In the digital age, marketing has become both increasingly necessary and increasingly challenging for libraries. How can we market our services in ways that truly engage patrons? Brian Mathews presents a refreshing, patron-centered approach to library marketing in Marketing Today’s Academic Library. In her review of Mathews’s book in Theological Librarianship, Kate L. Ganski argues that theological libraries could greatly benefit from Mathews’s framework. In this session, we will answer Ganski’s call. Building on Mathews’s framework and using Pitts Theology Library as a case study, we will explore the steps that theological libraries can take to market their services: (1) defining patron needs and library offerings, (2) connecting with patrons, (3) selecting promotional formats, (4) branding, (5) designing messages, and (6) measuring impact. Throughout, we will explore examples and visuals from the library’s marketing of special collections, instructional programs, and other services to students, faculty, and the broader community.
The world has become a much smaller place and our daily interactions are likely going to include many people from backgrounds different from our own. While these different cultures will differ greatly in their similarities and differences from our own culture in customs, body language, directness of communication, and many other areas, there are ways in which we can work to anticipate the communication problems in our interactions. Relevance theory, as a theory of how we understand and receive language-based communication, can provide some insights into how we can work to communicate clearly and effectively with others in our personal interactions and in our written communication.
Library spaces are continuously being redefined. Libraries can no longer solely provide a quiet only environment. At Saint Paul University (SPU), the library has been changing its footprint and has created a collaboration area in an attempt to align classroom and student needs, which are seeing an increase in group assignments. The library has removed most of its reference collection, integrating the majority of the collection with the regular collection in order to provide more space for students. We partnered with the Saint Paul University Student Association, by organizing a weekly board game night in the collaboration area. These initiatives were done in hopes of having social gatherings, as well as an attempt to draw more students to the library and promote library activities, including training and awareness sessions. Over the past year, the SPU Library has seen a 13% increase in foot traffic, which challenges the trend of most academic libraries which are seeing a decrease. This presentation will focus on space redefinition and engagement with a particular focus on the challenges including managing expectations and change with faculty members who were against most of these new ideas.
