For the love of books

Some predict that digital technology will render physical books obsolete before too long, but the small town of Clunes in Victoria begs to differ. However, the home to the increasingly popular Booktown Festival had to pick their digital battles to attract numbers and create their identity, and so applied to FRRR for a grant to support implementation of a social media strategy. Funding of $4,534 was awarded to purchase computer equipment and cover costs of website development and domain registration. The use of social media facilitated online interaction with Booktown’s volunteers, increasing their involvement before and during the festival. The website was redeveloped with a new visual identity to reflect the core audience and linked with a mobile app, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ accounts.

Stephen Samuel, Festival Director, said that social media strategy is not an area that can be funded through normal revenues, but social media engagement is prevalent in the community. “The public face of the festival, and indeed Clunes itself, is its presence online. An online presence that actively reflects the aspirations of the residents will ensure that community involvement continues from year to year.”

The funding was obviously put to good use. The Festival has 635 likes on Facebook, 271 followers on Twitter and a very attractive and functional website. Lots of great pictures have been posted and community engagement is  apparent from a scan of their Facebook page, especially over the event weekend(4 – 5 May). We read many positive comments from happy festival attendees. Over 20,000 people attended the 2013 Clunes Booktown festival, which boasts over sixty book traders from around Australia. The village streets were closed and filled with marquees and street entertainment. According to Facebook the ATM ran out of cash midway through Sunday, so the town must have got a decent cash injection, making all the hard work by volunteers well worth it. The festival also acts as an opportunity for local community groups to raise funds to assist in the recovery of the community, which was affected by floods in 2011. The town is currently “taking it’s love of books to a whole new level” - offering the opportunity to set up a bookshop of your own on historic Fraser Street on a yearly lease set at just $120 per week. If this is your dream, the details are here.