Eight Libraries Honored with 2026 John Cotton Dana Awards

The winning projects demonstrate how strategic marketing can fundamentally shift public perception and drive engagement. The Door County Bookmobile in Wisconsin revitalized a 1950s vehicle to distribute 6,500 books, while the Geneva Public Library in Illinois successfully raised $250,000 for a new outreach van. In Georgia, the Gwinnett County Public Library saw a 446% surge in social media followers after featuring an IT manager in a viral TikTok series.

Other recipients leveraged local culture and community milestones to achieve record-breaking participation. Naperville Public Library increased juvenile card registrations by 67% using an ice cream-themed campaign, and the San Francisco Public Library drew 10,000 visitors to an exhibition on local skateboarding culture. The Hawai'i State Public Library System focused on statewide rebranding, while Kitsap Public Library in Washington utilized an 80th-anniversary celebration to help secure a voter-approved levy. Rounding out the cohort, the University of California Santa Barbara Library fostered campus-wide connection through its "UCSB Reads" poetry initiative.

These honors, supported by the H.W. Wilson Foundation, recognize efforts that enhance the visibility of library services. The 2026 recipients will be formally celebrated at the American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition, marking eight decades of institutional support for library communications.