Rob Urban / Public access, discovery and institutional support
Marketing Consulting for Libraries & Archives
I help libraries and archives make their services easier to discover, their collections easier to approach, and their case for support easier to understand.
Someone may need exactly what your institution offers and still leave the website unsure whether they are allowed to use it. That is a communication problem worth solving before buying more attention.
Start with a real task
Can a first-time user find their way in?
I would begin with a few ordinary questions. Can someone get a library card? Can a researcher determine whether a collection is relevant? Can a parent find the correct branch for a program? Can a donor see what a proposed project will make possible?
Those questions cross systems: the main website, catalog, event calendar, digital repository, registration platform and perhaps a university or municipal site. Each may work on its own while the path between them remains confusing.
My consulting focuses on that public experience and the communication behind it. We can review positioning, website structure, search visibility, collection stories, program promotion and supporter messaging, then give the team a manageable set of changes.
Website and service clarity
Organize the first decision around the user.
Your departmental structure may be perfectly sensible to staff. A visitor should not have to learn it to complete a basic task. I can help establish clear entry points while preserving the specialist tools that experienced users need.
Explain who can use it, what they need, where it happens and whether a card, login, appointment or fee applies. Distinguish a branch’s opening hours from the hours of a particular desk or service.
Label catalog, finding-aid and digital-collection links accurately. Tell people what each tool searches. A description of a collection is different from a digitized copy of its contents.
Bring together location, arrival instructions, access information and the relevant contact. If material must be requested in advance, say so before the visitor makes the trip.
Show which questions staff can answer and how to submit a useful inquiry. Explain any service limits or expected response process without making the reader feel they have already asked the wrong question.
These are communication decisions to make with your staff. Collection access, eligibility and service policies remain the institution’s responsibility.
Archives and special collections
A collection story should lead somewhere useful.
A striking photograph or handwritten letter can introduce a collection. The accompanying page should explain enough context for a reader to understand what they are seeing and what they can do next.
I would connect a public introduction to the relevant collection description, catalog record or finding aid. That introduction can explain the subject, period, creator and possible research uses in approachable language. Archival staff should review the interpretation and attribution.
The Society of American Archivists’ guide to finding and evaluating archives explains the role of finding aids and the distinction between online material and a repository’s wider holdings. A public-facing story can help a newcomer reach those deeper resources without pretending to replace them.
Illustrative planning example
Before promoting a neighborhood photograph collection
Imagine an archive publishing a selection of street photographs. I would ask staff to confirm the dates and locations, identify gaps in what is known, establish which images may be shared, and provide a route to the collection description.
The page should also say whether additional images exist, whether they can be viewed online, and how to inquire about the remainder. This is a fictional planning example, not a claim about a client collection.
Promotion needs to reflect actual access. Restricted material, unprocessed collections and appointment-only services require accurate explanations. A campaign should not invite a volume of requests the institution cannot support or imply that an image is available for unrestricted reuse.
My role is to improve communication and discovery alongside the people responsible for the collection. Archival appraisal, conservation, rights decisions and cataloging need the appropriate professional expertise.
Programs and ongoing services
The poster is only part of the invitation.
A program needs a useful destination page with the date, branch or venue, intended audience, registration requirements, cost if any, and a contact for questions. Put essential details in readable text as well as any promotional image.
Then consider distribution. A beginner technology session, local-history talk and faculty research workshop have different audiences and partner networks. The plan should identify who needs the information, why it matters to them and which trusted person or organization can help it reach them.
When the event ends, decide what happens to the page. Mark it as past, offer an appropriate related resource, and link to current programs. An old registration page should not quietly become the institution’s main search result for a recurring service.
Keep year-round services visible.
A busy calendar can crowd out the resources people can use every week. I would look for important services that disappear between announcements: research help, digital resources, local history, study facilities or other services your institution actually provides.
Each needs an explanation proportionate to its complexity, with clear eligibility and a working next step. The goal is a content plan your staff can maintain, with owners and review dates for information that changes.
For institutions where exhibitions and visits are the primary growth brief, museum marketing consulting covers that broader visitor experience.
Search and AI-assisted discovery
Make the public explanation easy to find and keep accurate.
Search work starts with the terms a person might use before they know your institution’s vocabulary. A page about researching a local house can introduce the relevant records and connect to specialist descriptions. It should be clear about the geographical and date coverage the institution actually holds.
I would review page titles, headings, internal links and the routes between the main website and external systems. Public introductory pages should be readable without a login where feasible. Restricted resources can still have an accurate public explanation of eligibility and access.
For AI-assisted answers, the same factual discipline matters: clear institution and branch names, consistent service information, useful source links and a way to tell when a page was reviewed. Generated summaries of collections need staff verification before publication. A polished paragraph can still contain an invented date.
No consultant can promise that a particular assistant will recommend your institution. We can make the public information more useful and reduce contradictions between the places people encounter it.
Support, reporting and advocacy
Show what happened, then be precise about what it means.
Attendance and usage matter. They do not answer every question about value. I can help a team separate activity, user experience and evidence of an outcome so a report or appeal makes a credible case.
- Activity
- Visits, registrations, resource use or research requests show participation. Define the measure and period so readers know what is being counted.
- Experience
- Feedback can reveal whether people found the service understandable, welcoming and useful. Include what needs improvement as well as praise.
- Outcome
- A carefully framed question can ask what someone learned or feels better able to do. Report what the evidence supports, including its limitations.
The Public Library Association’s data and assessment resources provide useful starting points for thinking about measurement. I would build on the institution’s existing reporting rather than give staff a second set of numbers to maintain for marketing.
Give supporters a concrete assignment.
A funding message should explain the proposed work, the resources required and what additional access or service it could support. Distinguish the institution, its foundation and its Friends group so people understand who is asking and how support is used.
My essay on the Friends of the DeLand Library explores the community value of a library support organization. It is an editorial example, not a client case study.
Keep the person larger than the story.
A patron’s experience is not automatically material for a campaign. Use appropriate consent and institutional review, and avoid exposing research interests or personal circumstances to make an appeal more moving.
Sometimes the strongest account is about the service, the staff effort and the access it creates. A useful report can be compelling without turning a private moment into promotional content.
How the engagement works
Begin with a path your team wants to improve.
We can start with one priority: a confusing research-visit process, an underused service, a collection launch, scattered program promotion or a support message that does not explain the work. I would review the current materials with staff, identify the points of confusion and agree on changes that fit available capacity.
Deliverables might include an audience and message brief, revised service-page copy, a collection-story outline, a program promotion plan or a prioritized website review. Each should identify who owns the next action and what would show that the change helped.
Can you work with a small library or volunteer-run archive?
Yes. A focused review can address a single public-facing problem. The recommendations should reflect who can maintain the information and how much time they have.
Do we need to replace our catalog or repository?
Not necessarily. We can first improve the explanations and links around the existing systems. A platform change would need its own technical, operational and budget review.
Can you help our staff make a clearer case for support?
Yes. I can help organize the message around a defined need, the work proposed and evidence the institution can substantiate. Funding decisions and results cannot be guaranteed.
Work with Rob Urban
Where are people getting lost?
Tell me which service, collection or institutional priority needs clearer communication. We can begin there and decide what kind of consulting would be useful.
Discuss your library or archive
Paper Boat Media · DeLand, Florida
Marketing strategy, public communication and advisory consulting