Branding Iron Awards

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.

Apply today

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.

Before You Apply — Read This First

The Branding Iron Awards recognize marketing excellence — not the program, service, or event being promoted.

Applications should focus on:

• Marketing goals (what you set out to achieve)
• Marketing strategies and tactics (how you approached it)
• Marketing results (measurable impact on awareness, engagement, or participation)
  

Your program, event, or service may have been outstanding — but judging will be based only on the marketing and its effectiveness.

Entry Requirements

• All entries must be submitted via the online form (email submissions are not accepted).
• Entries must be received by 5:30 PM Central, January 15.
• Marketing activity must have occurred in the past two years to be eligible.
• Libraries may submit up to three entries total and may only enter one entry per category (no multiple entries in a single category).
• If submitting in more than one category, you must submit a separate form for each entry.

Criteria

• Entries will be evaluated using the Branding Iron Awards rubric.
• Entries are judged solely on the marketing used to promote a program, event, service, display etc., not on the content or success of that program, event, or service.

Deadline:

• January 15, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. (Central)

Timeline:

• September 15, 2025 – Applications Open
• January 15, 2026, 5:30 PM Central – Application Close (no extension)
• February 18, 2026 – Notifications will be sent to All Applicants
• Annual Conference – “Best in Show” Announced

Preparation

Please use the linked planning sheet and evaluation rubric to organize your application.

Categories

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.

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.

apply