It’s an exciting time for St. Louis and for G/L. Our advertisement for the Saint Louis Public Library is airing on all the local broadcast television networks. And the “Overdue? Get a do-over.” messaging is on billboards, busses and signage. We are really excited to see the results of the campaign. Of course, we want every client’s campaign to be successful, but this one really hits close to home.
For those of us in working in a creative capacity, it should be no surprise that our public libraries played a big part in our lives growing up. And it’s not only reading, video or learning opportunities. Not just the boundless possibilities to develop your creativity, imagination and critical thinking, all of which are essential to our day-to-day work here at G/L.
As we look forward to seeing how the SLPL going fine free entices our neighbors to use the local library (in fact, many of us signed up for library cards in the course of this work), we reflected on how the library shaped our future.
Anne-Marie, The Leader of the Readers
I’ve just always really liked to read. We didn’t have much money growing up, so my family didn’t have cable TV or video games.
I do remember that one of the first adult novels I read as a kid was All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I was probably in the first grade I think.
When ebooks started getting popular, I honestly didn’t think I’d like them at all…but now I can’t imagine going back to paper books. That’s what I love about being able to check out ebooks from the library. As a compulsive reader, it just wouldn’t be feasible for me to purchase all the books that I read. The library helps me feed my habit instantly— as soon as I finish one, I can check out and download another. Plus, I can read anywhere without carrying around a physical book.
I read about 55 books last year and about 75 the year before. According to my Kindle app, I’ve read for 575 days in a row. Not exactly sure what happened on July 30, 2018, but it doesn’t actually look like the data goes back any further than that. So it’s probably just when they started tracking it.
Ben Schwab, Senior Art Director and Videographer for G/L Content Studios
I do have a soft spot for memories of my mom bringing myself and my younger brothers to the Festus Public Library as kids.
I must have checked out Old Yeller half a dozen times… and not specifically for the movie itself, although I did run through it numerous times, but because it was one of those early VHS tapes that had a behind the scenes feature on it that explained how the film was cut and how the foley artists created the sounds in the film. Which is my earliest memory of realizing that movies are a thing that is created by people with an idea in their heads… making decisions/deceptions to tell a story. It’s something constructed.
That is probably the earliest spark I can recall experiencing for my interest in the work I do now. Not specifically video, but creation of things in such a way as to service story telling. It made me want to make things.
Grace Cohen, Junior Art Director
I remember going to the library in elementary school to check out books for my class projects. I loved searching the isles of books for the perfect resource to match my research project needs, but would always get sidetracked by the picture books and the various comfy places to cuddle up with my finds. No matter how rainy or dreary the weather was outside, the library was like a bright oasis.
Shawn Maher, Copywriter
As a child, my mom would always take my sister and me to the library at least once a week. The librarians would always make jokes about how many books we would check out (usually a few large grocery bags full of them) but we would always plow through them all. I would stay up late during the summer break reading every night and always carry a book with me wherever I went. It should be no surprise that the two children would become writers, with my sister’s first book coming out in May.
I fell in love with the written word and how it the slightest inflection, word choice and turn of phrase could have such a great impact on a reader. How storytelling is not so much about what you say, but what you don’t say and let the reader figure out for themselves.
Were it not for the library, I wouldn’t have felt as free to explore any book that caught my eye and would not discovered many styles of writing or subject matter. I wouldn’t have gained the thirst for discovering new subjects and finding new things to learn. And that is an essential part of being a copywriter: learning about new industries, new clients, new brands and volumes of new information.
The library is a great place to inspire creativity and lifelong learning. We are excited to help bring new generations into this invaluable public resource. If you don’t have library card, go get one! And if you do, then stop in and see what’s new at the library!