may11b.indd


C&RL News May 2011  270

In 2004, the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine formed its Market-
ing Team in response to the changing per-
ceptions of academic 
libraries. Our charge 
is to explore new and 
innovative ways to pro-
mote the library and to 
define its place within 
the larger university 
community. One of the 
primary goals of the 
group is to reconnect 
users with the library as 
place at a time of 24/7 
electronic resources. 

Under the leader-
ship of Fogler’s public 
relations and outreach 
coordinator, team mem-
bers representing differ-
ent departments in the 
library perform their 
marketing duties in ad-
dition to their regular 
jobs. Diverse skills and different points of 
view have quickly become one of the group’s 
strengths. 

During our first meetings, we found there 
was still something missing in our dynamic. As 
a group we were being asked to find new ways 
to connect with our users, the largest group of 
which was students. Yet, we had no student 
voice in the group. We decided to open up our 
process to make room for a student member. 
Student members of the Marketing Team func-
tion as full participants. They are encouraged 
to share their own ideas as well as to serve as 
a sounding board for suggestions. 

We also set ourselves apart from other 
academic committees by our commit-
ment to design thinking, which allows us 

to be quite fearless in 
exploring creative so-
lutions. We begin by 
striving to understand 
the user’s point of view, 
being careful to define 
the correct problem, 
and by avoiding linear 
thinking that may allow 
our own point of view 
to cloud our conclu-
sions. We encourage 
all group members to 
share ideas freely and 
rely on the diversity of 
experience within the 
group; we experiment 
with multiple iterations 
of proposed solutions 
and develop multiple 
prototypes if needed. 
Once implemented, we 

remain ready to modify our solution as the 
situation requires.

Marketing the art of information
Our first task was to brand Fogler Library. 
Brainstorming sessions centered on the 

Gretchen Gfeller, Desiree Butterfield-Nagy, and Hansie Grignon

Imagine
A student-centered library

Gretchen Gfeller is Web and public relations specialist, 
e-mail: gretchen.gfeller@umit.maine.edu, Desiree 
Butterfield-Nagy is archivist of the William S. Cohen 
Papers in the Special Collections Department, e-mail: 
desiree_butterfield@umit.maine.edu, Hansie Grignon is 
library assistant II, book acquisitions, in the Raymond H. 
Fogler Library at the University of Maine, e-mail: hansie.
grignon@umit.maine.edu
© 2011 Gretchen Gfeller, Desiree Butterfield-Nagy, and Hansie Grignon 

Graphic of the i3 brand campaign. 



May 2011  271 C&RL News

questions: What is a library? Why is a library 
special? What do libraries provide that other 
information outlets do not? The answer: “In-
quiry — Integrity — Insight” became our i3 
Campaign. The i3 logo and brand combined 
to form our first marketing campaign. The i3 
Campaign helped to define the new market-
ing group and served as a showcase for the 
creative potential of its members. 

Next we looked at our largest group of 
users—students. How could we engage them 
directly in a conversation about the library? 
We began with our “We Found it at Fogler” 
poster series, which has 
remained an enduring 
aspect of our student 
outreach. 

Originally created 
by a student member 
of the Marketing Team, 
this collaboration be-
tween students and the 
library was a quiet suc-
cess from the start and 
continues to grow in 
popularity. Messages 
are posted via e-mail 
inviting student groups 
to participate. It is inter-
esting to note that many 
groups hear about the 
project from their peers. 
The posters feature a 
student group posing 
in a recognizable area of 
the library. Each group 
supplies its own quotation in answer to the 
question: “What did we find at Fogler?”

The responses to this query reveal the 
many ways in which the library is of vital 
importance to the students’ lives and work. 
Participants include sports teams (“Because 
we study just as hard as we skate, you will 
find us at Fogler!”), sororities (“We found a 
place where scholarship and sisterhood come 
together”), and academic pursuits (“In the 
works of past leaders we found the knowl-
edge, the ambition, and the vitality to create 
a better future”).

