CALS Wins Two PR Xchange Awards during American Library Association Annual Conference

Little Rock, AR — The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is proud to announce that its Communications Department has been awarded two 2023 PR Xchange Awards. The first was for Exhibits in the library budget category of over $20 million, the second was for Special Events in the library budget category of over $20 million.

Each of the winning libraries were recognized during an award ceremony on June 25 in Chicago during the American Library Association’s annual conference. Of 215 submissions, 27 print winners were awarded and 34 electronic winners were awarded. Each library was limited to entering five pieces for consideration. CALS Director of Communications Tameka Lee and Content Creator/Writer Kelli Marks were in attendance to receive the awards.

“We are thrilled to receive these PR Xchange Awards, which are a testament to the creativity and innovation of our Communications Department,” said Lee. “These awards not only recognize the hard work and talent of our team but also highlight CALS’s dedication to delivering exceptional experiences to our patrons and partners. We are grateful to the American Library Association for this recognition and will continue to strive for excellence in our marketing efforts.”

The first entry “The Library, Rewritten,” was a collateral piece used to invite media, bloggers, and related organizations to a virtual media day event. The piece was a box in the style of a book decorated with artwork named “Ignite Your Imagination,” by artist Adaja Cooper. The original art is on display at the Sue Cowan Williams Library. The second entry was a video created for TikTok, “Strange Things at the Book Sale;” this video was released to promote the Spring 2022 Friends of CALS Used Book Sale and tied into the much-hyped Netflix series Stranger Things.

The annual PR Xchange Awards Competition recognizes the very best public relations materials produced by libraries in the past year. Entries are evaluated on content, originality, and design by a team of experts in public relations, graphic design, communications, and marketing, who select the winner(s) in each category. A full list of winners can be found here (opens in new window).