Unbored Yourself

Is it libraries that are boring?

Culture, sport and leisure trust Live Borders asked us to conceptualise a campaign to promote their network of libraries. They had developed their library service into a 24-hour offering with thousands of newspapers and magazines, eBooks and eAudiobooks available digitally, as well as their library buildings and mobile libraries. While traditional audiences like families had begun to return to using library services after the COVID-19 pandemic, patrons aged 15-30 were lacking in membership and engagement. The new campaign would need to target this demographic, yet still increase awareness and membership in all age groups.

Through our research, we identified that libraries were perceived as boring, fusty places. We chose to challenge this idea by flipping it on its head, and suggesting that it’s you, not the library, that’s actually quite boring, tapping into the desire to be the most interesting person in the room. With all of this knowledge and entertainment at your fingertips, whatever you’re interested in, the library is where you can engage with it, via a service that’s always available, welcoming, and free to use.

What will you discover?

We invited you to ‘Unbored yourself’, with that core message used as a flexible creative framework that could be applied across any topic, and that gave Live Borders’ marketing team the ability to use any creative style to fit that subject, whether it be video games, wellbeing, or knitting. We presented the concept to Live Borders and demonstrated how it could be adapted from a membership card to a mobile library, reframing your local library as a place of discovery and highlighting the immense amount of knowledge it gives you access to.

We activated the campaign across a wide range of marketing assets. This included a website takeover, social campaign, t-shirts, library membership cards, publications, vehicle wraps and signage. We wrote a series of social media posts that tied library services to events including the Great British Bake Off and Six Nations. Live Borders were delighted by the concept and execution, and reported an increase in library membership.