UCSB Library received five awards in 2025 in recognition of its outstanding communications:
ARL 2025 ARLIES Award
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) awarded the 2025 ARLIES Award for Best Publicity/Marketing Film for the "Gen Z-Scripted Tour of UCSB Library" video at the ARL Spring Association Meeting in April 2025. Coproduced by the Library's Department of External Relations and the UCSB Office of Public Affairs and Communications, the humorous video shows a Baby Boomer-generation library employee giving a tour of the Library and using Generation Z slang to describe key library collections, services, spaces, expertise, and building policies.
ARL is a nonprofit membership organization of research libraries and archives in major public and private universities, federal government agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and the U.S. The ARLIES Film Festival highlights and shares videos developed by member institutions to increase knowledge and use of libraries, their spaces, services, collections, and expertise.
ALA 2025 PR Xchange Awards
The American Library Association (ALA) awarded three 2025 PR Xchange Awards to UCSB Library at the ALA 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in June 2025.
- For the 2023-2024 Impact Report, UCSB Library won the award in the category Advocacy, Fundraising, Annual Reports, and Strategic Plans; electronic materials; libraries with annual budgets over $15 million.
- For the "Gen Z-Scripted Tour of UCSB Library" video, UCSB Library won the award in the category External Communications; electronic materials; libraries with annual budgets over $15 million.
- For the Gather and Graft Workshop digital slide, UCSB Library won the award in the category Special Events; electronic materials; libraries with annual budgets over $15 million.
ARL is a nonprofit membership organization of research libraries and archives in major public and private universities, federal government agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and the U.S. The ARLIES Film Festival highlights and shares videos developed by member institutions to increase knowledge and use of libraries, their spaces, services, collections, and expertise.
LMCC 2025 Best of Marketing Award
The Library Marketing Conference Group (LMCG) awarded the inaugural LMCC Best of Marketing Award, academic/special library category, for the UCSB Reads 2025 marketing campaign at the 2025 Library Marketing and Communications Conference (LMCC) in November 2025.
UCSB Reads is an award-winning common book program led by UCSB Library that fosters a shared sense of belonging by bringing the UCSB campus and Santa Barbara communities together to read a common book that explores compelling issues of our time. Each year, a committee of UCSB faculty, students, staff, and community members selects a thought-provoking, interdisciplinary book written by a living author that encourages a wide range of readers to engage with a contemporary social, political, or cultural issue. The UCSB Reads 2025 book selection was The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay.
LMCG is a 501(3)c nonprofit organization that advances, promotes, and supports the knowledge and understanding of marketing and communications among library professionals, library staff, and those who work in or with all types of libraries and information centers.
