System Rebranding Process
Kitsap Regional Library, 2014-2015
In April 2015, Kitsap Regional Library launched a new brand. A brand is so much more than a logo or a set of colors: it is the way people see us. Engaging a system of nine physical locations, the digital library, Bookmobile and Outreach departments, and a large support staff, was therefore much more than just a PR exercise. Working together with leaders from across the organization, we built an entirely new vision of ourselves from the ground up.
More than a year before the brand launch, every single staff member was asked to identify the values that were crucial to them personally. From those, we discovered a set of core values that are shared throughout the organization. Again involving the input and participation of all staff, we expressed them in a single, unique voice. They are:
Anyone can lead
Deliver excellence
Be fun, fresh, and fearless
Build connections
Never stop learning
Be relentlessly resourceful
Inspire and be inspired
Open to all
Once we had affirmed our shared values, we worked to bring them to life by aligning ourselves with a specific mission and vision. Many libraries seem to have one or the other, but I think of these two types of statements as answering different questions. A mission answers the question: What do you want to do in the world? Vision answers: What would the world look like if you accomplished your mission?
A mission statement must also be memorable. The mission is not just a nice phrase; it should be actionable, the guiding principle behind what we decide to do or not do. If your employees can't even remember it, will it really be a useful decision-making tool for them? Will it really influence how they think and talk about what they do? Probably not. So it was important to me that our mission statement be short, memorable, and meaningful.
Our Mission:
Inspiring our community to dream more, learn more, do more, and be more.
We then laid out a vision document, explaining what living our mission would mean for our spaces, our services, our people, and our community. This is mostly an internal document, helping us hold up our ideas and plans against the bigger picture.
Our Vision:
Our Spaces. Kitsap Regional Library will be known as a place to think big thoughts and play with little ideas, a social living room where our community feels a sense of belonging, and a destination to enjoy friends, engage people, and cultivate dreams.
Our Services. KRL inspires creativity, community, innovation, and entrepreneurialism. Our focus on education will expand through support of STEAM education, early literacy, and digital literacy. We will create powerful collaborations with our educational and cultural institutions to prepare our community for the future.
Our People. We are invested in our people. Through open communication and transparency, we will create a workplace where staff is valued and anyone can lead.
Our community. Through our spaces, services, and people, we are seen and relied on as a cornerstone of our community. We will be a catalyst for positive change, with a dynamic approach to building partnerships with our schools, governments, and community.
From our deep-rooted shared values, we established what we want to do in the world, and drew a picture of how it would look. PR then interpreted these goals and plans into a visual language, resulting in our new logo, tagline, PR materials, library cards, business cards, name tags - you name it! They launched the new logo and colors for the entire 200+ person staff during our annual All Staff Day. One year later, after staff had time to ask questions, embrace the new vocabulary, and grow a sense of ownership and teamwork, we launched the brand to the public.
More than a year before the brand launch, every single staff member was asked to identify the values that were crucial to them personally. From those, we discovered a set of core values that are shared throughout the organization. Again involving the input and participation of all staff, we expressed them in a single, unique voice. They are:
Anyone can lead
Deliver excellence
Be fun, fresh, and fearless
Build connections
Never stop learning
Be relentlessly resourceful
Inspire and be inspired
Open to all
Once we had affirmed our shared values, we worked to bring them to life by aligning ourselves with a specific mission and vision. Many libraries seem to have one or the other, but I think of these two types of statements as answering different questions. A mission answers the question: What do you want to do in the world? Vision answers: What would the world look like if you accomplished your mission?
A mission statement must also be memorable. The mission is not just a nice phrase; it should be actionable, the guiding principle behind what we decide to do or not do. If your employees can't even remember it, will it really be a useful decision-making tool for them? Will it really influence how they think and talk about what they do? Probably not. So it was important to me that our mission statement be short, memorable, and meaningful.
Our Mission:
Inspiring our community to dream more, learn more, do more, and be more.
We then laid out a vision document, explaining what living our mission would mean for our spaces, our services, our people, and our community. This is mostly an internal document, helping us hold up our ideas and plans against the bigger picture.
Our Vision:
Our Spaces. Kitsap Regional Library will be known as a place to think big thoughts and play with little ideas, a social living room where our community feels a sense of belonging, and a destination to enjoy friends, engage people, and cultivate dreams.
Our Services. KRL inspires creativity, community, innovation, and entrepreneurialism. Our focus on education will expand through support of STEAM education, early literacy, and digital literacy. We will create powerful collaborations with our educational and cultural institutions to prepare our community for the future.
Our People. We are invested in our people. Through open communication and transparency, we will create a workplace where staff is valued and anyone can lead.
Our community. Through our spaces, services, and people, we are seen and relied on as a cornerstone of our community. We will be a catalyst for positive change, with a dynamic approach to building partnerships with our schools, governments, and community.
From our deep-rooted shared values, we established what we want to do in the world, and drew a picture of how it would look. PR then interpreted these goals and plans into a visual language, resulting in our new logo, tagline, PR materials, library cards, business cards, name tags - you name it! They launched the new logo and colors for the entire 200+ person staff during our annual All Staff Day. One year later, after staff had time to ask questions, embrace the new vocabulary, and grow a sense of ownership and teamwork, we launched the brand to the public.
One of the biggest concrete changes was moving from individual printed monthly calendars at each branch to a single, unified quarterly guide to events and culture. This high-quality, eye catching magazine represents us not as a collection of individual branches, but as a system with more to offer than you ever dreamed possible. The guide lets people easily see all our programs and services, including ones outside their home branches. We also have space for personal columns from the librarians and administrators, so patrons can get to know the faces they see at their libraries.
Planning our programs collectively as a system, and months in advance, was entirely new for my team. My role is to guide us through this transition, and facilitate planning and working together across many very different and geographically dispersed communities. Although this change is exciting, it still takes time and an iterative process to make it run smoothly. Therefore, we went through this process for a quarter before releasing the magazine to the public. The first version was entirely internal. This way, staff could buy in and feel a sense of ownership before we brought in the public.
I am so excited now for the first live, public edition of Inspire!
I am so excited now for the first live, public edition of Inspire!
As our Director of Operations often says, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." We took our time on this process, strategically involving staff at all levels to maximize buy-in. As we launch the brand to the public, they will hear all library staff speaking with the same voice, from a place of deep values and a passion for what we do.
I know it's important to give people a chance to adjust, but I must admit - I'm already excited for the next Inspire (which will include our brand-new, groundbreaking, all-ages Summer Learning program) and the redesign of our web site!
I know it's important to give people a chance to adjust, but I must admit - I'm already excited for the next Inspire (which will include our brand-new, groundbreaking, all-ages Summer Learning program) and the redesign of our web site!