The students are not only thrilled by their 
celebrity, they are comforted by a deep sense 
of belonging. “We appreciated the opportu-
nity to reach out, . . . to be part of the larger 
UMaine community,” explained the President 
of the English Graduate Student Association. 
Small groups can feel isolated, and it is sig-
nificant that they turn to the library to feel a 
vital and inseparable part of the university. 
“All of the members love [the poster],” wrote 
the Delta Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi, “and are 
so pleased that we had the opportunity to 
really integrate our group into a huge part 

of campus life that is in 
the library.”

This effect can be 
a lasting one. Students 
realize they are helping 
to create and sustain a 
tradition. “We would 
definitely participate 
again,” said the English 
Graduate Student As-
sociation. Team Maine’s 
slogan reads: “We found 
a place to learn and 
share UMaine’s history 
and traditions.” The 
Equestrian Team was 
even more specific, ex-
plaining “in the Guy 
Kendall Collection in 
Special Collections, we 
found photos of the 
harness racing ances-
tors of our wonderful 

UMares.” The Sophomore Eagles consciously 
chose to see their poster as part of history: 
“Who can resist a lasting piece that will serve 
as a great memory for us later on…Future 
Eagles can look at the photograph and get 
a better sense of not only what we do, but 
who we are.” It is encouraging to see stu-
dents finding a sense of identity and history 
at our library.

One group highlighted the transforma-
tive power of this campaign, seeing their 
participation not only as a fun experience 
or a savvy marketing ploy, but as a way to 

“We found it at Fogler” poster.



C&RL News May 2011  272

bring about change. The Student Women’s 
Association “found empowerment, courage, 
and determination in the works of genera-
tions of feminists who inspire us to work for 
equality, justice, and social change.” They 
specifically stated their intent at the very 
beginning, explaining “we think it will be a 
great way to [add] our message of collabora-
tion and equality to the 
atmosphere of Fogler 
Library.” We continue 
to see the success of 
the “We Found it at 
Fogler” reflected in the 
way it helps students to 
articulate their relation-
ship with the library 
and to connect to the 
larger university com-
munity. 

The power of 
language
In 2008, building on 
the success of the i3 
and We Found it at 
F o g l e r  c a m p a i g n s , 
we introduced a new 
campaign focused on 
the word imagine. We 
quickly realized that this single word had the 
flexibility to allow us to highlight a wide vari-
ety of resources. It served as a call to action, 
encouraging those who use our materials to 
imagine all of the possibilities available to 
them through the library’s tangible and elec-
tronic resources. Not long into our efforts, a 
team member noticed that in his book Words 
That Work, Frank Luntz identified imagine 
as “one of the most powerful words in the 
English language,” ranking it number one on 
his list of “Words and Phrases for the Twenty-
First Century.”1 

Imagine a new approach for gathering 
feedback
After creating a series of posters inviting stu-
dents to imagine the diversity and usefulness 
of various library resources, we recognized an 

opportunity within the imagine theme to in-
corporate methods similar to those described 
by Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons 
in their 2007 book, Studying Students: The 
Undergraduate Research Project at the Uni-
versity of Rochester.2 We placed easels holding 
oversize paper along with colored markers 
in prominent places, encouraging patrons 

to offer a response to 
the phrase: “Imagine 
making a difference in 
the library. Tell us…
what’s your favorite 
place in the library? 
What should we do 
to make all areas as 
appealing as your fa-
vorite?”

This invitation be-
gan a dialogue that 
resulted in more than 
1,000 comments in an 
academic year. In addi-
tion to comments not-
ing favorite locations, 
suggestions touched 
on topics as diverse 
as the library’s hours, 
Web site, and ideas 
for future displays. The 

vast majority of comments were constructive 
and reflected a willingness on the part of stu-
dents to participate in library decision-making 
as members of the community that we had 
been trying to foster in previous campaigns. 

