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Submitted by: Whatcom County Library System

The Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) has won three national library marketing awards, including the very prestigious John Cotton Dana award, which comes with a $10,000 prize.

Pictured from left to right: Sally Crouse, Christina Nelson, Christine Perkins, Sherri Huleatt, Megan Cook, Lizz Roberts, Sarah Hirsch, Tyler Byrd, and Steven Aldous. Photo credit: 1123 Productions.

WCLS worked with Red Rokk, a Bellingham-based marketing agency, to launch the “My Modern Library” campaign in the spring of 2016; the digital marketing campaign focused on promoting the library’s digital services in a fun and positive way. At the end of the nine-month campaign, WCLS more than doubled their annual goals for circulation and cardholders, increased digital circulation by 86.5 percent, and broke the record for most card sign-ups ever in one month by 26 percent.

“Winning the John Cotton Dana award is a dream come true,” Christine Perkins, WCLS Executive Director, said. “This award is the equivalent of winning an Academy Award for library marketing and we feel immensely honored to be recognized for our efforts on a national level.”

The awards will be given to WCLS at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL on June 25. While most libraries hope to win just one award, WCLS will be giving three acceptance speeches that night.

“We’ve loved partnering with WCLS,” Sherri Huleatt, Red Rokk Marketing Director, said. “They let us be our weird, creative selves and we’re incredibly proud to have helped them achieve such great results.”

The highly-coveted John Cotton Dana award is given to eight libraries every year for their achievements in outstanding library marketing, and is managed by the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Likewise, the PR XChange awards, which are given to libraries for their achievements in public relations, are also organized by LLAMA and are evaluated by 23 judges and two co-chairs.

Lizz Roberts, WCLS Community Relations Coordinator, will be accepting the awards on behalf of WCLS. Tyler Byrd, Red Rokk’s Founder/CEO, and Megan Cook, Red Rokk’s Art Director, will also be attending the ceremony.

To learn more about WCLS, including their services and programs, go to www.wcls.org.

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