While attending ACRL 2017 in Baltimore, I came upon a poster titled “Cultivating Curiosity: Intersecting Century-Old Services for 21st Century Impact,” which suggested that a simple rebranding of traditional reference services could markedly increase student engagement. I was intrigued by these findings but somewhat skeptical. How could such a low-cost, low-tech strategy generate such high-impact results? Thankfully, presenters Jennifer Hunter and Christina Riehman-Murphy of the Penn State University Libraries-Abington College were on hand to answer all my questions. Hunter and Riehman-Murphy outlined their program and outcomes, and they convinced me: branding matters. I left the convention center inspired, ready to bring their marketing blueprint back to Queensborough Community College (QCC) of the City University of New York (CUNY).
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Susan Wengler (2018) studied this question.