Strategic Marketing for Libraries: A Handbook

(Hardback)

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Strategic Marketing for Libraries is a straightforward discussion of the full range of marketing concepts and tools applied to various types of libraries including public, special, and academic. Wood does an excellent job of explaining complicated marketing concepts and providing real-life examples. RQ This handbook on planning and marketing is recommended as a guide for library managers in academic, public, and special libraries, large or small, who are groping for effective methods of outreach to their constituencies. There are not many volumes which address these aspects of management so thoroughly or so lucidly. Special Libraries It is the authors' contention that, although librarians understand the need to market their institutions, they have not as yet focused on how to do so in a deliberate and structured fashion. The text provides means for the strategic planning of information marketing, and it incorporates cogent suggestions for defining missions, setting goals, and devising growth strategies and methodologies for evaluation. Wood and Young urge that the profession examine the challenges of automation in libraries in concert with current marketing strategies, thus assuring long-term viability and patron support. Booklist This unique guide goes beyond mere endorsement of publicity and selling techniques to offer a thoughtful, practical, in-depth discussion of how marketing principles fit into library operations and planning. General marketing principles are explained and interpreted for practitioners in the library and information science fields. Applications of marketing principles appropriate for academic, public, and special libraries are described in detail. In addition, the book examines the interrelationships among the key steps of strategic planning, emphasizing the relationship of continuous, formal planning to implementation of marketing concepts. Numerous graphs and tables provide readily accessible information.

Reviews

The title of this book straddles its two parts very nicely. One half of the volume is about marketing theory and its applications to library management. The other half is about strategic planning, as a method of library management, and the role of marketing theory in such planning. Strategic Marketing for Libraries says it all. . . This handbook on planning and marketing is recommended as a guide for library managers in academic, public, and special libraries, large or small, who are groping for effective methods of outreach to their constituencies. There are not many volumes which address these aspects of management so thoroughly or so lucidly.-Special Libraries
This excellent contribution by Elizabeth Wood on a critically important and timely topic, strategic planning and marketing for libraries, should be required reading for the information professional who aspires to a position of increasing responsibility in a library or information center. . . . It provides a wealth of information about traditional management practices as they apply to libraries. The fact that library science education is weak in management-related areas is well-documented. This book effectively bridges the gap between library science and business disciplines. . . . This is an excellent book, and one that should be read by all information professionals interested in increasing their contribution to their libraries and their users.-ONLINE
"The title of this book straddles its two parts very nicely. One half of the volume is about marketing theory and its applications to library management. The other half is about strategic planning, as a method of library management, and the role of marketing theory in such planning. Strategic Marketing for Libraries says it all. . . This handbook on planning and marketing is recommended as a guide for library managers in academic, public, and special libraries, large or small, who are groping for effective methods of outreach to their constituencies. There are not many volumes which address these aspects of management so thoroughly or so lucidly."-Special Libraries
"This excellent contribution by Elizabeth Wood on a critically important and timely topic, strategic planning and marketing for libraries, should be required reading for the information professional who aspires to a position of increasing responsibility in a library or information center. . . . It provides a wealth of information about traditional management practices as they apply to libraries. The fact that library science education is weak in management-related areas is well-documented. This book effectively bridges the gap between library science and business disciplines. . . . This is an excellent book, and one that should be read by all information professionals interested in increasing their contribution to their libraries and their users."-ONLINE

Author Bio

ELIZABETH J. WOOD is an Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. VICTORIA L. YOUNG is Head of Reader Services at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.