To close out Library Card Signup Month, let’s take a look at some of what Downie and his co-presenter shared in the webinar. 

SERVICES LIBRARIES NEED

Downie charted his path in the library field so far. He said he likes to recycle ideas that work in other fields and apply them to libraries. He founded collectionHQ, which focuses on supply-and-demand analytics, in 2008. In 2018, he founded Patron Point, which is about how libraries engage with their existing patrons, and he founded the flip side of that—how libraries engage with potential patrons—in 2024 as Growing Libraries.

The next part of the webinar answered the question, Why do libraries need to grow? Downie noted that on average, libraries serve 49% of their community, thus, there are always more people to reach. Adding cardholders helps justify a library’s funding and can allow a library get more funding. It also helps libraries reach underserved or marginalized communities. More visitors to the library provide more dialogue and more insight, so libraries know what their community wants and needs. And finally, the more cardholders a library has, the more attractive it is to potential partners.

WHEN PARTNERING WITH GROWING LIBRARIES

Downie researches what other organizations—such as health clubs or charities—would do to grow their business and sees if it can be applied to libraries. He has found that there are four aspects of growing businesses and, therefore, libraries. These four aspects are what libraries can expect Growing Libraries to provide help with when they sign up to work with the company.

First is targeting: identifying potential customers using data. Next is segmenting that data: division into groups that make sense for your needs. Then, engage potential customers by being specific and using multiple channels. Last, test and monitor the engagement.

Growing Libraries partners with Data Axle for its data to identify non-cardholders. Growing Libraries has a Community Insight dashboard that serves as the nexus of its targeting and segmenting efforts. The company helps libraries explore segmentation options by offering 21 different interest groups and 42 lifestyle segments. Interests include crafts, food, games, outdoors, personal finance, sports, and travel—basically, typical topics of programming at the library. Lifestyles are types of households; for example, a “comfortably grounded” family that owns a home and has leisure time.

When a library is ready to move on from the data in the platform, Growing Libraries helps it engage by sending direct-mail postcards out to non-cardholders. The library picks the artwork and messaging on the postcards, and they’re designed for different demographics—there would be a postcard for families with young children and another postcard for seniors. Downie shared that the postcards are 9" x 6", full-color, and double-sided with no minimum print runs. Growing Libraries offers full tracking from production to delivery, and libraries can set their own budget caps for each campaign.

Growing Libraries also offers the option of using email lists for targeted outreach; libraries can do the mailing, use email, or do both. 

When the outreach is complete, Growing Libraries helps facilitate A/B testing. Its platform is connected to a library’s ILS so that it can track signups in the dashboard.

WHAT ELSE TO KNOW

Growing Libraries also offers a program for targeting people who are moving into a community. A library can send new residents automated weekly postcards that Growing Libraries will segment demographically (as with the regular postcards, different designs will go to different types of residents).

Downie shared that Growing Libraries is running a promotion that waives the setup fee for libraries that partner with the company by the end of 2025. These libraries will also get 500 free postcards.

DATA AXLE’S ROLE

Bill Loges, VP of sales at Data Axle, joined the webinar to speak briefly about how his company collects the data that helps libraries. It gathers information from more than 100 sources to get to the household level—Data Axle discovers what’s important for libraries to know about each address in their community. It also gathers email addresses. Loges noted that it’s important to know what your potential patrons are like so you can most effectively reach them. 

Loges talked about the primary sources and the secondary sources Data Axle uses. Primary sources include real estate tax assessments, voter registrations, and public records (hunting licenses, boating registrations, etc.). Secondary sources include subscriptions, survey responses, and census data. 

Downie closed out the webinar by saying that Growing Libraries chose to partner with Data Axle because it has excellent data and is library-focused. He encouraged any interested libraries to reach out to him at Growing Libraries.

Ian Downie presenting a summary slide during the webinar.