ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


December 1 9 9 0  / 1073

Marketing the college library

By Luella Bosnian Teuton

Head Librarian
South Florida C om m unity College

Strategic management, planning, marketing, and public 
relations will play essential parts in the future o f libraries.

C
ollege libraries face dwindling funds, rising 

costs o f materials, and staff shortages. They 
can improve their situation by prom oting 

selves with the same m arketing and advertising 
techniques used by successful businesses. Through 
these techniques, college libraries can gain a larger 
portion o f the college budget.

Libraries m ust include, as p art o f th eir public 
relations activities, effective m arketing o f their 
product. The college library, like a business, m ust 
com pete for each dollar it receives. Libraries are 
often seen as a nice place to have on campus, b u t of 
little value to th e money-making business o f the 
college. Administrators may be reluctant to p u t 
money into som ething th at will produce no reve­
nue. An effective library m arketing plan will ensure 
visibility and illustrate th e library’s value to the 
college. T he library can th en  becom e a selling point 
for th e college in prom oting itself to potential 
students, contributors, and the community. Ad­
ministrators may boast o f library resources avail­
able at their college, b u t few understand just what 
is available and how these resources are valuable 
for research.

Successful people in the business world do not 
accept low sales or threats from th e com petition. 
They go after the business, w h eth er it be by b e tte r 
marketing o f th eir product or other means. Librar­
ies must make potential users aware o f th eir re ­
sources and aware that they are available. C om m u­
nity m em bers within th e area often do not know 
that they may use th e library. College personnel

t

and students may not make full use o f library 
resources due to a lack o f knowledge o f what is 

h eavma­ilable. W hen knowledge o f library resources is 
increased, library usage will increase. W hen the 
library and its resources are perceived as indispen­
sable, any cut will be strongly protested by library 
users. An educated, inform ed public will not easily 
allow services and resources to be cut. The public 
will support what it sees as a necessary, vital re ­
source.

Making college adm inistrators aware o f th e 
needs o f the consumers of library services and 
aware o f standards for college libraries can result in 
increased budget allocations for the library. This 
goal should be part o f an effective marketing plan.

In Libraries in the 90s: W hat the Leaders Expect, 
D onald E. Riggs and Gordon A. Sabine report that 
most o f the library  administrators they questioned 
felt that keeping everyone well inform ed was the 
best m ethod to get their budgets approved. Mary 
Vasilakis suggested that librarians consider what 
value th eir services have to the organization as a 
whole. She says that librarians must be continu­
ously selling their product. Vasilakis keeps h er 
adm inistrators continually inform ed, tells them  
what works well, and makes sure they know what is 
going on.1

1D onald E. Riggs and Gordon A. Sabine, Librar­
ies in the 90s: W hat the Leaders Expect (Phoenix: 
Oryx Press, 1988), 50.



1074 /  C& BL News

Team w ork is necessary to provide library serv­
ices and m arket th e m  effectively. D eveloping lead ­
ership abilities is extrem ely im p o rtan t to  th e  library 
ad m in istrato r. A dm inistrators m u st allow th e ir 
staffs to  grow  professionally and even to  m ake m is­
takes— th ey  are p a rt o f th e  learning process. Lis­
ten in g  to staff and to those served by th e  library is 
a n o th er im p o rtan t leadership tech n iq u e. Library 
adm inistrators m ust establish credibility am ong 
college colleagues. C om m unication an d  tru st are 
extrem ely im portant. D elegation is a n o th er n eces­
sary aspect o f leadership. No adm inistrator, r e ­
gardless o f how  efficient th a t p erso n  may be, can 
accom plish th e  w ork o f th e  library alone.

T h e library’s public relations program  m ust be 
p u t on a sustained, developing, professional basis 
an d  n o t an ad hoc one. Ann H e id b re d e re  E astm an 
says th a t librarians m ust m ake a conscientious ef­
fort to  find o u t exactly w hat w ould co n trib u te to 
p e o p le ’s lives, th e ir well-being, th e ir needs, and 
th e n  tell th e  outside w orld about it, w h ere they 
could find it, and create in terest to  get th e  co n ­
su m er into th e  library. E astm an believes th a t this 
ongoing type o f p rogram  w ould create an atm os­
p h e re  w here budgets and fundraising activities 
w ould b e su p p o rted  (Riggs an d  Sabine, 136).

