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Whether working with a full marketing team, or a “shoestring budget” where marketing is one of many duties, librarians are producing creative, impactful campaigns to promote their services, programs, and events.
TLA’s Branding Iron Awards honor the marketing itself – the strategy, creativity, and effectiveness of promotion – with awards presented in several categories, plus one overall Best in Show winner.
2027 Branding Iron Award applications will open September 15, 2026.
2026 Branding Iron Best in Show Award Recipient
Congratulations, Mesquite ISD!
Applications are due January 15. Submit a separate form for each application. A library may only submit one entry per category and are limited to three entries total.
The Branding Iron Awards recognize marketing excellence — not the program, service, or event being promoted.
Applications should focus on:
Your program, event, or service may have been outstanding — but judging will be based only on the marketing and its effectiveness.
Please use the linked planning sheet and evaluation rubric to organize your application.
Each category will honor a winner from an academic, school, public, and special library (if entries are received from all library types). Entries are evaluated based on this rubric. Entries are not judged on the content of the event, program, or display, but on the marketing used to promote the event, program, display etc. See the list below to learn more about what marketing pieces fall into each category.
This category honors the marketing efforts done for long-term Fundraising Campaigns (for a specific purpose or for the organization in general), Donor Outreach, Annual Reports (brochures or other materials used to communicate the previous years’ statistical data of interest for library stakeholders), and Strategic Plans (marketing used to share information with stakeholders about future plans for the library).
The Special Events and Exhibits Marketing category celebrates advertising done to bring attention to limited-time displays or events at your library. Special events include literacy nights, galas, special onetime programs, featured speakers, community events, special exhibits that are for a limited amount of time, or one-time fundraising events.
The Print marketing category honors marketing materials that are specifically in print format. These entries can include newsletters, calendars, orientation materials, email marketing, brochures, book lists, bibliographies, signs, postcards, flyers, swag, or any other marketing done for the library specifically in print. Please do not include materials associated with reading programs, special events, or special exhibits.
The Digital Marketing Category recognizes marketing through digital mediums including social media, email, websites, and other web-based platforms. It does not include marketing for Reading Programs.
The Reading Programs category specifically considers the marketing of any on-going reading program such as 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, Summer Reading, Winter Reading, etc., through any media, digital or print. It is not limited to summer reading programs, and please do not include materials associated with one time programs.
For more information, contact Wendy Woodland, TLA director of advocacy and communications.
All entries and supporting materials will remain with TLA. The association reserves the right to publish any and all entries on the TLA website and in other online or print publications. Submitting organizations must have copyright ownership of all items submitted for consideration. Submitter acknowledges that they have full copyright authority to assign use rights to TLA.
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