By: Melissa Marin, OverDrive Marketing Specialist. You can ask her about eBooks anytime.
It can sometimes be a challenge to represent something intangible in a tangible way. In your library branch, patrons can browse the stacks, pick up books, read the jacket copy and flip through the pages. They can’t do this in the same way with digital books. It may not be obvious to people walking through your library doors that what you offer goes beyond the walls of your building. So, how do you change that?

Hanging up a poster or having patron handouts available to get the word out about eBooks is an easy fix. We have templates available to choose from in the Resource Center to get you started. You will also find 2×2 stickers that you can place on display books to promote digital availability and flyers to help reach specific audiences like kids & teens or non-English speakers (LOTE marketing).

It’s also important to get your staff involved. Staff awareness of your OverDrive service can play a big part in the success of your digital library. Finding ways to integrate eBooks and digital audiobooks into your existing programs, reader’s advisory efforts, and information desk interactions can change the way patrons think about the library.

Make the conversation easy with “Ask me about eBooks” staff swag. We have designs ready to go for staff buttons, lanyards, stickers and even some examples of how you could create t-shirts to turn your staff into walking billboards. Even if you don’t remember to bring up the digital options you have available, your outfit could do the talking for you. You can download the folder of design options for the Ask me about eBooks swag in the “What’s Trending” section of our Marketing materials in the Resource Center.

Kirklees Libraries in the UK created staff shirts last year using the “Ask me…” logo – looking great, guys!

If you and your team get decked out in AMAeB gear, make sure to take a picture and share it with us on Twitter or email it to your Account Specialist. We love to see how you are spreading the word about digital reading!