“If no one knows about [the] library and how it can help its community meet its goals, the library will not – and should not – continue to exist.”
- Judith A. Siess, The Visible Librarian: Asserting Your Value with Marketing and Advocacy (2003)

Communicating the value of library services to users is one of my professional interests. On this blog, I have previously posted a review of Brian Matthew’s book on marketing the academic library. It is a subject that interests me in other contexts as there is good research that shows that librarians undersell themselves and the value that they provide. That research also shows that we have a language problem – users don’t understand technical terms like “information literacy” or “reference.” It is a tall order to expect non-librarians to understand that sort of specialized terminology – we need to use language that people understand already.

In addition to general principles of marketing, I like to look at specific case studies. this article about the marketing efforts at the University of Western Ontario and its effort to connect with students during orientation week (sometimes called “frosh week” or “freshman week”). The motto of the 2005 orientation program for the library was, “Just Try to Graduate Without Us!” which strikes me as a playful challenge. The librarians running this campaign also measured the impact of their outreach in engagement with students. Beyond the statistical data, there is one quote from this article that really captures the spirit of the piece: “Undergraduate students who had no affiliation with the library offered to volunteer in the Tent in order to encourage their peers to learn more about Western Libraries.”

The concept of orientation could be applied in non-academic contexts as well. For example, when new lawyers or accountants are hired in a firm (or government or a non-profit), do they meet a librarian on their first day or week of work? They should. There are several different ways to go about this. One method is to ask people to visit the library (or comparable area) and offer a presentation (maybe snacks too?). Another approach, which strikes me as possibly more successful, is to offer to meet each new person. Go to their office instead of having them come to yours. This may not work with everyone but I think it is important to make a positive impression as much as possible.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: “Marketing Today’s Academic Library,” by Brian Matthews
2. Book Review: The Library PR Handbook: high-impact communications edited by Mark R. Gould
3. Distance Education: How Can We Do It Well?
4. An Introduction to Marketing