Situation:       Through a Request for Proposal, the State Library of Ohio wanted to develop and market a statewide version of the KnowItNow 24x7 service, a chance for all Ohioans -students, businesses and people to talk to librarians online any time of the day or night — 24/7.

Objective:       The objective was to create awareness of and traffic for the new KnowItNow 24x7 virtual reference service, which is made available free to all Ohio residents and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24/7).

Strategy:       Stevens Baron Communications, Inc. (SBC) created community relations, public relations, advertising and print materials for the 250 libraries across the state so they could promote the service to their areas and localize coverage.  A press conference occurred at a Columbus library site.

Execution:       SBC worked closely with the Cuyahoga County Public Library in conjunction with The State Library of Ohio and other Ohio library contacts during July and August for a kickoff date of September 7, 2004, the day after Labor Day.  SBC prepared invitations, media advisories, press releases, media kits and banners.  The firm played a key role in the planning and implementation of the kick off. 

Results:       There were 66 media and dignitaries who attended the press conference the day of the kick off.  Four television stations, three print media were in attendance and resulted in media coverage across the state; particularly, through network affiliates.  More than 55 media outlets requested and used press materials.  The State Library of Ohio’s program is already ranked number one in The United States.  In its first month, the new service answered 2,500 online questions.  As of May 2005, the service answered more than 110,000 online questions.