Nashvillians adore their library, but NPL still wants to increase library card ownership to 70 percent of the city’s population. Part of that means showing folks how FUN the Library is. We go “all out” with our marketing, using public relations, social media and community outreach strategies every day of the year. But when Meghan Trainor released her hit song, “All About That Bass,” a lightbulb went off. Forget singing about body shape and boys – it was time to croon about e-books, movies and story time!

“Using the library really isn’t that hard, so if that’s what you’re into – go ahead and get a card!”

The best part of this video was how much fun we had making it. After one of our brilliant employees wrote the lyrics, our crew rehearsed a few times. Then, it was lights, cameras, action! We purposely emphasized library cards and the call to get a free NPL card. We also included Library “celebrities” Mary Mary and Professor (from our beloved Wishing Chair puppeteer crew) and Library “authorities” like Director Kent Oliver (on the maracas). The whole idea was to show how the Library is an approachable place and worth a visit – in person or online.

We thought our music video came out pretty good, but never thought it would turn out to be such a hit! It has garnered 198,862 hits on our YouTube channel alone. Plus, the combined hits/views from links to the song on local news websites and our Facebook page has brought the total closer to 1 million. Our community told us they loved the song and its message. Our social network followers have echoed our call to their own friends and followers to join NPL as library card owners. Now that’s what we call a hit!