Publications, Displays, Signage

Visual aids!

In-house promotion

Take advantage of opportunities within the library for promotion. The library building and its inmates are great promotional tools! Friendly, helpful people are one of your best means of promoting anything the library has to offer. Anyone who works in public services has an opportunity to assess patron needs and promote the library. In a marketing campaign, plan to inform all staff about programs and services being marketed, making staff members knowledgeable ambassadors for the library and upcoming programs or events.

Signage

Library design may be as important as library people in letting customers know about services. Is the library arranged to make it easy on users -- or to make Mr. Dewey happy! Everyone who works in libraries knows that you need to keep all that stuff in some logical, retrievable order, and it's great if libraries all over the country use the same systems. However, none of our library classification systems are intuitive. Nobody is born knowing what the 900s are!

Use words people understand as well as library classification numbers. Make signs large. Consider labeling fiction and non-fiction by name as well as by number for categories that patrons use frequently -- visit the local bookstore for ideas.

Put signs anywhere patrons might need them. Place signs so they are visible upon entering the library or department. If necessary, review basics of signage and resources. (See sidebar.)

Exhibits and displays

Look around, what do you see? What do your users see? Can someone entering the library for the first time get an idea of what the library can do for them?

Put displays where they will be seen and in unexpected places, investigate traveling exhibits or local resources, decorate with old CD's, use book covers, build with discarded books, use the staff favorites, spotlight the staff with a display of photos and bios, hold contests, or elect a user of the month. Steal great ideas from stores and other libraries! The possibilities are endless.

If you have a marketing budget, library supply catalogs have promotional materials, but many resources are available free on the Web. (See sidebar.)

Publications and Newsletters

If you create your own materials, follow accepted guidelines or principles for preparing publications and presentations. If you do not have professional publication or graphic designers on your staff, see your reference librarian for a good book to get you started! (Or see sidebar for links to guidelines for desktop publishing, newsletters, and brochures.)

Presentations

Solicit opportunities to take your message to the public. Speak at meetings, set up kiosks at conferences, register with the local speaker's bureau. Prepare a computer slide presentation to promote a service and have it run automatically on a computer in a high-traffic area of the library.

Blogs, Podcasts, RSS, Wikis

Web marketing opportunities are growing. Examples include, to name a few, developing library blogs to promote services, using wiki software to involve users in online services, creating webcasts (Podcasts),  and subscribing to RSS feeds to keep up with the latest in marketing concepts. (See sidebar links and bibliographies and new resources to get more ideas.)

Staff, signage, displays, exhibits, publications, and presentations are all effective methods for promoting library products. Be creative. Be different. Be frugal! Whatever you do, do it well, because all promotions and materials represent the library and affect the image of the library within the community.

Choose one of the following for your library marketing plan from Module 2. See sidebar links for ideas, examples, and design guidelines.

• Prepare a promotional item for an upcoming library event or program. State the targeted audience and the goal for the item (example: young adults are the target, participation will increase x% from last year). The item can be a poster, flyer, newsletter, etc. Describe why the particular item of promotion was selected for the targeted audience.

• Describe a library character that could be developed for the promotion.

• Outline a brief presentation that could be given at meetings or turned into a computer slide presentation.

Friends groups, advocacy