Using pictures to "brand" an academic library

Library Lines

Going back to my discussion of the re-design of the Utica College Library web site- I wanted to convey some ideas that we, as a group, had about using images in an academic library web site.

We realized after some discussion that the pictures and other graphical components included on the site have a great deal of impact on the "branding" of the library to the campus community. We decided that the picture we use on the homepage is critically important to how we are perceive in the minds of faculty, students and staff.

The picture we have on the homepage now says many things about the library that we really do not want wish to convey. Its cold, uninviting and depicts nothing we, as the library staff, have to offer in terms of useful services. The conclusion we came to is that the best asset we have is the people inside the building, not the building itself. Pictures should always include people and activities.

The picture I included here is an example of a photo you should not use on you library's homepage. Its boring, really and offers the viewer a neutral impression.

The whole idea of using a picture of the library building as a branding image suggests that a library is strictly a place, bound in by four walls. With the introduction of such things as OPACs, e-journals, e-reserves and other methods of remote access to library material we, as librarians, have been painstakingly breaking out of the old paradigms and the notion of the library as soley a physical space. Shouldn't we be reminding people of this when they visit our homepage?