Marketing youth services - Marketing of Library and Information Services

This is exactly the kind of information that youth services librarians, and librarians in general, need in order to determine roles and to plan and market collections and services effectively. If librarians know what different people value - why they use the library - services can be devised to meet their needs and promotions designed that will get their attention. If the library's roles grow out of the needs of the clients it serves and, through market segmentation the library ensures a good fit between product and customer, user satisfaction will increase as will repeat use and long-term support.

As members of the library team, youth services professionals are an integral part of the planning process that determines the library's mission and roles and directs its marketing strategies. As direct service providers, youth services professionals help create a core of repeat users for libraries and ensure long-term customer loyalty by their ability to identify and research target markets, effectively promote the benefits of library services to those market segments, and offer children and their families services that meet their needs and reinforce their values.

REFERENCES

Conroy, B. (1983). Megatrend marketing: Creating the library's future. Journal of Library Administration, 4(4), 7-18. Dean, S. (1990). Winning marketing techniques. An introduction to marketing for information professionals - a self-study program. Washington, DC: Special Libraries Association. D'Elia, G., & Rodger, E. J. (1994). Public library roles and patron use: Why patrons use the library. Public Libraries, 33(3), 135-144. Dragon, A. C., & Leisner, T (1983). The ABCs of implementing library marketing. Journal of Library Administration, 4(4), 33-47. Kies, C. (1987). Marketing and public relations for libraries. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. Kotler, P., & Andreasen, A. R. (1987). Strategic marketing for nonprofit organizations, 3d ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Kotler, P., & Andreasen, A. R. (1991). Strategic marketing for nonprofit organizations, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Lynch, C. K., & Rockwell, E. P. (1986). Marketing strategy for children's services. Public Library Quarterly, 7(3/4), 27-40. McNeal, J. U. (1992). Kids as customers: A handbook of marketing to children. New York: Macmillan, Inc. Walter, V. A. (1992). Output measures for public library service to children: A manual of standardized procedures. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Walter, V. A. (1994). Research you can use: Marketing to children. Journal of Youth Services In Libraries, 7(3), 283-288. Walters, S. (1992). Marketing: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman. Weingand, D. E. (1987). Marketing/planning library and information services. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited. Welch, A. J., & Donohue, C. N. (1994). Awareness, use, and satisfaction with public libraries: A summary of Connecticut community surveys. Public Libraries, 33(3), 149-152. Wood, E. J., with Young, V. L. (1988). Strategic marketing for libraries: A handbook. New York: Greenwood Press.

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