An article included on my marketing trends bibliography; highly recommended.
Marketing Trends to Watch, LibraryJournal
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Taking the "library" out of library marketing?
Maybe what prevents people from using or supporting libraries is that they are called, well, libraries. Perhaps a marketing strategy that takes the "library" out of library marketing and shifts it to services only and is in order. More to come.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Image, advertising, and "professionals"
After reading a few Library Journal letters ("Professional sans LIS", Feedback, LJ, 5/1/09, p.10 and "Defining 'professional', Feedback, 7/09, p. 11) and two articles ("The LIS Placement Gap", LJ, BlatantBerry, 7/09, p. 10 and "MLS: Hire Ground", LJ, 6/1/09, p. 44-46) about "professional" librarians vs. paraprofessionals doing "some" librarian work (and thinking about my own experience with this controversial hierarchy), I realized that this HAS to be one of the reasons that library marketing has such a difficult time streamlining itself as a field. (Obviously these aren't new issues...by any means!)
If we can't even decide on who does what and if that's okay, how can we ever present the public with a singular vision and idea about our profession? That uncertainty (and probably even annoyance/anger/toes-stepped-on-feeling) will undoubtedly come out through our marketing...even if we have top-notch marketing for our libraries, staff that are confused about their roles won't be able to genuinely follow through with our projected image/services.
I really do agree that there is a lot of confusion amongst employees and the public about the role of a librarian and that can do nothing good for marketing...at all. I really, really wish there was something I/we could do to change that, since so many other "professional" fields have clearly defined boundaries.
I think librarians are in a unique position since so many are understaffed and everyone has to do "everything". Besides wondering how to draw lines (if need be), how can we prevent this "professional confusion" from seeping into our marketing and hindering our efforts?
If we can't even decide on who does what and if that's okay, how can we ever present the public with a singular vision and idea about our profession? That uncertainty (and probably even annoyance/anger/toes-stepped-on-feeling) will undoubtedly come out through our marketing...even if we have top-notch marketing for our libraries, staff that are confused about their roles won't be able to genuinely follow through with our projected image/services.
I really do agree that there is a lot of confusion amongst employees and the public about the role of a librarian and that can do nothing good for marketing...at all. I really, really wish there was something I/we could do to change that, since so many other "professional" fields have clearly defined boundaries.
I think librarians are in a unique position since so many are understaffed and everyone has to do "everything". Besides wondering how to draw lines (if need be), how can we prevent this "professional confusion" from seeping into our marketing and hindering our efforts?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Library marketing outside of public libraries
I'd be interested to know about how specialized libraries are handling library marketing. While I did uncover quite a few great articles about medical library outreach, I'd be interested in hearing from people who have been involved in marketing for non-public libraries.
If it's happening in Kenya...
Something funny: a cursory search resulted in an article about marketing library services in Kenya. Check out the reasons cited for the need of marketing in university libraries:
Seems like the same problems are occurring worldwide, and NOT just in Africa. Though the author acknowledges that the "concept of library marketing is not new", he also says that: "Most of the schools of library and information science do not have curriculum courses and units of study in this area of specialisation within librarianship and where they exist they are not part of the core courses."
I can safely conclude that this is strong reasoning for adding more educational training to LIS programs. I am also questioning why these same complaints keep being made, year after year, by libraries all around the world. I definitely don't limit my interest to library marketing in the States. It's an epidemic! More later. Comments welcome.
On a lighter note, we're talking about Kenya. Besides libraries in Kenya, there's lions!
We can identify four basic reasons why university libraries in Kenya need to adapt a strategic marketing approach:This article also mentions that fund reduction was because (in summary) stakeholders were "receiving no direct personal benefit from library collections". Sounds familiar.
1. (1) declining level of budgetary support;
2. (2) increased competition from other sources of information such as the Internet;
3. (3) changes in educational system; and
4. (4) changes in information technology (Kavulya 2003).
