VPL and GVPL were two of the seven winners announced yesterday. Congrats to both BC Libraries for winning the 2019 John Cotton Dana Award.
Information about the Vancouver project is available on the ALA website:
In the Fall of 2018, Vancouver Public Library’s research confirmed that their rooftop garden still captivated Vancouverites even though it had always been inaccessible to the public. With an opportunity to renovate the top two floors where they created a gallery, a quiet reading room, and an eighty-seat theater, they also undertook redeveloping the rooftop garden as a publicly accessible outdoor, green space. These spaces, especially the rooftop garden soon became the focal point of messaging inviting patrons to “Get Lost in the Rooftop Garden.” Marketing efforts highlighted the fact that these new spaces offered places for collaboration, creation, and connection helping to change perceptions of what a modern library can be. Through their PR and creative marketing efforts, they generated 215 media stories reaching 36.5 million hits, increased web visitation, increased engagement through social media and also resulted in a 13 percent increase in visitors to the library.