One contributor wrote, “Create an area 
to showcase books that are staff favorites. 
Also have an area for student favorites so 
students who love books can submit a list of 
their favorites and set up a showcase too.” 
Another responded to this idea, saying, “Build 
community.” A third added, “This would be 
so fun!” 

Unlike traditional forms for gathering 
suggestions, including surveys or comment 
cards, the easels allowed students to react to 
each other’s comments, resulting in a form 
of dialogue. The open and public nature of 
the board, and the sheer number of notes 

Easel with student comments.



May 2011  273 C&RL News

we received, contributed to our ability to 
contextualize each suggestion. Many com-
ments reflected users’ familiarity with the 
conventions of online discussion boards and 
made the connection that this tangible board 
is a similar “conversation” space within the 
library. One student spent a fair bit of time 
using a marker to adapt a page and add the 
heading of “Status Newsfeed” along with 
“Like” and “Logout” buttons found on a 
Facebook page.

We are now able to draw from a running 
transcription of all of the comments and 
watch for themes to emerge. In addition, we 
prepare a summary each semester to allow 
for quantitative analysis of comments that 
have been tallied and ranked by total. As 
we develop campaigns, we always consider 
ways to make our efforts measurable. While 
surveys and interviews have provided valu-
able information regarding reaction to our 
poster series, the addition of the easels in 
this particular campaign—which allowed us 
to watch the number and type of comments 
as they were contributed each day—added a 
certain level of built-in measurability. 

Reconfiguring spaces
Library staff members responded to as many 
of the students’ ideas as possible, providing 
additional seating, making repairs to equip-
ment, adding power strips, and making 
adjustments to hours of operation during 
finals week. When we received suggestions 
for new signage, or different placement of 
signage, we made every effort to incorporate 
the ideas contributed by these fresh eyes. 
Students began responding with thank you 
messages on the board.

Spurred by student suggestions, multiple 
departments coordinated procedures, shifting 
and consolidating materials to create a more 
comfortable reading space in the area that 
houses our collection of contemporary leased 
titles. Additional clusters of soft furniture and 
rocking chairs were added. New shelf labels 
were designed to make the collection easy to 
browse, and clipboards encouraged students 
to contribute suggestions for new titles. As 

of April 2011, more than 150 new student-
suggested titles had been ordered.

Another recurring comment from students 
was a request for more student art in the 
building. We responded by creating two new 
exhibit spaces for student art. Coordinated 
with the Art Department, these venues allow 
students to see themselves reflected in their 
surroundings.

Benefits of the student-centered 
library
The benefits of the student-centered library are 
many. Learning to trust students has allowed 
us to create a community centered on the li-
brary as place. In addition to our reading area 
and new art spaces, our outreach to students 
has given voice, literally, to The Renewals, 
Fogler Library’s band. A collaboration between 
student and staff singers and musicians, the 
group writes, performs, and produces music 
videos about the library.3

One unintended result of these efforts was 
that the university’s student government orga-
nization drafted an official resolution to thank 
the Dean of Libraries for attentiveness to stu-
dent needs. Once passed, the resolution was 
framed and presented in a formal ceremony. 

As we move into the next academic year, 
we do so with the knowledge that our students 
are making the journey with us. The students 
themselves said this best in their comments 
from the last week of classes in spring 2010: 
“Thanks for a good year,” “So long, Fogler,” 
“I (heart) Librarians.”

Notes
1. Frank I. Luntz, Words That Work: It’s Not 

What You Say, It’s What People Hear (New 
York: Hyperion Books, 2007), 241.

2. Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons, 
eds., Studying Students: the Undergraduate 
Research Project at the University of Rochester 
(Chicago: Association of College and Research 
Libraries, 2007), 21.

3. The Renewals videos are available 
at www.library.umaine.edu/podcasts/re-
newals2.htm and www.library.umaine.edu 
/podcasts/renewals.htm.