Seems like the same problems are occurring worldwide, and NOT just in Africa. Though the author acknowledges that the "concept of library marketing is not new", he also says that: "Most of the schools of library and information science do not have curriculum courses and units of study in this area of specialisation within librarianship and where they exist they are not part of the core courses."
I can safely conclude that this is strong reasoning for adding more educational training to LIS programs. I am also questioning why these same complaints keep being made, year after year, by libraries all around the world. I definitely don't limit my interest to library marketing in the States. It's an epidemic! More later. Comments welcome.
On a lighter note, we're talking about Kenya. Besides libraries in Kenya, there's lions!
Resources would be nice!
Let me add that I'll be routinely searching the literature (both peer-reviewed and not) for articles to share and support my opinions. They might be of interest to many of you...there's a wealth of literature out there that could really help (or at least be enlightening).
Why Aggressive Library Marketing is Necessary
Libraries + Marketing aren't words that are generally found in the same sentence, but lately that's all we're hearing about. But why has it taken an economic downturn to finally bring marketing issues to light? Why has it taken so long for the library world (save for those who are already in the field of library marketing - it's a small pasture, btw) to realize the value of marketing their services? Why has library closures finally made people stand up and say, HEY, let's get the word out - we're valuable, don't close us down?!
Sure, there has always been library promotion of some sort going on through the years, but the current literature is now full of articles about promoting library services. Although it's my deep-felt belief that this should have always been the case, I can't go back in time, so I can only make suppositions.
I hope to accomplish several things with this blog:
1 - Reach like-minded individuals who are also scratching their heads to find that "one marketing strategy" that will work for all libraries
2 - Vent frustrations about past and current trends (or lack thereof)
3 - Discuss with others several key points, such as: Why has it taken so long to bring library marketing to the forefront of discussion; How we can establish marketing as a necessary part of funding; and more importantly, Why is it so difficult to reach so many segments of the population, yet brands like Target, Walmart, etc. do this everyday.
4 - To promote (and reinforce) the idea that to be successful, librarians cannot shy away from marketing simply because of the business aspect of the term (I personally think that this is one reason why library marketing has traditionally been neglected). Libraries are businesses and are in dire straits because they are funded publicly, but do not generate any significant revenue - therefore making them candidates for even MORE creative, yet inexpensive, marketing endeavors. In fact, I can recommend an article that even suggests changing the name "marketing" to something more "psychologically suitable".
If you find this relevant to you, please feel free to comment and pass this blog on to others! I hope to spread the word and make a significant impact, along with the many others in the same field, in the field of library marketing. I welcome all comments and discussion.
Sure, there has always been library promotion of some sort going on through the years, but the current literature is now full of articles about promoting library services. Although it's my deep-felt belief that this should have always been the case, I can't go back in time, so I can only make suppositions.
I hope to accomplish several things with this blog:
1 - Reach like-minded individuals who are also scratching their heads to find that "one marketing strategy" that will work for all libraries
2 - Vent frustrations about past and current trends (or lack thereof)
3 - Discuss with others several key points, such as: Why has it taken so long to bring library marketing to the forefront of discussion; How we can establish marketing as a necessary part of funding; and more importantly, Why is it so difficult to reach so many segments of the population, yet brands like Target, Walmart, etc. do this everyday.
4 - To promote (and reinforce) the idea that to be successful, librarians cannot shy away from marketing simply because of the business aspect of the term (I personally think that this is one reason why library marketing has traditionally been neglected). Libraries are businesses and are in dire straits because they are funded publicly, but do not generate any significant revenue - therefore making them candidates for even MORE creative, yet inexpensive, marketing endeavors. In fact, I can recommend an article that even suggests changing the name "marketing" to something more "psychologically suitable".
If you find this relevant to you, please feel free to comment and pass this blog on to others! I hope to spread the word and make a significant impact, along with the many others in the same field, in the field of library marketing. I welcome all comments and discussion.
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