Practical Marketing for the Academic Library

Book excerpt: This down-to-earth book offers practical marketing solutions for reaching students, faculty, and administration in community college and university libraries, based on real-world examples of team-based communication and practice. In an age in which federal funding for libraries is being cut, libraries of every size and type must prove their value. Practical Marketing for the Academic Library offers academic librarians approachable methods for marketing to students, faculty, and administration, and it also inspires them to attempt new structures for marketing initiatives, including encouraging existing staff to form teams with wide ranges of skills. Librarians from all academic libraries, including at community colleges, can incorporate these ideas even when budgets are tight and staff is limited. While there are many books on library marketing, few specifically cover the diversity within academic institutions and the student body as well as how to target marketing to faculty and administrations. Villamor and Shotick approach library marketing from diverse perspectives and teach readers how to increase student engagement, assess library programs, and connect library marketing to the goals of the overall institution.