Back

Attendees: Mary Trev Thomas (BETH), Meg Maurer (APLM), Debbie Shoup (EGRN), Margaret Garrett (GUIL), Barbara Kubli (STEP), Denise Coblish (BETH), Sue Baker (BETH), Jo-Ann Benedetti (UHLS), notes.

Topic: Marketing Your Library
Speaker: Carol Anne Germain, University at Albany Library

The handouts from this presentation are available online. Click here (zip file).

Following are points and information provided by Carol Anne:

• Find a slogan that sticks in your mind.
• Use other people to help market your library - run a contest for the slogan?
• Know what you want to market about your library.
• Communication is critical - keep people informed.
• Designate a key PR person to be the main contact, set up meetings, coordinate efforts, provide focus, track projects and expenditures, and be the consistent voice to the community.
• Put together a small committee for ideas and to spread the work around. Include a high school student, a non-library user, a trustee, a town official (or family relation of a town official), and a businessperson or member of the local Chamber.
• The committee charge - to write a marketing plan, analyze the needs of the community and come up with a strategy to address those needs, how to evaluate the results.
• Success is important to inspire continuation and enthusiasm.
• Consider doing focus groups, town meetings, or one-on-one interviews as a way of determining the community’s needs. Give an incentive or prize to participants to thank them.
• Research the community in person or by phone - school district information, county data, town clerk for number of building permits & hunting licenses), Chamber of Commerce, United Way, school librarians, assisted living centers, and food pantries.
• Keep in mind that local colleges and universities are often looking for projects like doing surveys and will do it gratis for a library. At RPI, contact odellc@rpi.edu. They have a course called “Writing and Editing” that will produce brochures.
• Develop a promotion calendar - don’t try to do everything all at once.
• Where to market? Look at newspapers, refer to the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media. Get a contact at each media outlet and find out from them when they prefer to receive a press release, and the best method (Fax? Email?) to send it.
• For press releases - Proof read! Or find someone who will.
• Put as much information as possible into the 1st and 2nd paragraphs.
• Keep your audience in mind. Be brief. Write simply. Use active verbs and the active voice.
• If possible, find a local writer who can do your press releases for you.
• Send a thank you note when they publish something of yours.
• Invite the media to your events.
• Public service announcement (PSA) - keep it generic. Read it out loud and time it.
• Consider radio transcripts (see the handouts).
• Non-traditional publicity outlets - school newspapers, blanket mailing to community residents, grocery store flyers, Little League banners, have the Friends sponsor a baseball or softball team.
• Make large print flyers for seniors and others with visual challenges.
  

Next meeting: Friday, June 20, 2003 from 9:30 AM - Noon in the Green Conference Room at UHLS. This meeting will be a demonstration of the trial databases to be previewed and evaluated over the summer.