Although our Library was heavily used, we realized that for our population our cardholder numbers were quite low. Two of the goals in our Strategic Plan were to increase loyal customers in the short term and solidify the lifetime customer base. Adding cardholders provided us with the opportunity to engage with more citizens, increase Library use and build support for the Library’s services and funding.

In 2011, we set a goal of 500,000 cardholders by the end of 2012. First we reviewed our Library card policies and made several changes. We created several new card types including Teen Only and Child Only cards; requiring no parental signature and no overdue fines. We also created Downloadable Only, Internet Only, and Complimentary library cards. A card remains valid until it has not been used for five year. We partnered with the Greater Cincinnati Alliance for Arts Education (GCAAE) and its 21-member arts organizations to kick-off the challenge with a kids’ campaign “Be a Star with your Red Card.” We created a new mascot “Red” as part of this campaign. We looked next at cards that had expired under the previous policy and re-activated the cards in good standing. Then we matched the household address list against our cardholder list and mailed a complimentary card, a postcard with a unique card number and PIN that can be used for any digital or online resources for a limited time, to every household without a library cardholder. This inexpensive option turned out to be the most effective at getting new cardholders. Shortly after this mailing in February 2013, we were named a finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service and announced that we were planning to renew our levy funding that November. In May 2013, we achieved our goal of 500,000 cardholders.

The Library increased its library cardholders 125% from 238,110 in March 2009 to 536,688 March 2014. By partnering with GCAAE and introducing new cardholder types, we increased our child and teen cardholders by 19,000 in 2011. From February to August 2012, we added 23,295 more cardholders, which can be attributed to sending complimentary cards to non-cardholder households. Every week, we average about 700 new cardholders, and we just implemented a new cardholder “welcome” message with OrangeBoy’s new customer relationship management system to drive activity. Our dashboard indicates about 88% of approximately 330,000 households in Hamilton County have at least one library cardholder. Last year, we celebrated record usage with more than 17.8 million items loaned and 1.4 million digital downloads. Nearly 500,000 people attended 23,000-plus programs, and customers logged on more than 1.8 million computer sessions. Anticipating and meeting customer needs as well as improving their experiences, we believe this contributed to a renewed 1 mill levy for 10 years with an 80% favorable vote – the highest in the state. Our innovation has positioned the Library as a leader in the community and on a national level. In 2013, we were one of five libraries nationwide with budgets of $30 million to receive a five-star rating by Library Journal. We also were awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Services, the nation’s top honor for museums and libraries, which was presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in May 2013.