Marketing and the political environment - Marketing of Library and Information Services

An excellent example of this kind of strategy was the small public library which faced massive budget cuts because newly elected local officials determined to honor certain rather ill-advised campaign promises about cutting taxes. This library calculated that the cost of maintaining, and even increasing, their budget so that they could undertake several badly needed services, was only an additional fourteen dollars on an average property tax bill. Having built up an excellent relationship with both their public and local media, this library appealed directly to the citizenry. Several hundred individuals approached their elected officials and volunteered to pay the additional amounts required for the purposes of improved library services (Schmeling 1986). The mayor and the city council, provided with this solution to a difficult problem, passed the library budget at the requested level without further objection.

Conclusion

On the one hand this is an era of dwindling resources. A growing lack of public trust in traditional solutions to social problems, especially solutions proposed by government, is clearly evident. Yet, on the other hand, the capability to provide information to the general populace, in ways unheard of only a few years ago, is almost within our grasp. Libraries, and all the services they offer, may become central to this "second stage" of the information explosion, or they may become peripheral and ultimately just fade away. Our ability to effectively utilize political processes may go a long way toward making the difference. Do not think of this article as a theoretical treatise on politics. It is, instead, a call to action. Two alternative futures await - the choice between them is ours.

References

Some are willing to pay for service. (1986). Capital Times, (November 12). Madison, WI. Leckie, R. (1987). Delivered from evil: The saga of World War II. New York: Harper & Row. Platte, S. (Ed.). (1989). Respectfully quoted: A dictionary of quotations requested from the Congressional Research Service. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. Romney, A. K., & D'Andrade, R. G. (1964). Cognitive aspects of English kin terms. In A. K. Romney & R.G. D'Andrade (Eds.), American anthropologist, special publication, Transcultural studies in cognition, vol. 66, part 2, no. 3, pp. 146-170) (Report of a conference sponsored by Social Science Research Council Committee on intellective Processes Research). Washington, DC: American Anthropological Association. Schmeling, S. L. (1987). Asparagus may green farm future. Capital Times, (May 11). Madison, WI. Sills, D. L. (Ed.). (1986). International encyclopedia of the social sciences (vol. 13). New York: Macmillan Co. Van House, N. A.; Lynch, M. J.; McClure, C. R.; Zweizig, D. L.; & Rodger, E. J. (1987). Output measures for public libraries: A manual of standardized procedures. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. %$ // //@UNI1347 JOB (IACTRX,145800,IAC,00),'IAC PROD' /*ROUTE PRINT RMT255 //JOBLIB DD DSN=CN2650.IAC.LOADLIB,DISP=SHR //SEND EXEC PGM=PRTALL //XPRINT DD SYSOUT=* //IN DD DATA,DLM='%$'

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