Practical Marketing for the Academic Library
by Stephanie Espinoza Villamor and Kimberly Shotick
May 2022, 137pp, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
1 volume, Libraries Unlimited

Paperback: 978-1-4408-7222-8
$65, £50, 57€, A90
Please contact your preferred distributor for pricing.
eBook Available: 978-1-4408-7223-5
Please contact your preferred eBook vendor for pricing.

Readers will learn best practices for marketing academic library services.

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.

Features

  • Provides practical applications of marketing techniques that can be implemented even without a designated “marketing librarian” on staff
  • Provides ideas and inspiration for expanding beyond traditional library marketing of academic services and into marketing to a student as a whole person
  • Addresses the specific needs of a diverse student population that is typical of both community colleges and other academic libraries
  • Addresses the topic of marketing to both faculty and administrators, who are often missing from discussions of marketing library services typically—but wrongly—deemed just for students
Stephanie Espinoza Villamor is an eLearning librarian at the College of Southern Nevada. She leads the library's marketing initiatives and coordinates communication and outreach among all three campus libraries. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University and has worked in positions ranging from magazine editor and public library assistant to instruction librarian. Villamor is author of several articles and stories published online, in local magazines, and in creative writing anthologies. She wrote a chapter for the library text Young Adult Literature and Multimedia.

Kimberly Shotick is the student success librarian and an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University. She has published on universal design for learning and has presented nationally on a number of academic library topics from accessibility to Wikipedia. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an MA from Northeastern Illinois University.


Reviews

“Library workers responsible for outreach and engagement often find themselves tackling marketing and communications activities to promote their programs. This book provides innovative and relevant ideas along with practical advice for building a team, reaching your audience through meaningful messaging, and assessing your efforts." —Rosan Mitola, Head, Educational Initiatives, University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries

"In a time when it’s all too easy to focus on technologies, logistics, and best practices, this book goes beyond that to put empathy and humanity at the center of marketing in libraries. Elegantly bridging the gap between thorough research and practical applications, there is something in here for everyone—from graduate students just exploring the field to seasoned professionals."—Mara L. Thacker, South Asian Studies and Global Popular Culture Librarian, Editor of the Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement

"This practical guide offers a holistic examination of how marketing can be applied to academic libraries. Villamor and Shotick incorporate ideas not included in other library marketing books such as empathy, diversity, equity, and inclusion, all within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, they offer “real world” marketing case studies from different libraries and provide assessments with measurable outcomes. A very engaging and interesting read. Highly recommended!"—Mark Aaron Polger, Coordinator of Library Outreach, College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY)
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