1. What motivated you to market your library with ?
During the early months of the pandemic, I was working in our library and for some reason all the kik-steps were in one place. A friend who was with me commented, 鈥渉ey, those kik-steps are not social distancing!鈥� and at that moment I realized if I added some large googly eyes to one of them 鈥渟he鈥� could be the library鈥檚 mascot and Libby the Kik-Step was born! Libby went live on Instagram in June of 2021. In the early months, it was a great way for me to keep our sta铿� 鈥渃onnected鈥� to the library and our historic courthouse. And Instagram seemed like the best social media platform to share her on and allowed her to follow many other library accounts as well.
2. How has the library mascot and her IG account been received so far, and how will you evaluate its success?
Libby has been a big hit! Our clerks love her and about once a month I get a photo of Libby attending an event in one of our judge鈥檚 chambers, or a library event, or even just a stroll outside. I also created a Flat Libby for our clerks to borrow and Flat Libby has been to a Nationals baseball game and most recently to a happy hour at the Library of Congress. There is also a mini-Libby now, a small 3-D version, and that Libby visits other libraries and attends conferences. Libby has shown up in court videos and is always up to something fun. My goal was for Libby to provide basic legal research tips with the public as well as D.C. speci铿乧 legal history, or D.C. history in general. I tend to see how many views she is getting on IG and also how much 鈥渢alk鈥� there is about her around the court to judge her success. Libby seems to be quite popular so far. One of our judges actually has a small Libby lapel pin he wears when on the bench.
3. What 鈥渋f only I knew!鈥� advice would you give others wanting to replicate a similar e铿赌辞谤迟?
If I had had only known how much time and e铿�ort it takes to come up with weekly social media posts! I try to stay on top of current events, and pop culture, all the while keeping in mind we are a court library and I don't want to wade into an area that may be controversial. Also, I had no idea how many strange looks I would get from the security o铿僣ers when I take Libby outside and around the building for "photo shoots"! Overall, coming up with content takes time but I try to have something out weekly and jot down ideas weeks in advance, to make the process a bit easier.
4. What鈥檚 the best way to spend a day off from work?
My husband is a park ranger with the National Park Service and in my opinion, grabbing a book, a yummy lunch, and hiking in the park to 铿乶d a warm and sunny rock to sit on and read my book and enjoy my lunch is one my favorite ways to spend a day off!
5. What are you currently reading?
My favorite book genre is historical 铿乧tion and I am currently reading All the Pretty Places by Joy Callaway and getting ready to read The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis.