Communications librarian outlines rebranding, web and outreach gains

Katie Hall, the library’s communications librarian, reviewed the Mountain View Public Library’s communications work from pre-rebrand materials through the present and described planned projects, saying the goal is to present a consistent, accessible public face for the library.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Katie Hall. I am the communications librarian here at the library, and today I’m going to take you on a brief tour of the library communications from past, present to future,” Hall told the Board of Library Trustees at the special meeting on April 20.

Hall framed the presentation around four periods: before rebranding (through 2019), during rebranding (2020–2023), the current period (2023–2025) and planned future work. She said earlier director’s reports and publicity materials lacked consistent photos, templates and tone, and that a 2019 intern helped start unified branding and templates. The city established a Communications and Outreach Division that later created a council-facing “council connection” update and a resident-facing “City Hall Connection” newsletter, Hall said.

Hall described the library website overhaul completed in May 2023, work to make pages mobile-friendly and more consistent, and a social-media consolidation that moved the library from multiple, division-level accounts to one account per platform and a staff subcommittee to manage posting and responses. “Our posts are more consistent in their look. We’re using the city’s branded colors,” she said.

Hall presented usage and engagement figures she said reflect the changes: “Our total website visits per month increased by 15 from the last fiscal year, so visitors seem to be responding positively to the updated look and feel of our website,” she said. She also reported growth in social channels and newsletter subscribers: “We’ve seen a 515% follower increase in Facebook and Instagram respectively compared to the previous fiscal year,” and the monthly newsletter showed “a 33 subscriber growth compared to last fiscal year.” She described the top five website pages as: My Library Account, New York Times Online, Getting a Library Card, Reserve a Group Study Room, and the Digital Library.

On outreach, Hall said library staff attended nine events last fiscal year and expected to attend 14 by the end of the current fiscal year, and that the library had distributed 1,292 giveaway items so far this fiscal year. She described the bookmobile’s role at outreach events and said the communications librarian serves as a point of contact for larger city events.

Hall listed ongoing and upcoming projects: launching an updated staff resource guide, replacing and centralizing content on touchscreen kiosks so they can be updated from a single backend, producing Brainfuse-focused tutorial videos for YouTube, marketing the summer reading program, and supporting Spanish- and Chinese-language civic leadership academy presentations the library hosts. She said a summer intern will produce promotional videos and help test new flyer templates and that impact will be measured through analytics, engagement and a final intern report.

Board members asked about prioritization, in-person outreach versus digital impact, and which digital resources are most used. Hall said analytics track clicks and vendor reports provide granular use statistics; she identified New York Times Online as a high-use digital resource. She told trustees she relies on the communications team (LCT) and outreach events to gather public feedback.

The board praised the consolidation of communications work and the use of templates and analytics. Hall said she will continue coordinating with the city Communications and Outreach Division and LCT and will report back as the kiosk and video projects develop.

The meeting record shows trustees approved the minutes of the March 17, 2025 meeting before the presentation (see “Votes” below).