pages–perfect for your next social studies, journalism, or vocabulary lesson! Visit https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/. #georgialibraries
- What events were making news in Georgia on the day you were born? Use the advanced search feature in the Georgia Historic Newspapers portal to look up your DOB. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/ Can’t find the exact date? Expand your search nationally using Chronicling America. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/
- Every year, Georgia’s public libraries support the addition of tens of thousands of digitized newspaper pages to the Georgia Historic Newspapers portal. Just one more way public libraries support history in the making. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/ #georgialibraries
Partnerships
- Our partner Center for Puppetry Arts is hosting FREE Digital Learning experiences including workshops, puppet shows and museum tours! https://puppet.org/center-for-puppetry-arts-home/
- Get some outdoor time with your family while learning to fish: Our partner the Go Fish Education Center is open for their regular hours Friday through Sunday. Families can also check out Into the Outdoors, a free streaming video education platform on conservation of wildlife, ecosystems, agriculture, and environment.https://intotheoutdoors.org/
- Entertain and educate your kids through the Georgia Aquarium’s live aquatic webcams. https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/beluga-whale-webcam/
- The Georgia Farm Bureau is hosting virtual activities on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pg/GeorgiaFarmBureau
- Teach your kids about agriculture in Georgia through the Georgia Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom https://www.gfb.org/ag-in-the-classroom/curricculum.cms
- The Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University has educational online components to their exhibits like Georgia Journeys: Legacies of World War II.
- Experience the Michael C. Carlos Museum with Carlos at Home for puzzles, coloring sheets, virtual exhibits, and so much more!
- Visit the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame List of Inductees to find out who from your hometown is a Georgia sports hero.
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Our friends at the Chattahoochee Nature Center regularly post educational videos on their Facebook page. Check it out to learn more about plants and animals in Georgia!
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Art, science, nature, you can find lessons and activities for everything online with the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon!
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We all need to get outdoors and breath of fresh air, our partners, Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, are open for camping, boating, and hiking fun. Visit their website for information on staying safe and practicing proper social distancing while experiencing Georgia’s natural beauty and landmarks. #GaParksAndLibraries
