Here are more things you can read to learn about various aspects of marketing & promotion. I’ve broken them down by topic instead of creating a straight alphabetical list. I’ll be adding to this list as I get time to write up more citations.

Branding

Definitions

Finding Support for Marketing

  • Ashcroft, Linda, 2002. “Issues in Developing, Managing and Marketing Electronic Journals Collections.” Collection Building (PDF), v. 21, n. 4. Emerald,
  • Elliott, Donald S.; Holt, Glen E.; Hayden, Sterling W.; and Holt, Leslie Edmonds, 2007. Measuring Your Library’s Value: How to Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis for Your Public Library. Chicago: ALA Editions. ISBN: 978-0-8389-0923-2.
  • Hart, Keith, 1999. Putting Marketing Ideas into Action. London: Library Association Publishing. 99 pgs., paperback. ISBN: 1-85604-182-4. $30. (In the US, order from Bernan Associates, Lanham, MD, 301/459-2255.)
  • Huwe, Terence K., 2006. “Empower the Staff First for More Effective Outreach.” Computers in Libraries, v. 26, n. 8, September.
  • Koontz, C. M., 2007. “Identifying and Utilizing Library Stakeholders.” Marketing Library Services, v. 21, n. 3, May/June.
  • Siess, Judith, 2003. The Visible Librarian: Asserting Your Value with Marketing and Advocacy. Chicago: ALA Editions. ISBN: 0-8389-0848-9.
  • Weinstein, Beth, 2003. “For the Best Library Marketing, Get Your Whole Staff on Board,” Marketing Library Services, v. 14, n. 1, Jan./Feb.

Quotes

Quotations about Libraries and Librarians from IFLA.

Library Quotes from Brainy Quote

Return on Investment

Social Media

  • 4imprint (promo-product company). “The New Social Scene.” company website. (available as podcast or PDF) July 21, 2008.
  • “Connecting With Students Where They Are: On Facebook” by Miller, Sarah Elizabeth and Jensen, Lauren A., Marketing Library Services, v 21, n 5, Sept/Oct 2007.  p 1-3.
  • Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide by Laura Solomon. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8389-1067-2.
  • “HOW TO: Create a Facebook Engagement Policy” by Leyl Master Black. Mashable.com, Jan. 31, 2011.
  • “Marketing library services through Facebook groups” by Xia, Z. D. Library Management, 30, Jan. 2009. p 469-478.
  • “Measure the Results of Your Activity on Social Media Sites” by Fichter, Darlene and Wisniewski, Jeff. Marketing Library Services, v 23, n 2, March/April 2009. p 7-9.
  • Teens & Social Media in School & Public Libraries: A Toolkit for Librarians & Library Workers, from YALSA, Feb. 2011.

Stock Photos

Librarians who design brochures, fliers, websites, posters, and other materials often need images to use. I discourage the use of simple clip-art in most cases. Photographs and other images are more modern and evoke more feelings in viewers. But unless you’re lucky enough to have your own photographer to send on assignment, you’re going to need to get your photos from a stock source. I’ve found a number of them and listed them here. Some are free, but most of the good shots cost a few dollars.

Many of today’s stock image sites allow you to design subscriptions where you can buy just a few images per year, or buy thousands. Bulk buys are always cheaper. If you don’t use many photos, look into joining with others in your system or county, or see if you can subscribe via your regional cooperative. You could even buy a one-month subscription, download the maximum number of pics it allows, and then store them until you need them.

Most of these sites say their photos are “royalty-free.” This does not mean that the photos are free. This copyright term means that you do not have to pay a separate royalty to the photographer every time you use the shot. This simplifies payments for the end-user and is an excellent reason to work through these stock collections (which deal with the royalties for you). Once you’ve bought a royalty-free photo from your chosen site, you can use it as often as you like.

  • Dreamstime
    This site offers both FREE stock photos and royalty-free photos to buy. Its “About” section very clearly spells out how to register, buy, and use the pictures.
  • FreePixels
    There are plenty of FREE images here. And there are useful sets, including one of computer shots and another of abstract backgrounds.
  • Flickr
    Don’t overlook everyone’s online photo albums. There are plenty of library-related photos there (some taken by your peers!) and if you see one you like, you can email the owner and ask permission to use it. Many times, they’ll allow this for free, especially for your nonprofit library.
  • Getty Images
    This is the granddaddy of all image sites. It’s an international distributor of royalty-free stock photos, news images and footage, vintage photos, royalty-free video and even has music and archival video footage. The site has extensive info on licensing. Getty’s product’s cost money, but if you need something extremely current or really outstanding, they’ll have it. This is what the pros use.
  • iStockphoto
    A “member-generated image and design community” that contains royalty-free photographs, vector illustrations, video footage, audio tracks, and Flash files. Join for free, then you have three options: 1) Pay per image as you go, 2) Buy “credits” in bulk and “spend” daily, or 3) Create a corporate account. Charges vary per image according to file size and complexity, and it’s cheaper to buy your credits in bulk.
  • Photos.com
    A subscription-based service for royalty-free photos. Various subscription offers for different lengths of time and prices. Has a blog and a member forum.
  • Shutterstock
    Massive collection of royalty-free photos. Offers different levels of subscriptions for different prices. Plenty of shots of modern libraries, including laptops, etc. The site works in various languages.
  • Stock.XCHNG
    A FREE site of royalty-free stock photos. You can use photos and contribute your own. Site has its own blog and includes image-manipulation tutorials. An image search for “library” has fewer results than other sites, but these are free. Search gives the option of seeing more “premium results” on iStockphoto, which is fee-based.
  • Veer.com
    This site says it has “microstock images for budgets big and small.”
  • List called 50+ Sites with Free Stock Photography from the Literary Spring Designs blog
  • Article from Digital Image Magazine
    This article from June 08 lists 25 free stock photo sites and gives a little info about each one. In the comments that follow, readers have suggested even more. (I have not checked to see if all are still valid.)
  • Blog Post on Fearless Future
    This blog post from August 06 (by a designer) lists various sources for stock photographs. (I have not checked to see if all are still valid.)

Value of Libraries

Web Marketing Strategies