PopUp Libraries
St. Charles City-County Library, Mo.
Innovation Synopsis
The St. Charles City-County Library “pops up” at various festivals, fairs and events throughout the community. We provide customers access to a collection of materials that are tailored to fit the event as well as an opportunity to sign up for library cards, classes and events and to learn about all the wonderful resources the library has to offer.
Challenge/Opportunity
St. Charles County covers 593 square miles and has a population of almost 400,000 people. We serve this county with 12 branches, and for several years have seen a decline in both the number of new cards we issued and the number of customers who visited our buildings. The library needed a new and different way to reach our customers where they were and to break down the barriers to access that they might be encountering. One of our solutions to this challenge was PopUp libraries.
Key Elements of Innovation
To make this project successful, several pieces needed to happen:
- Network with festival, fair and event leaders/planners to secure a space for the PopUp Library at their event
- An additional staff member whose primary role is coordinating PopUp Libraries
- Staff at the PopUp Library are friendly, engaging and excited to talk to our community about the library
- Library materials and marketing targeted to the theme of the event or the audience that will be attending
Achieved Outcomes
As of June 2019, PopUp Libraries have enabled library staff to interact with over 12,000 community members, create more than 325 new library cards and circulate over 300 items. We have lowered barriers and increased access to library services, and our customers have been extremely excited to see us out in the community. Festival and fair organizers now reach out to the library when planning their events and invite us to host a PopUp Library, many times because they’ve interacted with us at other venues.
