Libraries have everything they need. The problem is that they don’t market it well while their competitors do. Today most libraries offer more content than ever before in history. Indeed, the average library offers today at least 10 times more content than it could 20 years ago. Yet, the winner is the World Wide Web with already 92% of college students starting their search for content in Google, Wikipedia, Facebook and YouTube. The world is moving toward open source on the web. For instances, already 30% of Journals used by students are open source and it keeps growing. Further, library patrons end up using less than 15% of databases available at the library. Thus, most databases acquired by librarians are not used enough. To top it off, 98% of academic papers are rejected by publishers because of lack of originality. The result is a much lesser relevant library with mounting pressure to cut its budget because anyway people don’t use its resources and prefer the open web.
What can librarians do about it? How can libraries stay relevant in a digital world where information flows freely on the web and it is easier to search on public engines? How can libraries become a key tool for their universities to improve their worldwide ranking? Answer: Marketing! In the workshop, librarians will be exposed to the fundamental principles of strategic marketing that the most successful organizations in the world use to stay ahead of their competitors. Librarians will learn to apply them to the library environment. They will develop their own library brand mission with actionable steps. They will come away with a deep understanding of strategic branding, innovation leadership and crowdsourcing applied to the library world.
Objectives:
- Awareness of the dynamics that are changing the library’s role in the future
- Understanding of the unprecedented importance of marketing for libraries
- Learning the fundamentals of marketing, branding and innovation leadership and development of the “Library” brand mission and strategic drivers
