Your public, academic, or school library has probably had to deal with increased COVID-19 signage. Have you branded it or just printed out what the CDC or local health authority has recommended? Is there any continuity to the signage? Are you using clip art of masks, syringes, and viruses to get your point across? Whatever signage you post in the library, make sure you think critically about the message you are conveying.
The most important aspect of COVID-19 signage at your library is to properly yet briefly convey the message to the reader. People usually don’t take time to read signs. When dealing with health issues, we need to be particularly helpful!
Here are some tips for COVID-19 signs at your library:
- Use polite language,
- don’t be verbose (get to the point in as few words as possible),
- always add your library’s logo/branding,
- don’t have any typos and use correct grammar,
- make sure that fonts and font sizes are ADA compliant,
- and use images that support the content.
Some great online resources to COVID-19 signs as well as additional resources for your library:
- COVID-19 Public Library Communications Guide from the South Carolina State Library (LibGuide)
- Planning for Libraries: Communications During COVID-19 from the Texas State Library (PDF)
- How to Tackle Library Signage in a Pandemic and Make Visitors Feel Comfortable with Your New Rules (Blog Post)
The most important tip is to keep your COVID-19 library signs as up-to-date as possible. Make sure your signage is not too time-sensitive so that you don’t have to replace it too often. Also, make sure that it’s part of someone’s job to regularly assess the overall library signage and make adjustments as needed.
Curtis Rogers Consulting, LLC 