It’s official people – the Concord Public Library is better than its Hooksett counterpart.
Well, at least when it comes to getting people to sign up for new library cards – and probably just about everything else. If you didn’t know, September was National Library Card Sign-Up Month, and what better way to make things interesting then with a little challenge? So Joann Salemy, administrative specialist at the Concord Public Library, contacted Hooksett’s assistant director, Matthew Bose, to see if Hooksett was up for a little friendly competition.
“He thought it would be a great idea,” Salemy said.
And with a shiny (but quite small) plaque that just so happened to include the word champion on it hanging in the balance, there was certainly a lot more on the line than just library pride, although that’s important, too.
“Competition is always good to get people motivated,” Salemy said. “It got all 26 of us talking about library cards.”
But enough small talk, let’s get to the juicy part of the story – the results. During the month of September, which is one of those 30-day months, Concord secured 200 new library cards – an average of more than six per day. Hooksett managed just 79 new cards in September, so that kind of discrepancy is something we like to refer to as a blowout. And those 200 cards aren’t even close to what was expected.
“If it was over the summer, we would have gotten a lot more,” Salemy said. “We kind of had a goal that we’d get a lot more than that. Our original goal was 400.”
It’s definitely good to be a member of the Concord library team these days. Talk about bragging rights at the next library gathering (if that’s even a real thing). So for the next year, the championship plaque will be on display across from the library’s main service desk for any and all to see. You just have to look close.
But the real goal is for the plaque to have a permanent home in Concord. Next year, the plan is to bring more libraries into the challenge, which means more to defeat. But for now, enjoy this win Concord. You earned it.
