Effective Library Signage: Tips, Tricks, & Best Practices

Library signage represents the first lines of communication between a library user and the library. Are you doing everything to ensure that your signage is user-friendly and inviting? Although we have the best intentions, sometimes our signage can be punitive, contradictory, outdated, or passive aggressive.

In this webinar, Mark Aaron Polger provides you with the top tips to follow when preparing new signage for your library. Polger, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Library Outreach at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, conducted a library signage audit in 2012 and continued this project. They have conducted both quantitative and qualitative assessment of signage design, placement, branding, message, and in 2017, they conducted interviews on students’ perceptions of library signage. They discuss what constitutes “bad” and “good” signage and the importance of developing a signage policy to ensure consistency in design and overall language. Other topics that will be addressed will be placement, ADA compliancy, branding, design, verbiage, and the use of images, language, and font. You’ll come out of this webinar with the best practices to assess your current signage and develop improved signage for your institution.

After participating in this webinar, you will be able to:

• Identify the best practices when developing new signage
• Distinguish and follow the steps involved in coordinating a signage audit
• Create a signage policy that is appropriate for your institution

Mark Aaron Polger is an academic librarian and information literacy instructor who has been working in libraries since 1992. They received their MLIS degree in 2000 from the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada) and has worked as a librarian in public, hospital, and academic libraries. Currently, they are the Coordinator of Library Outreach at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY). At the College of Staten Island, their responsibilities include coordinating the library’s marketing and outreach activities, engaging in campus community partnerships, and assisting in the assessment of library services and resources. Polger’s research interests include library marketing, outreach, and UX (user experience) design. They have written and presented on topics ranging from library marketing strategies, faculty outreach, library marketing campaigns, library jargon, and library signage. They are the author of three books: Library Signage and Wayfinding Design: Communicating Effectively with Your Users (ALA Editions, 2021); Library Marketing Basics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); and Engaging Diverse Learners: Teaching Strategies for Academic Librarians (co-authored with Scott Sheidlower)(Libraries Unlimited, 2017). Originally from Montreal, Canada, Mark holds a DEC in Pure and Applied Sciences from Marianopolis College, a BA honor's degree in Sociology from Concordia University, an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario, an MA in Sociology from University of Waterloo, and a B.Ed. in Adult Education from Brock University. Currently, they are a PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY). Mark is starting their 8th year and working on their dissertation, where they are studying faculty perceptions of academic librarians’ teacher identity.

This event will be hosted in Zoom. Automatic captions will be enabled for this event. This event will be recorded, and registrants will receive access to the recording within a day after the event ends.

If you have questions or requests regarding accessibility, contact us at ce@ala.org or at 312-280-5100.