Public Relations and Advertising Commons^™

People-First Promotion: Rallying Library Workers During Covid-19 And Beyond, Katy Kelly, Christina A. Beis, Ann Zlotnik, Maureen E. Schlangen

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

COVID-19 forced workers around the world to face the realities of closed buildings, precarious employment situations, and challenges to their well-being. This article will showcase how library workers’ resilience during COVID-19 depended on people, not buildings, and a people-first public relations strategy was employed to reveal that distinction. The authors, a team of librarians and communicators, share three pandemic-era communication stories developed to put people at the forefront of initiatives and messaging: a revamped marketing strategy for a research appointment service puts faces to the work and student support; the cancellation announcement of a beloved annual event reveals how the …