Book Review: The Accidental Library Marketer by Kathy Dempsey

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to review directly from the publisher, Information Today.

The latest in Information Today’s Accidental series is Kathy Dempsey’s book on marketing, The Accidental Library Marketer. Kathy Dempsey will be well known to many readers as the long serving editor of the Marketing Library Services (MLS) newsletter (also published by Information Today),  which is frequently quoted in the book. You can get a sense of what the book offers from the book’s website which provides the introduction, links presented in the book and more. In brief, I found the book to be informative, useful introduction. Though I found some of the examples  and cases (e.g. using Census data for market research) to be focused on the experiences and needs of public libraries, the general principles and ideas advanced in the book can be applied in other contexts.

The greatest strength of the book is Dempsey’s argument that marketing is a process with multiple steps including research, promotion and evaluation. Many equate “marketing” with “promotion” but this misunderstands the true scope and capabilities of a full fledged marketing strategy. The book also does well to argue that marketing, properly understood, addresses the whole organization. Dempsey makes a good point in observing that many in the profession equate marketing with promotion (promotion is defined as “… furthering the growth or development of a product or service” whereas marketing is defined as, “… taking steps to move goods from producers to consumers. It’s determining what people want, delivering it, evaluating consumer satisfaction, and then periodically updating that whole process.” – 16).

Two chapters in particular struck me as particularly good and worthwhile – Chapter 8: Don’t Shy Away From Statistics and Chapter 12: Getting the Message Out. In the statistics chapter, Dempsey covers how to make more effective use of statistics already available (e.g. data generated from the library website, the Integrated Library System (ILS) and by library staff) and further statistics that ought to be obtained. The chapter also covers Return On Investment (ROI) studies that aim to demonstrate, in financial terms, the value of library collections. Dempsey is right to point out that these kinds of studies can be valuable in obtaining greater funding, though conducting these studies may be lie beyond the skill and experience of some librarians.  “Getting The Message Out” covers how to develop relations with the professional media (e.g. newspapers, radio and television journalists) which is partly based on Dempsey’s own experiences and education in journalism. Given the ongoing and ever worsening economic crisis that is disrupting the traditional news media, this chapter may need a major update soon. The other drawback to this chapter is that it is oriented largely around the needs of a public library; a law firm librarian, academic librarian or government librarian would have to think quite creatively to apply these ideas. The general idea of building a relationship before one “needs” it and offering to support the journalists needs are good recommendations in any case however. The book ends on a high note with a chapter entitled “Finally, the Fun Stuff” (a series of case studies on the innovative ways that librarians have communicated with their users. At the very end are three reprinted articles from the Marketing Library Services newsletter on planning, promotion vs. marketing and print design of promotion.

I would recommend this book to those who work in a public library as they will likely gain the most from the examples, methods and ideas described. The marketing process – the research, planning, and evaluation – can apply to other contexts. In future editions of the book, I would like to see the chapter on digital marketing and websites developed more deeply as the digital environment will continue to become more and more important. I found the book to be a useful introduction to marketing with many good examples and would recommend it as an introductory text.

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