06/05/2026
At one time, 15 minutes of fame was Andy Warhol’s standard. But Meghan Wehner ’26 and Jacey Wolfe ’26 proved you only need 26 seconds.
That’s the length of a TikTok clip from SUNY Cortland Memorial Library that recently earned a national award from the American Library Association (ALA).
The award-winning TikTok detailed watercolor bookmarks available at the library’s Makerspace Maker Cart, winning first in the Virtual Exhibits category for libraries with an annual budget under $1 million.
“I think that it stands out because the Maker Cart is so unique to our campus’ library,” said the video’s creator Wehner.
She credited Karen Dafoe, the university’s emerging technologies librarian, with developing fun and creative activities.
“I think my enjoyment was visible through the video,” Wehner said.
@memorial_library This week’s make and take is watercolor bookmarks!! Find the cart across from Bookmark during the week and in the main lobby on the weekends. There’s a new craft every Monday so make sure to check back weekly!! #sunycortland #cortland #sunycortlandmemoriallibrary #makeandtake #stresslessmakemore ♬ I Just Wanna Shine - Fitz and The Tantrums
Wolfe and Wehner interned at the library and worked as student assistants at its Help Desk beginning in 2024. Wolfe came up with the ideas for a TikTok account and for internships that could earn them credit for their work.
When their supervisor, Jim Fitzgerald, coordinator for circulation help, heard about the ideas, he connected them with Assistant Librarian Jenifer Phelan to make them a reality. By the start of the Spring 2025 semester, Wolfe and Wehner began building engagement on the library’s newest social media platform.
Last March, Phelan entered some of their posts in the ALA’s 2026 PR Xchange Awards Competition, seeing it as a chance to highlight the pair’s work.
“I thought our posts were fantastic and so I wanted to share them,” she said.
The annual PR Xchange Awards Competition recognizes the best public relations materials produced by libraries. A panel of judges is made up of 10 in-person judges and 10 virtual judges. The panel represents experts in the areas of marketing, communications, public relations and graphic design.
Materials are judged on the quality of their content, originality, design and format. Judges consider the creativity of an approach, audience appeal, presentation of information in a clear and informative way, an attractive appearance, appropriateness and uniqueness.
This past semester, the Cortland pair’s social media work helped establish a new social media and student engagement internship. With the original interns now graduated, Phelan believes that the opportunity may be offered again in the future.
“They made very creative content for our library social media accounts and generated a lot of student engagement with our platforms,” Phelan said.
For students who step into a similar role in the future, Wehner stressed creating content they love for it to resonate with an audience.
“Make the informational TikToks, but you also must make sure that you have fun,” she said. “Some of the best performing TikToks on the library’s page are ones where Jacey and I were creative.”