Who We Are

Library Communication Strategies, Inc. was established in 2001 by principals Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace. Our mission: to help libraries and librarians increase awareness and support for their services. Our work includes conducting communication audits, developing marketing communication plans, presenting workshops, writing and other assistance. Having worked in library communications at the national and local levels, we bring a unique combination of skills, experience and perspective–more than 50 years total. We also have a strong network of experts in fields such as print design, research, and Websites who know and love libraries almost as much as we do.

Peggy Barber

Peggy Barber was formerly Associate Executive Director for Communication for the American Library Association (ALA), where she managed and implemented marketing and communication programs, including external relations and membership development. She established the ALA Public Information Office, Public Programs Office and the ALA Graphics program, including the widely known "Celebrity Read" poster series. She helped to launch the universal library logo that appears on streets and roads across the country. She also launched the association's development program and served as the first executive director of its foundation. She is co-author with Linda D. Crowe of Getting Your Grant: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians (Neal-Schuman Publishers). Barber received the Lippincott Award for distinguished service to the library profession in 1999, and was honored as Alumni of the Year in 2001 by the Rutgers University School of Library and Information Science. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Riverside, Barber holds a master's degree in library science from Rutgers University. She served as coordinator for the Orange County Cooperative Library System and as a reference librarian for the Bay Area Reference Center, San Francisco Public Library before joining ALA. She has chaired the National Coalition for Literacy and the Community Advisory Board of Chicago's public radio station, WBEZ.

Linda Wallace

Linda Wallace was formerly Director of the American Library Association's Public Information Office, where she developed and implemented creative strategies for National Library Week, Library Card Sign-Up Month, Teen Read Week and other public awareness campaigns. Her responsibilities included media relations; media training and support for ALA spokespeople; and development of the Library Advocacy Now! training program. She has written news releases, editorial columns and public service advertising carried in newspapers and magazines across the country. Wallace is the author of Libraries, Mission and Marketing: Writing Mission Statements That Work published by ALA Editions (2004). She has edited The Campaign for America's Libraries @ your library® toolkits for public, school and academic libraries published by the American Library Association. She previously was community relations coordinator for the Midwestern Michigan Library Cooperative in Flint, where she received two John Cotton Dana Awards for Library Public Relations. A journalism graduate, Wallace has a working knowledge of the media from her days as a newspaper reporter.

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Strategies Inc.