I can’t find a clip of this online, but I was watching TV tonight and saw a commercial for the Lied Library at UNLV. There were shots of the library’s impressive architecture and robotic book retrieval system, and the commercial followed a visitor to the library finding something to read and having a cup of coffee. The commercial emphasized that the library visitor wasn’t a student at UNLV but a “student of life” and closed by saying that the library was for all the citizens of Nevada. I thought this was interesting, because while state libraries are open to everyone I don’t normally see this type of outreach. I wish I could link to the commercial!

Updated to add the link, courtesy of my husband’s superior searching skills:

http://ads.unlv.edu/library.html

Of course I don’t think the library advertising budget translates into very visible commercial placement. Due to Mr. TangognaT’s unfortunate sports obsession, we spotted the ad while we were watching The Mtn. channel. My husband says no one watches The Mtn., so I guess it must not cost too much to buy commercial time there. Still, it was the first time I’ve seen a commercial like that for an academic library on TV, and I thought it was interesting that they were doing that type of outreach.