At a Dec. 8 special meeting, Communications Librarian Katie Hoffman presented a portfolio of videos and social-media reels produced to promote Mountain View Public Library services and programs. The presentation covered longer YouTube features and short Instagram reels that staff hope will expand awareness and use of the library's offerings.

Hoffman described a 4-minute, 30-second Bookmobile video made for National Library Outreach Day to encourage residents to visit the mobile service. Testimonial clips in the video emphasize reaching residents who cannot easily visit the main library and the vehicle's ability to access narrow streets, parks and community sites.

Hoffman also showed a History Center tutorial demonstrating how to access the Mountain View historical newspaper archive; she said the vendor requires patrons to be connected to the library network to use that database and that patrons may request physical copies through the library's contact page. A homebound-services video (scripted by staff member Rick) outlined a monthly delivery program that provides books, movies and games to residents who cannot visit the library; the director provided the library's referral phone number during the presentation.

The presentation included demos of Brainfuse JobNow interview coaching. During the meeting a staff member asked whether there are usage limits; Hoffman and staff replied that interview coaching is "unlimited" when live coaches are available. Hoffman described a staff video series (Brainfuse Burst) that produced weekly videos for six months beginning in March 2025 to familiarize staff and eventually the public with features of HelpNow, JobNow, VetNow and CollegeNow.

Hoffman highlighted a short craft-kit tutorial for a skeleton macrame9 take-home kit and noted the video was converted into a QR code printed on the kit for borrowers. She also described Instagram reels that tied to seasonal displays and campaigns; a Banned Books Week reel achieved roughly 4,000 Instagram views with 236 engagements and more than 16,000 views and 900 engagements on Facebook, which Hoffman said exceeded prior posts.

Hoffman credited staff and a communications intern (Puja) for much of the video production; she said the library is experimenting with stop-motion techniques, short performance-style clips (Pages & Paws), and features that highlight the Friends of the Library and their fundraising streams. Hoffman said the Friends group has been active since 1975 and has raised approximately $1.3 million historically through book sales, a lobby shop and online sales.

Trustees asked about analytics and whether the library is correlating social-media metrics with downstream service usage (for example, whether viewers subsequently borrow featured items). Hoffman said she currently reads social-media analytics but does not yet have an integrated feedback loop to correlate views with circulation or module usage; trustees suggested exploring cross-analysis with partner data (for example, the Books Inc. discount program).