Seattle promotes itself with Little Free Libraries across the nation
Kicking off National Literacy Month, Visit Seattle, with the help of Publicis Seattle, has set up Little Free Libraries through September 25 in cities such as Austin, Boston and Chicago.
Seattle
These Little Free Libraries will feature books about Seattle to promote the city to people in the other select cities. The reason for the pop-ups is to both tout Seattle as a destination and to show off that the city has been named one of the most literate in the country. Seattle also features the largest concentration of Little Free Libraries in the country as well.
The Little Free Library movement is a national “take a book, return a book” free book exchange and is a staple in Seattle. There are 40,000 registered Little Free Library book exchanges in the US.
Publicis Seattle helped create these new pop-ups for the campaign to bring a unique perspective to the movement, one that is very Northwest focused. Some of the new book exchanges have iconic shapes, including a real kayak and one shaped liked the region’s favorite mythical beast, Sasquatch.
The focus is on Seattle books in all forms, whether it’s a novel taking place in Seattle, a Seattle native author, or travel guides and non-fiction about the Puget Sound area. The books come with smartly designed bookmarks with pictures of Seattle landmarks, like the Space Needle and the Museum of Glass. They also feature headlines and directions.
“Seattle Loves a Good Book and We Love Sharing Them with Friends,” reads one. It goes on to tell readers to snap a selfie with a Seattle book then post it any time during September with the hashtag #SeattleStory and tag @VisitSeattle. For every selfie, Visit Seattle will donate to the Little Free Library organization. Some bookmarks suggest the reader return the book to Seattle for a visit, and the campaign is working with social influencers and authors to promote it during National Literacy Month.
