1. REFERENCE AND MARKETING
By: Rebecca Kilbreath, Michelle Kurczak, and
Mary Sosniak

2. MARKETING 101 FOR LIBRARIANS
 What is marketing?
“Libraries, no matter the type, require that their
facilities, services and resources be used (and
appreciated) in order to survive.”
--Kimberly Bloedel & Kathryn Skhal

3. INTROVERSION & LIBRARY MARKETING
 How do librarians feel about it?
 Early research showed libraries were “introverted and
organized”; “submissive, conservative, lack confidence”
 Later research evolved to include that librarians are
“sensitive and insecure”; “social, investigative and
enterprising”
 While some librarians are resistant to change, research
found administrators and those who had taken a class
or seminar in marketing are very open to the concepts
Aharony, Noa. "Librarians' Attitudes Towards Marketing Library Services."
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 41 (2009):
39-50.

4. BRANDING YOUR LIBRARY
 Branding is the basis of most marketing plans. It’s a
huge topic that boils down to consistency.
 Logo creation and a persistent vision for your marketing
materials is key
 Most of the articles we read noted that their marketing
efforts were improved by being part of a branding
platform
 For more tips and resources on branding, see the
handout.

5. OUT THERE OUTREACH
 Cocktails & Murder: Edgy Promotional Activities
 Montana State University’s Cocktail Party
 Christopher Newport University’s Murder in the Library
 Frankenstein: Monstrous Marketing

6. FREE LABOR!
 Collaborating with Marketing Students
 Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University
 Teaching Opportunity
 Collaborating with target market
 Getting the students where they live…

7. BE VISIBLE: GO WHERE YOUR USERS ARE!
 More than Library Liaisons
 Definition of Embedded Librarianship
 Reference librarians can be in the center of the action,
where the users are, ready to teach research and
information literacy skills whenever and wherever.
 Collaboration and Partnerships
 Build relationships to gain insight into what users are
doing and how they use information

8. ACADEMIC EXAMPLES OF EMBEDDED
LIBRARIANSHIP
 Penn State University
 Attend every class meeting of the first-year speech course.
 Wake Forest University
 Travel along with a course taking place on a two-week bus trip.
 University of Montana-Missoula
 Information literacy integrated into Intro to Public Speaking.
 Texas A&M University
 Virtual reference in distance education with electronic and print
promotions.

9. JUST TRY IT!
 Murray State University case study
 Moved office into the College of Business and Public
Affairs
 Faculty
 Become one of them!
 Increased awareness of work, research, and professional
interests
 Students
 Email
 Prime face-to-face location

10. Brian S.
MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY
 Why use technology in marketing Mathews writes
reference in libraries? in his article, “Do
You Facebook?
Networking with
Students
Online,” that
- Consider your audience! “With more than
2,000 institutions
- Consider the numbers! participating and
nearly 9 million
- Consider perceptions! registered users,
Facebook has
become the
ubiquitous online
social network
for higher
education” (306).
According to a survey done by Lorri Mon and Ebrahim
Randeree and talked about in the article, “On the Boundaries
of Reference Services: Questioning and Library 2.0,” “some
students expressed doubts as to whether it was appropriate to
ask a librarian for help with Web 2.0 topics, and questioned
whether, if asked, a librarian would be knowledgeable or likely
to help them with this topic” (169).

11. DO YOU FACEBOOK?
UVM Libraries' Top Models | Facebook
Harry Glazer writes in
“Clever Outreach or
Costly Diversion? An
Academic Library
Evaluates Its
Facebook
Experience” that,
“Group membership
serves as a type of
online identity
bracelet, allowing
Facebook members
to identify
organizations, causes
or interests they
support or to learn
about their friends’
interests in non-
threatening manner”
(11).
Franklin D. Schurz Library's Notes

12. BLOG YOUR HEART OUT!
 What are blogs and why should libraries use them?
 What are important aspects to consider in
constructing a blog?
Georgia State
University Library
Blog
Ohio University
Libraries News
and Events

13. YOU CAN TWEET AND PODCAST TOO!
Tweeting Podcasting
UNCG's University Libraries Western Kentucky University
Libraries Podcasts
Food for Thought!
Alison Circle writes in “Marketing Trends to Watch” that, “During Ohio’s recent
budget debacle that slashed state funding for libraries, Twitter functioned as the
engine driving the public to voice outrage and opposition. Word on the budget hit
the Twitter world even before libraries had a chance to formulate a coordinated
response” (26).

14. CONCLUSION
 Use what works for you and your brand to serve
your target market.
 Motorola Archivist Sue R. Topp told us that if she
could encourage library students to study one
thing? It would be marketing.

15. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
 What are some successful or unsuccessful
marketing efforts you've seen at your local or
academic library?
 Are edgy marketing materials and events more for
the staff or the patrons?
 How would you pitch embedded librarianship or
other marketing ideas to management staff?
 What are some other technological trends that
librarians should be watching that might be useful in
marketing reference?
 Any creative marketing ideas you’d like to add?