In October 2015, the Kansas City Public Library crafted a series of fun tweets in support of the Kansas City Royals’ memorable World Series run. Using the spine of stacked books, the library’s Twitter account posted photos with cryptic messages in support for the local team.
For the Twittersphere, it was creative and engaging. For Adrienne Meier, the university archivist and a liaison librarian at Seattle Pacific University, it was a challenge.
“I filed that away mentally and thought it was neat,” said Meier, who has been a full-time Seattle Sounders season-ticket holder since 2010. “When I saw the #DefendOurCup hashtag and the [second leg] against Vancouver was on a Thursday, I thought I could do something with it [while at the library].”
From there, Meier went straight to work on her "book spine poetry." With two floors of books at her disposal, Meier used an internal online system to find books using keywords. After finding all the potential options, the SPU alumna began to stack them in different ways.
A couple tweets later, her spinal masterpieces became a memorable storyline of civic hype as the Sounders advanced to the Western Conference Championship.
“I was incredibly excited,” said Meier, who also runs the library’s Twitter account. “With the big response, I thought I would keep doing it, I have some plans for Thursday – hopefully some fun ones come of it.”
Meier aimed to do something similar during last year’s postseason run, but the timing conflicted with Seattle Pacific’s 125th anniversary celebration. This year, Meier took full advantage of the opportunity.
As a diehard supporter, Meier knows the songs and traditions of the club. She has a pulse on how to ignite Seattle with a rallying cry – even if it’s from a university library nestled into Queen Anne Hill.
“It’s my little way of supporting our boys and getting the city behind us,” Meier said. “It’s pretty fun to get behind the club and show that we, as a school, have been part of the city for 125 years, and we’ve been there supporting the Sounders the whole way.”
With cautious optimism, of course, Meier is already pondering potential options if the Sounders were to compete in their second consecutive MLS Cup.
“I am hoping it’s Columbus,” Meier said lightheartedly. “We have a lot more books about Columbus than Toronto.”
