Abstract
As discussed in the Charleston Briefing entitled Library Marketing: From Passion to Practice, successfully marketing libraries requires more than a sound communication strategy. Marketing is, in fact, all of an organization’s activities that deliver a product or service to its intended customers. This distinction means that library organizations need to expand their views about what it means to “market” themselves to encompass all of the touchpoints users have with their services. In the process, librarians are challenged to reconcile marketing practices from the business world with their public service ethos, as well as ensure their missions are well defined and executed throughout their services.
The following proceedings highlight the key points of the Briefing, which is available in full and open access via Michigan Publishing and ATG Media (Stover Heinze, 2017).
Library Marketing: From Passion to Practice
As discussed in the Charleston Briefing entitled Library Marketing: From Passion to Practice, successfully marketing libraries requires more than a sound communication strategy. Marketing is, in fact, all of an organization’s activities that deliver a product or service to its intended customers. This distinction means that library organizations need to expand their views about what it means to “market” themselves to encompass all of the touchpoints users have with their services. In the process, librarians are challenged to reconcile marketing practices from the business world with their public service ethos, as well as ensure their missions are well defined and executed throughout their services.
The following proceedings highlight the key points of the Briefing, which is available in full and open access via Michigan Publishing and ATG Media (Stover Heinze, 2017).