Licking County Library | Community Programs And Self-Service Innovation

Library Story

Supporting a strategic plan with uniFi+ and selfCheck 3000: Licking County Library

January 12, 2026

Challenge

Boost library brand awareness and modernize spaces with technology.

Solution

Use uniFi+ to make marketing a breeze and selfCheck 3000 to give patrons independence and privacy.

Result

Increased patron engagement and excitement, and staff delighted by time-saving, easy-to-use, highly customizable software.

Where can you find ice cream so smooth and rich, its very name is velvet; swoon over famous antique collectible glassware; traverse forty miles of paved pathways by pedal or on foot; and taste a nationally famous chocolate peanut butter fudge confection, all along a corridor of the Historic National Road Byway? Pay a visit to Licking County, Ohio, an hour east of Columbus and home to approximately 180,000 people, not counting the thousands of tourists that travel to the area every year.

Credit: Ohio.gov and Goumas Candyland in Newark, OH.

From local restaurants bursting with flavor and flair, to farmers’ markets proffering homegrown delicacies, Licking County has sweet and savory covered. Speaking of sweet, the aforementioned chocolate peanut butter fudge is none other than the buckeye, a candy born in Ohio based on the appearance of the nut from its namesake state tree. While buckeyes from the tree are inedible for humans, the candy version is decidedly friendlier and such a popular a treat, Ohioans eat six-million pounds of it every year.

To expend the energy from those buckeye treats, locals and visitors head to Ohio’s oldest state park, Buckeye Lake, for plentiful outdoor playtime. The 3,100 acre lake has room for all manner of watersports in every season, and its four-mile shoreline in addition to its four-mile multiuse path makes it hard to find excuses not to get outside. If you like your nature with a side of history, check out the 2,000 acres of Dawes Arboretum and explore its botanical garden, pop-up exhibits, and historic Daweswood House Museum, all among thousands of ornamental trees from around the globe and planted as seedlings in the early 1900s.

Licking County takes pride in its architectural landmarks, too, especially the Midland Theatre, which originated in 1928 and still features both elegant and boisterous entertainment for today’s audiences. For a quieter experience, spend some time gazing at the exquisite, colorful antique treasures in the Heisey Glass Museum.

Credit: Midland Theatre and Heisey Glass Museum.

Taking glass to the great outdoors for an ongoing scavenger hunt is another thing you’ll only find in Licking County. The result of a county collaboration with The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology, the Find the Glass project pairs glassblowers with ancient history to create a unique outdoor quest: searching for custom-made glass medallions embedded with the shape of a Hopewell era flint point, hidden and waiting to be found in public parks and greenspaces.

Credit: Find the Glass.

In such an interesting area with such an engaged populace, it seems only natural that Licking County Library would bring a cornucopia of outstanding services and programs to the community. The library serves the county through five branches, a mobile library, and 24-hour outdoor vending on a school campus and in a local park. In addition to its welcoming spaces and meeting rooms, the library offers an extensive collection of print and digital materials, unique lending items, programs for all ages, databases, and services for the intellectual and recreational pursuits of its patrons.

Not only does Licking County Library present numerous programs for all ages, it offers a large menu of programs for individuals with developmental disabilities, or who are on the spectrum, or who are in various stages of dementia. Showing a genuine heart for inclusivity, they put forth programs and activities designed for those who may otherwise be marginalized, such as writing workshops, arts and crafts, board games, music, and field trips to local museums.

The library also loans passes for free entry to the Dawes Arboretum and the Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology Museum, and it entered into partnership with Google in order to offer the Google Career Certificate. The Google Career Certificate is earned through a self-paced, online education program that teaches relevant skills in the field of technology, giving patrons credentials that can boost their chances at professionally satisfying, higher-paying employment.

Recently implementing a new strategic plan titled “Moving Forward,” Licking County Library identified key components on which to focus to achieve its “Desired Future State.” Its introduction explains that the strategic plan will guide library “…efforts and reaffirm our commitment to literacy as we work with intent to expand and diversify collections; infuse programming with educational purpose and measurable outcomes; create welcoming facilities that encourage exploration and engagement; identify new partnership opportunities; and cultivate a passionate and knowledgeable work force.”

Specifically, a few of those important goals include:

“community members having greater awareness of what LCL does and offers”
“a clear and compelling brand identity”
“optimizing facilities”

In support of achieving the goals of increased awareness by the community, a strong brand identity, and modern facilities, the library added uniFi+ and selfCheck 3000 to its daily operations for patrons and staff.

