The Queen Anne location of Top Pot Doughnuts is just a stones throw away from the branch of Seattle Public Library and is decorated with a bunch of heavy tomes on wood shelves.
I’m not sure if the SPL has anything to do with this nice offer. Regardless, it is nice for library cards to have additional value around the community.
I presented my Multnomah Public Library card to see what would happen. It worked! $1 off. No questions asked, just a pleasant chat about Portland and how many people flash their library card for the discount. The answer: a lot.
At the DCPL we’re evaluating ways to automatically offer patrons email accounts and online storage space when they register for a card. And thinking about if the idea even makes sense.
Top Pot is awesome and what a great cross promotional idea! A perfect example of how libraries can collaborate with communities to create cohesiveness. And provide users with cost effective and high quality donuts.
is dcpl on gmail? i wonder if you could swing that.
I’ve always thought that having some sort of simplemail option for novice users managed somewhat by the library was a killer app idea. I’ll be curious to see how this idea goes.
Back in the day, when we had to walk uphill to school both ways in the snow, I was at the Grande Prairie Public Library District in Chicago’s south suburbs when we started teaching patrons how to sign up for free PrairieNet email accounts to use on our dial-up computer. Given that it was 1996, the fact that anyone took us up on this offer was a huge success, but it was incredibly gratifying to watch residents learn about and use email before most anyone else.
Without our help, it wouldn’t have happened for those folks and they were incredibly appreciative, so I agree with Jessamyn that helping someone start their internet experience in a safe way is a killer app for libraries.
Keep us posted if you go that route.