Library Marketing and Communications: Strategies to Increase Relevance and Results

by Cordelia Anderson

Effectively marketing libraries by persuasively communicating their relevance is key to ensuring their future. Speaking directly to those in senior leadership positions, Anderson lays out the structural and organizational changes needed to help libraries answer the relevance question and maximize their marketing and communications efforts. Focusing on big-picture strategies, she shares lessons learned from her 20+ year career in library marketing and communications. No matter what type or size of library you help to lead, by reading this book you will

Genres: Nonfiction, School, Professional Development, Adult

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good framework for understanding library communications and some helpful jumping off points to get started planning. A good read for a day when the internet is down across the library system.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of covering the big-picture of what a (public) library should be doing in regards to marketing and communications. Anderson breaks down what policies/procedures a marketer and communications manager should be creating/maintaining for their library. It would have been nice to see some examples of those (or links to them) for those of us who learn well from examples, but at least this book is short because it is not entertaining in the least.

Again, the information is solid, but it's more applicable to libraries that have a specific person for marketing. I understand that Anderson includes reasoning why there should be at least one specific person for that position-- and I agree-- but it's just not a reality for many of us smaller libraries. I was hoping to get insight into how to to better market for my library. I got some ideas, but it's definitely a big picture answer rather than a get-down-and-dirty answer.

[Anne]

The author seemed geared towards larger libraries with Marketing and/or Communications departments. I have a staff of 4, including myself, so don't have departments.
There were some good ideas, I just need to figure out how to tweak them for a small town library.

[Kayla Martin-Gant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I really liked it and definitely want my own copy of it for my office. The concepts and discussions inside are pretty...not broad, but big, if that makes sense. This isn't a book that's going to give you step-by-step instructions on specific marketing strategies. Rather, this book gets into more of the *concepts* of library marketing, building a brand and building patron relationships on the marketing side.

Like other reviews here have said, it's a great "big picture" book--and I mean that. I don't think folks looking to learn more about library marketing should skip out on this one. I think it does, however, pair REALLY well with the 2nd Ed. of the Marketing with Social Media: A Lita Guide book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a marketing gworl, especially in libraries, this little book packs a whallop. If you're already knowledgeable in marketing, it's not going to be new material--but it helps you focus it on library-specific goals. For non-marketers, this is a good start. Coupled with a marketing-focused course, it will help you develop solid comms plans & addresses everything from the funnel to handling crises.

I recommend this for any library worker who finds themselves in the throes of handling print/media/digital outreach. I also recommend this for library leadership/librarians who like to downplay the sheer work & ounce of talent involved in a role like this. Some people just fall into these positions with no intention of taking it seriously--to the detriment of their organizations.

[Janet]

This book is really useful for public libraries. I wish it existed when I was a manager of youth services at a medium sized library. It helps to explain what the marketing and public relations staff do and why, and would have helped our communication and working relationship. The author does occasionally attempt to work in a few academic library examples, but this book is definitely geared toward larger organizations.

[Elna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I thought this book would be all fluff, but that attitude is something Anderson is familiar with; library marketing professionals don't get a lot of respect or support because, it turns out, people don't really understand their jobs or what they need to be effective.

Lots of interesting material in here (the difference between marketing and promotion, how essential true marketing is to a library, strategies, strategic plans, etc.).

[Isabel Rizo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I picked up this book but it is still a very good tool for beginners and well-versed professionals. The real-world examples did a wonderful job of showing how Anderson’s ideas can be implemented into a Library’s daily operations, the marketing & public relations department, the community and larger scale Library wide campaigns.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I balked a little at the cost of the book, but having read it, I can see why it's worth it! A great take on leadership and how to use marketing and communications to make the library a better place for staff and users.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for school. It was easy as far as textbooks go but not the most intriguing book. I do think the real world examples from the authors career went a long way in explaining certain concepts.

[Brittany Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. If you can look past it being geared to larger libraries then there is definite gold there. If you have a smaller library/staff you may have to think out of the box on how to implement the ideas in this book but I would still recommend it.

[Danielle Dankenbring · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely informative book on marketing and communication strategies for libraries. Especially for changing views of libraries and keeping them relevant.