Do promotional campaigns for libraries actually work?

A great promotional image for libraries caught my eye, courtesy of Facebook, and set a train of thought going:

The above was the result of a competition hosted by German publishing giant Springer’s Springer LibraryZone, with the lucky winner Miguel Correia of the Institute of Accounting and Administration of Lisbon (ISCAL) in Portugal. “Wow! I wasn’t expecting this! Thank you, Springer and all the people who voted for my quote,” Miguel said in his reply on Facebook. “To all librarians out there: live long and prosper!”

Note the complete openness to digital media and ebooks, with no distinction drawn between print and onscreen. As one wag remarked, it might be more in keeping to see some papyrus or clay tablets in there too, but overall it’s a great image for the  modern library.

So what are libraries doing to promote themselves on the streets? We’ve already seen the U.S. “Geek the Library” campaign, which gave rise to a perhaps slightly less inspired German derivative, BiblioFreak:

Then there’s the Kansas City Public Library redesign that transformed an architectural facade into the “Community Bookshelf,” like something out of Borges:

There’s even a U.S. company, BiblioBanners of Genoa, Wis., that appears to exist entirely to provide libraries with promotional posters and signage. “How is your curb appeal?” asks their material. “Does your library promotion catch the eye of potential patrons, the ones driving by instead of stopping in? Are they noticing colorful library posters on bulletin boards and in windows as they work and shop in your community?”

Their answer is with images like this:

So how do these images appeal? Does anyone else have examples of great library signage or advertising that they’d like to share? Do let us know.