Beyond the Red Carpet: How Local "Celebrities" Revitalized a Literacy Classic in Bienville Parish

Suzanne DeKeyzer James, Public Relations Coordinator, Bienville Parish Library, Arcadia, La.

For more than forty years, the American Library Association’s iconic READ™ posters have set the gold standard for library advocacy. Since the campaign launched in 1985, pop stars, movie stars, past presidents, and athletes have graced our walls, holding their favorite books to inspire a love of reading. But at the Bienville Parish Library, we discovered that the most powerful "celebrity" wasn’t in Hollywood; he or she was on our front porch.

The Local Spin

As we planned for National Library Week 2026 (April 19–25), we wanted to bridge the gap between our patrons and the resources waiting for them. So, we launched “Our Community READs,” a localized take on the classic ALA campaign. To kick things off, we invited our favorite U.S. Postal Carrier, Isaac Fairley, to pose with The Postman Always Rings Twice, a playful nod, even though Cain’s novel has nothing to do with mail and everything to do with metaphor. With an expression worthy of a film still, Isaac became an overnight library sensation. The message was unmistakable: literacy isn’t reserved for the famous; it arrives “special delivery” on every porch in our neighborhood.

Expanding the Vocabulary

Modern libraries are about far more than printed pages, so we expanded the classic “READ” branding to reflect the full spectrum of how our patrons engage with stories and with each other.

LISTEN: Featuring patrons with audiobooks to highlight our digital collections and accessibility.

PROGRAMS: Showcasing the wide range of activities across our branches, from senior Chair Yoga to Xbox Arcade games to everyday community connection.

One of our favorite PROGRAMS features was our beloved “Puzzle Queen,” known for conquering 750- to 1,500-piece jigsaw puzzles in our common areas. By highlighting her, we celebrated the quiet power of passive programming, those low-barrier, high-comfort activities that help a library become a true community third space.

Civic Leaders Lend Support

The campaign also drew heartfelt support from our civic leaders. The Parish Clerk of Court chose a nonfiction favorite steeped in Louisiana folklore and historical legends, while the mayor posed with E.B. Sledge’s classic WWII memoir of the Pacific Theater. Seeing our local officials presented in the same format as a child or a hobbyist made the message unmistakable: the library is one of the last truly autonomous spaces, where every reader, no matter what their title, stands on equal ground.

The Art of Visual Pairing

To elevate the campaign's visual impact, we moved beyond simple portraits. Each of our 30 posters was custom designed on 11x17 cardstock, with digital backgrounds carefully matched to the color palette or theme of the featured book or audiobook. That attention to detail transformed each piece from a standard flyer into a small work of curated art. When the posters went up across our branches, they didn’t just decorate the walls; they drew people in, inviting patrons to pause, look more closely, and see their neighbors in a new light.

Success by the Numbers

The impact of Our Community READs was evident almost immediately in our social media metrics. By centering the campaign on familiar faces, engagement significantly exceeded our typical post performance.

Together, these results reinforce a simple truth: when a community sees itself reflected, it responds—and it shares.

The Postal Carrier: Our kickoff post featuring Isaac Fairley drew over 1,800 views—demonstrating how a recognizable community member can capture attention more effectively than generic imagery.

The Clerk of Court: This feature extended into local professional networks, reaching 2,616 views and generating steady engagement throughout the week.

The Rural Mayor: Highlighting a local leader sparked conversation around nonfiction and history, resulting in 886 views and strong organic sharing.

The Puzzle Queen: Showcasing a devoted patron and passive programming generated the highest engagement, with 3,301 views and widespread shares.

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A Strategy for Multi-Branch Success

Managing a library system requires balancing a central identity with local branch pride. We used a "Hub and Spoke" social media strategy on Facebook:

  1. The Hub: All 30 posters were uploaded to the main system page to form a unified gallery.
  2. The Spoke: Each branch then shared posters representing their specific community members, encouraging neighbors to tag one another and celebrate their local stars.

Lessons for Replication

For libraries hoping to spark similar momentum, three lessons rose to the top:

Lean into the Everyday Hero: The people who move through your community every day often inspire the strongest emotional engagement. Their presence feels authentic because it is.

Prioritize the Share Over the Like: Ask followers to repost and share. A single central post can’t match the organic reach of neighbors celebrating neighbors.

Honor the Space Itself: Use PROGRAMS posters to spotlight patrons who come for the camaraderie and stay for the connection, like our Puzzle Queen. These quiet, low barrier activities help transform a library into a true third space.

As National Library Week comes to a close, it’s clear these posters did far more than promote reading. They breathed new life into our library system, honoring the faces we see every day and turning each branch into a small gallery of local stories. And if you’re looking to spark fresh energy in your own library, the secret is simple: look toward the front desk. Your next big star may be a patron walking through the door, or one of your own library workers, already serving the community with a book in hand.

Suzanne DeKeyzer James is the Public Relations Coordinator for the Bienville Parish Library System in Arcadia, Louisiana, where she promotes community-focused programs and initiatives, including Our Community READs and the Legacy Stories Project.

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