Pinnacle Library Road Trip

Super fun thing to do as a family. We learned a lot! And visited other libraries we wouldn't of otherwise. Thank you! ~Gabriela S.

Great Road Trip. Liked my journey a lot. Will return to all of these libraries. Good planned idea to focus on Pinnacles libraries. ~Carol P.

This was a great idea! My daughters and I really enjoyed visiting all the libraries. It was nice to see the layouts and catch a glimpse of where all our materials come from. A truly wonderful experience. ~Ann B.

Clever concept to have us see libraries we have never been to! ~Dave D.

These patron comments on the first ever #LibraryRoadTrip defined success. The Road Trip was designed as a community engagement strategy for Pinnacle Library Cooperative. We do a lot of ILL through our nine member library partners and wanted to help patrons put a face to a (library) name, as well as host an interactive, entertaining event. By all accounts, it appears we succeeded.

After getting initial buy in and financial support from the Pinnacle Governing Board, the planning team reps from each library met twice in person: once to discuss the overall concept, brainstorm details and come to a consensus on event specifics and a second time to cover logistics and address any outstanding questions.

Individual team members took on pieces of the implementation such as sharing their staff graphic designer so we could have an eye-catching logo or setting up a BaseCamp for the team to facilitate communication.

Each library was responsible for:

• Creating its own “roadside attraction” for visiting participants to see/experience
• Providing its own Road Trip “souvenir” for each guest
• Promoting the event through available channels including print and e-newsletters, social media (#LibraryRoadTrip), in house signage, check out bookmarks etc.
• Contributing a fixed amount to the Road Trip budget, as approved by Pinnacle Governing Board

The Road Trip ran from September 1-30, 2019, and road trippers started their journey by picking up a passport at any of the nine libraries. Then at each location, participants got their passport stamped by library staff, picked up their souvenir and any library-specific information and visited the location’s roadside attraction. Participants collecting stamps from all nine locations by September 30 could turn in their passport completion page and receive an “end of the road” prize – a red camp chair featuring the Road Trip logo.

Out of 1000 passports distributed to the nine individual libraries, 601 were given out to patrons and 233 completion pages were turned in, a 39% completion rate! 53 of the 233 patrons completing the Road Trip provided a written comment along with their demographic information on the completion page. Comments were 100% positive and repeated the sentiment that it was an excellent event that they hoped would be repeated. With a few tweaks to the planning/staff training timeline, Pinnacle plans to host the 2nd Annual Road Trip in September 2020 with an international/Olympics-related travel theme. Stay tuned for details!

The Library Road Trip would not have been possible without the support of Pinnacle Library Cooperative library directors and staff. A special shout out goes to the planning team who jumped on board with my fledgling idea and helped it soar: Fountaindale Public Library District’s Nancy Korczak, Joliet Public Library’s Mallory Hewlett and Stephanie Martinez (intern), Lemont Public Library’s Pam Zukoski, Plainfield Public Library District’s Tracey Lane, Shorewood-Troy Public Library’s Julie Hornberger and White Oak Library District’s Amy Byrne (Crest Hill), Pat Jarog (Lockport) and Bev Krakovec (Romeoville).

Our guest blogger today is Rachel Gilmore. Rachel is the Marketing Specialist for Shorewood-Troy Library.