“In our county, we have a lot manufacturing plants and our population is a wide range of ages, with a lot of families,” says Olivia Chapman, Head of Marketing at Licking County Library. “We also have a lot of ancient history, including Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which was recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the only one in Ohio. History is big for us. Book culture is also very big here and we encourage that.”

In speaking about the library’s new strategic plan, Chapman was exuberant. “We’re really proud of the strategic plan that launched this year. It’s getting us back to the basics of a library, which means a strong focus on literacy and learning. Of course, we continue to expand our reach, and we work hard to be for everyone, but we’ve noticed a need in our community to refocus on literacy. Included in that, we want to make it possible for others to experience culture, so we’re partnering with other organizations to help the community learn about different cultures and even our own local culture. As I mentioned, we have a lot of history.”

At the library’s main location in downtown Newark, staff curated a small space that they named “The Collective,” which houses rotating exhibits highlighting community heritage and notable events in history.

“That’s one of the things we use uniFi+ for,” Chapman says, “to showcase our exhibits and encourage patrons to check it out. It’s another piece of awareness: it’s on this same floor, go check it out.”

Chapman was initially skeptical when she heard about uniFi+; she was not quite ready to believe the ease of creating promotional displays and interactive content, and sharing and managing that content on screens across their branches and on their selfCheck 3000s.

“I thought it was too good to be true,” she shares, “that all the features were going to be there and be included in the cost. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw all that I could do. I love it. It’s a huge time saver, for sure.”

Prior to uniFi+, the library used flash drives loaded with PowerPoint presentations to display promotions on screens “…and it was a pain, it was tedious.” Now, staff rave about being able to schedule start-and-end dates for program promotions, creating content in minutes, and being able to direct information to particular screens across their locations.

“Instead of every day going in and saying, ‘well, yesterday this and that event happened, so we have to take those slides down,’ we can batch upload everything for the next round. We work in program cycles, and as soon as we get promotions created, we just upload and schedule them at the same time, even months in advance. We don’t have to copy the process at each different location, it’s already in there, and you just assign it to all the screens you want. It’s really great.”

That uniFi+ integrates with selfCheck 3000 is also appealing to Chapman and library staff. “I really like uniFi on the self-check,” she says, “because it’s just another way to get our information in front of people. We post reminders for holidays or other closures right on the self-checks, so people see them and remember. Or they’ll see a program, like our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, and sign up.”

Speaking of selfCheck 3000, Licking County Library staff make good use of its capabilities to customize receipts. “Our Collection Services Manager initiated getting these machines,” Chapman continues, “and I know she was very happy about the way we could edit receipts and leave off full names, for patron privacy.”

About adding selfCheck 3000s to the library, Chapman says, “We were looking at multiple ways to update and keep things modern in our libraries, for what people need today, and that includes technology, of course. People want independence and efficiency, and even privacy, to be able to check out items on their own or check their accounts. And it’s great for them to be able to get in and out quickly using the self-check, and it makes things more efficient for staff members, too.”

“We also love that it is height-adjustable for accessibility,” she continues, “and another feature we like is the NoveList® integration that shows recommendations on the screen. I also like being able to change gradient colors on the screen. It seems like a small thing, but it means we can use our colors, our vibrant logo and branding, and that’s important.”

When implementing uniFi+ and selfCheck 3000 the library team took advantage of training from the experts of Bibliotheca Academy. “They’re great,” Chapman says, “it was very helpful.” Feedback continued from library staff after the selfCheck 3000s were up and running:

“I’m seeing more patrons that I didn’t expect to use it, give it a try and be excited about it, and adults will ask their kids if they want to use self-checkout or go to the desk.”
“People are showing their friends, that they have come in, how to use it.”
“I like the size and style of it and the scrolling promo screen on it is really cool.”
“I have been most surprised by the number of patrons who are excited and interested about trying it out”
“It has been fun watching both kids and adults over fifty enjoying being able to use it on their own.”
“With it being close to the desk, they don’t miss out on interacting with us if they choose to.”

As the library continues to tackle the goals of its new strategic plan, Chapman is jubilant about its accomplishments and service to the community. “We just opened up a new branch,” she says, “and we are very proud of that. It has a lot of new furniture, new amenities, expanded hours, and it’s in a storefront in a grocery store plaza, so it has a lot of parking. We’re all really proud of the way we’re taking concrete steps toward the points of our strategic plan.”

We’re expanding and growing, and focused on being part of current times, technology, and accessibility,” Chapman says, “at the same time as getting back to the basics of a library, which is a big focus on literacy and learning, finding all the ways that we can reach people, and making sure that everyone can learn and get what they need.”