Heart of Every Neighborhood
The Indianapolis Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
Our Heart of Every Neighborhood campaign allows community members to become the library’s biggest advocates. Community members show their love for the library through yard signs, written notes of appreciation, and video testimonials that we repurpose to increase advocacy.
Challenge/Opportunity
Due to headlines regarding library funding, community members wanted to know how to support the Library. We began creating intentional opportunities for our community members to become advocates.
In 2025, we launched our We Love Our Library campaign, inviting patrons to submit their Library “love” stories online and offering free yard signs so they could show their support at home. In 2026, this evolved into our Heart of Every Neighborhood events, a party that moves from branch to branch, celebrating the Library’s role in neighborhoods across Indianapolis. The events allow patrons to share the impact the Library has on individuals and neighborhoods through video testimonials and written stories. We provide food and refreshments and invite community partners to share resources.
We utilize testimonials on our social media accounts, email marketing campaigns, and website, and created a video for part of our budget presentation with the Indianapolis City-County Council.
Key Elements of Innovation
In 2026, our CEO will visit six branch locations for Heart of Every Neighborhood. As of Sept. 2026, he has visited four of six.
At each event, we invite community partners and provide pizza, cookies, and refreshments. We have activity stations. Activities may include leaving a note about why they love the Library or coloring a Library tote bag. One of the stations is a video testimonial station, where community members are interviewed with questions focused on strategic priorities, including digital equity, workforce development, welcoming community spaces, and the freedom to read. We have “We Love Our Library” yard signs available for patrons to take home.
We have found that community members have been very eager to share their stories, including a father talking about how the Library was a safe place for his child with autism and a young girl excited that she could find books in Korean to read with her dad.
Achieved Outcomes
As of Sept. 2026, we have welcomed 436 community members to our first four events at the Glendale, East 38th Street, Lawrence and Haughville branches, with two more events scheduled this year. We have collected more than 50 video testimonials from community members who support the Library.
We were able to use these video testimonials during a presentation with the City-County Council as we advocated for our budget. We have also shared the testimonials on social media to support our advocacy efforts, reaching 49,330 impressions.
Community members have taken 3,000 yard signs to display throughout Indianapolis, creating a visible, grassroots demonstration of support for the Library. Our community members have become some of our strongest advocates!
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