GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Public Library is changing the way it publicizes its events, and will no longer send a print newsletter by direct mail to about 18,000 homes and businesses in the town.

The library has already started a changeover to a system of digital alerts that it calls eNews, and library Director Tim Wiles reports that eNews already has thousands of subscribers.

Keeping in touch with library users through the print newsletter, Wiles said, required the library to plan its events five or six months ahead. "We wanted to be a little more nimble and flexible," he added.

For instance, earlier this summer, library staff grilled and handed out hotdogs in front of the building, after learning six weeks earlier that that day was to be National Hotdog Day. There was no time to make an announcement in the newsletter, and there was some concern among staff members that library patrons might not hear about the event.

As it turned out, “It was a very fun and successful day,” Wiles said, with the library serving 360-some hotdogs — donated by ShopRite — in three hours.

These days, with the shift away from relying on print announcements, Wiles said, library staff would be able to create an event only a few days in advance and still get the word out through email.

The print newsletter will continue, but will simply not be mailed. It will be published more frequently — every other month, instead of quarterly — and will be available for pickup at the library itself, as well as in the entryways of diners up and down Western Avenue and "anywhere they'll let us put them," Wiles said.

In the past, Wiles said, the library had been spending about $20,000 each year on printing and mailing the newsletter.

Another advantage of changing to digital alerts, Wiles said, is that library staff can access a report from the company that handles its email, and learn exactly what percentage of recipients are actually opening — rather than ignoring or deleting — a particular email from the library. He said that their “open rate” is currently about 50 percent, “which I am told is pretty good.”

There’s no way to tell, Wiles said, how many recipients open a print newsletter.

Library staff surveyed other local libraries, and found that only about a third still print and mail out newsletters, Wiles said.

The library also advertises its events in several other ways.

"We invested last year in the electronic sign outside, and I think it's had a dramatic effect," Wiles said. He was referring to a large, brightly lit sign close to Route 20 and easily readable from the road.

The sign, which has been up and operating reliably since the beginning of March, cost $25,000, he said. The library received a $5,000 donation from the library foundation, a $10,000 donation from a trust in Saratoga called the Alfred Z. Solomon Trust, and a $1,000 donation from library patron Patricia Bult. “So we raised $16,000 of the $25,000, and used library funds for the rest,” Wiles said.

The library offered a performance by a comedy juggler and magician known as Jester Jim, Wiles said, who had also performed there a year ago, before the library bought the electronic sign. The number of people at Jester Jim's 2015 performance was 38. At 2016's performance, the number was 238.

The library posts events on its Facebook page, Wiles said. It pays about $5,700 per year for its one-page ads in the free monthly circular "Our Towne.”

And "perhaps our most effective tool," Wiles said, is Mark Curiale's column, "Library Notes," that runs for free in each issue of The Enterprise, a paid-circulation weekly newspaper. "We very much appreciate that," Wiles said. The column is also accessible, for free, on the Enterprise website.

A new newsletter, called GPL Kids, is now being printed; it highlights the library’s programming geared toward kids, tweens, and teens, Wiles said, and is sent home to all families that have elementary school-aged children. It is sent home in children’s backpacks, saving the library the cost of mailing. “We appreciate the help of the school district on this!” Wiles wrote in an email. His wife is the superintendent of Guilderland schools.

The library is currently working with the other libraries in the Upper-Hudson Library System, Wiles said, to purchase an app for smartphones or other mobile devices. Users would enter their information, including library card number,  just once. Wiles said that, after that, for instance, “If your friend had a book that looked interesting, all you would have to do would be scan the barcode on it, and you could immediately find out if the library had a copy, and place it on reserve.” The app would also list all upcoming events, and allow users to register for them.

Wiles is concerned, he said, that some library patrons may not have internet access, may not receive email, or may not like to read online. If any library users want to continue to receive the print newsletter by mail, they can. They should contact Curiale, who is keeping a mailing list, said the library director. Curiale can be reached at (518) 456-2400, ext. 112.  

“If just three people call us, that’s good,” Wiles said. “If three thousand call, then we might have to rethink.”

So far, there is only one name on the list, Wiles said.