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Marketing your Library
Following on from our last post on social media we’ve decided to focus this post on marketing your library.
Due to competition from other information sources, libraries are having to work extra hard to market themselves both to their user base and beyond. This can involve a variety of methods from the traditional to the more innovative. This blog is one example of marketing a small part of the Cambridge University Library collection. We highlight different topics every month so that our users will be able to get the most out of the Library Science Collection but we’re also able to reach a larger audience because of it. Although our core user base is made up of those who can access the physical collection, hopefully we also reach a wider audience looking for information on library science literature. If we can provide something useful then it reflects well on Cambridge University Library as an institution. Users will then tell their friends that we’ve helped them, they will tell their friends and so on. This positive feedback is known as word of mouth marketing and is a very important part of maintaining an image for the library.
Social media is used by many libraries to market their collections or services. It’s common today for a library to have a presence across a range of social networks, from Twitter to Facebook. Interacting with users is a space which many inhabit generally is a great way of getting your message across and drawing people into the library.
Of course there are also many tried and tested traditional methods of marketing such as posters, events and emails to users. The key is to try a range of ideas and find what works for you.
To get you started we’ve put together a list of resources on marketing libraries from the librarianship collection. As always feel free to let us know of anything you think should be added. Also, if you have any tips on innovative marketing techniques them feel free to share them in the comments section below.
Bibliography of resources on marketing your library
Photo: Nate Bolt via Flickr
Social Media in Libraries
Social media has many uses in libraries. It can be a great way to interact with your users, market your services and collections, or work on your own professional development.
Social media has become something of a hot topic in librarianship in recent years, espcecially with 23Things programmes helping to introduce social media tools to many librarians. New tools (and new uses for exisiting tools) are being developed all the time so this is a fast moving area. There used to be lots of talk of Library 2.0 whereas by now we’ve probably moved on to Library 5.0!
We’ve assembled a list of the best resources on social media in the interactive reading list below. As always, feel free to comment if there is a resource in the collection you’ve found particularly useful.
Resources on social media in libraries in the Library Science Collection
Photo credit: Matt Hamm via Flickr
UL Library Science Collection 