E lizabeth M artinez Sm ith states strongly th a t 
h e r rep u tatio n  helps h e r get h e r b u d g e t approved. 
She gained th e  confidence o f h e r adm inistration, 
h e r staff and h e r com m unity by being convincing in 
p rom oting th e role o f libraries. Sm ith assum ed she 
w ould b e successful. Sm ith argues th a t studies o f 
self-fulfilling prophecies have som ething to say to

Call for sci/tech abstracts

T he F o ru m  for Science and T echnology R e­
search Task F orce, a com m ittee o f th e  A CRL 
Science and Technology section, req u ests ab ­
stracts o f re c e n t research or research in p ro g ­
ress relevant to  science and technology librari- 
anship. T he com m ittee will select individuals to 
p re se n t reports o f th e ir research  at th e  1991 
Am erican Library Association annual co n fer­
ence in Atlanta.

T he research should focus on timely, re le ­
vant, and significant aspects o f science and 
technology librarianship. T h e proposal should 
not exceed one page, w hich will include th e 
research er’s nam e, institution, p h o n e n u m b er, 
and an abstract not to exceed 250 words. P a r­
ticipants will b e chosen at th e ALA M idw inter 
C onference in January 1991.

All proposals should b e sent to: Susan Stew­
art, Life & H ealth/Physical Sciences Librarian, 
University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557; (702) 
784-6616; fax, (702) 784-1751.

librarians: “I f  we a re n ’t  o u r b est advocates, I d o n ’t 
know w ho else is going to  do it for us” (Riggs and 
Sabine, 49). L ibrarians m ust give serious th o u g h t 
to  this idea. I f  th e y  do no t believe in them selves and 
th e  services th ey  provide, how  are th e y  to convince 
th e ir adm inistrators to  believe in th e m ?

B arbara B. M oran argues th a t those libraries 
w hich use strategic planning will fare b e tte r than 
those th a t w ait passively to  see w hat th e  fu tu re 
holds. W ith strategic planning, a library can d e ­
velop “system atic and m ark et-o rien ted  plans to 
m e et an u n certain  fu tu re ,” identify th e  areas in 
w hich it has a com petitive advantage, and co n cen ­
tra te  its resources th e re .2

W h en  fu tu re library services are being planned, 
it is necessary to consider th e  m arketing an d  posi­
tioning o f those services to  en su re a favorable re ­
sponse by patrons. A library may have th e  best 
possible resources and staff b u t n o t provide th e 
atm osphere o r planning re q u ire d  to  encourage 
patrons to  use th e se services.

T h e college library faces m any challenges, m ain­
taining services an d  resources w ith re d u c e d  b u d g ­
ets and rising costs is only one. Effective m arketing 
and prom otion o f o u r “p ro d u c t” will enable college 
libraries to  obtain necessary funding. 

2B a rb a ra  B. M o ra n , “S tra te g ic  p la n n in g  in 
high e r ed u catio n ” College & Research Libraries 
N ew s 46 (June 1985): 288-290.

Visiting Research Fellowships

Visiting R esearch Fellowships o f from  one to 
3 and 6 to 12 m on th s’ duration will b e available 
for te n u re  at th e  A m erican A ntiquarian Society 
during th e  p erio d  Ju n e 1, 1991, to  May 31, 
1992. All awards are for research and w riting in 
A m erican history an d  cu ltu re th ro u g h  th e  year 
1876, in w hich field th e  Society holds p re e m ­
in e n t collections offering b ro ad  research o p ­
portunities. T h e N ational E n d o w m en t for th e 
H u m an ities-fu n d ed  long-term  awards are in ­
te n d e d  for scholars beyond th e  doctorate, in ­
cluding senior scholars. Am ong th e  sh o rt-term  
fellowship categories offered are several special 
ones th a t su p p o rt scholars w orking in A m erican 
literary  studies, th e  history o f th e  book in 
A m erican culture, th e  A m erican 18th century, 
and those at w ork on doctoral dissertations.

Applications may b e m ade jointly for sh o rt­
te rm  fellowships at b o th  AAS and th e  N ew berry 
Library. T h e application deadline is January 15, 
1991. F o r detailed  inform ation, contact: D irec­
to r o f R esearch  an d  P ublication, A m erican 
A n tiq u a ria n  Society, 185 S alisbury S tre e t, 
W orcester, MA 01609-1634; (508) 752-5813.