feb07b.indd


Elizabeth Kennedy Hallmark, Laura Schwartz, Loriene Roy 

Developing a long-range and outreach 
plan for your academic library 
The need for a marketing outreach plan 

Are today’s academic libraries poised to serve as essential centers of campus 
activities? Will they be relegated to the back­
ground of campus life? Will libraries be, at best, 
ignored collateral support services? What 
tools are available to help academic libraries 
reposition themselves to serve as new social 
commons? How can they secure funding 
amid competition for scarce resources? 

Marketing can provide an arsenal of skills 
to assist academic librarians. The essential 
marketing document to assist libraries in de­
signing their marketing activities is the mar­
keting and outreach plan. Information used 
to compile this plan includes best practices 
at similar institutions, local data on user pref­
erences and suggestions, successful library 
marketing strategies at other institutions, and 
an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, op­
portunities, and threats that challenge and 
support the library’s plan to position itself 
as a leading information resource. 

The structure of the plan outlines out­
reach, media, and marketing strategies for 
specific target audiences. These target audi­
ences may include students and faculty at 
the home institution, as well as faculty and 
students at neighboring institutions and the 
broader community. The plan is based on 
delineating goals and measurable, time­cen­
tered objectives. 

The goals of implementing the plan may 
include: 

•  increasing general awareness of the 
library; 

•  showcasing the library’s collections; 
•  increasing traffic in the library as mea­

sured by on­site visits; 

•  increasing patron usage of the library 
resources as measured by circulation and 
in­house use; 

•  creating an ongoing excitement or buzz 
about the library through positive media cov­
erage and hosting of high­profi le events; 

•  increasing funds to support the library’s 
collection and services; 

•  building outside partnerships, including 
active and supportive Friends groups; 

•  providing staff and the university com­
munity with up­to­date information about 
the library; and 

•  instituting a plan for continuous evalu­
ation of marketing efforts. 

Best practices 
Increasingly, academic libraries must recon­
sider how they are viewed by students and 
faculty to ensure they remain a competitive 
and valued resource. Unfortunately, many 
are learning that they are not perceived posi­
tively by their core audience. Undergraduate 
students, in particular, can be challenging to 
reach. In addition, many users are unaware 
of the wealth of services and resources of­
fered by their academic library. 

While marketing for academic libraries is 
a relatively new concept, there are some aca­

Elizabeth Kennedy Hallmark is managing editor 
of the Texas Depar tment of Agriculture, e -mail: 
bhallmark@austin.rr.com, Laura Schwartz is head 
librarian of the Fine Arts Library at the University of 
Texas-Austin, e-mail: lauras@mail.utexas.edu, Loriene 
Roy is professor in the school of information and in 
the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at the 
University of Texas-Austin, e-mail: loriene@ischol. 
utexas.edu 
© 2007 Elizabeth Kennedy Hallmark, Laura Schwartz, Loriene Roy 

C&RL News February 2007  92 

http:utexas.edu
mailto:lauras@mail.utexas.edu
mailto:bhallmark@austin.rr.com


demic libraries blazing the trail in this arena. 
Below are several of the key elements that 
these libraries employ to create and launch 
effective marketing and outreach strategies: 

•  surveying users to determine current 
perceptions, expectations, and uses of the 
library; 

•  segmenting the user audience to target 
different groups with relevant messages that 
appeal directly to each; 

•  building buy­in from library administra­
tors and funders to launch a marketing and 
outreach campaign; 

•  learning to tell the “library story” to 
ensure that supporters, frequent users, and 
all staff are on the same page communicat­
ing the same message about the library’s 
resources, services, and value; 

•  focusing less on a laundry list of “here’s 
our collection,” and more on “here’s what we 
can do for you”: 

•  working with the college’s public 
information and communications offi ce to 
leverage expertise and resources to help 
spread the word; 

•  developing a branded logo, message, 
and tagline to generate a consistent theme 
that is highly recognizable; 

•  applying creative approaches to involve 
new students with the library, including wel­
come kits and promotional materials; 

•  assigning one or more staff members 
with the specific responsibility of market­
ing/public relations; 

•  outlining specific goals and measures 
of success to determine whether targets are 
being met; and 

•  developing measurable outcomes and 
feedback mechanisms that can help con­
tinually refine and improve marketing and 
outreach efforts. 

Preparing the plan: Gathering user 
data 
The library needs to prepare its marketing 
and outreach plan based on data gathered 
through user studies. These studies are 
generally surveys that gather feedback and 
information on use, preferences, enhanced 

services, suggestions, recommendations, and 
demographic data. Library staff will analyze 
the survey results to identify: 

•  characteristics of users, including their 
status (e.g., undergraduate students, graduate 
students, faculty, staff), college or department 
affiliation, age, and gender; 

•  frequency of library visits (e.g., number 
of visits per week or month); 

•  duration of library visits; 
•  equipment used while in the library; 
•  activities conducted in the library; and 
•  desired changes in library services, 

including any changes in library operation, 
increased access to current equipment, new 
equipment, and changes in use of library 
space. 

Outlining strategies in the marketing 
and outreach plan 
Prioritizing activities 

The library’s marketing and outreach plan 
can delineate immediate and ongoing activi­
ties, including the following: 

•  acquiring an e­mail marketing service 
and developing an e­newsletter with on­site 
and online signup; 

•  collecting text and ideas for targeted 
on­campus fl yers; and 

•  exploring partnerships with local commu­
nity organizations and large­scale events. 

Immediate activities of shorter duration 
might include: 

•  Activities to take place during the fi rst 
month: 

1. conducting a professional photo shoot 
for engaging pictures of real people using 
library resources for use in future print and 
electronic materials. 

•  Activities to take place during the fi rst 
two months (or longer if this is conducted as 
a contest with the library’s public): 

1. designing a logo and tagline for the 
library for branding; 

2. purchasing a domain name to create a 
landing page on the library’s Web site to track 
click­throughs on e­mail communication and 
marketing materials; and 

February 2007  93 C&RL News 



3. seeking grant funds for promotional ac­
tivities (such as those offered through ALA’s 
National Library Week promotion). 

•  Activities that can take place after 
the logo and tagline are approved might 
include: 

1. designing and printing banners outside 
the library building; 

2. designing and printing signage within 
buildings to direct visitors to the library; 

3. designing and purchasing promotional 
items with the new logo and tagline, starting 
with stickers or fl yers for a teaser campaign; 
and 

4. disseminating stickers campuswide as 
part of a 12­week teaser campaign to pique 
students’ curiosity about the library. The 
stickers would include the library’s domain 
name for the landing page created on the 
library’s Web site. 

•  Activities to take place during the fi rst 
four months: 

1. launching an e­newsletter with a press 
release and other fanfare; and 

2. investigating library participation in 
campuswide events open to the public to 
develop programs geared toward drawing 
more traffic to the library. 

•  Within six to twelve months, the library 
can engage in: 

1. Exploring options for creating message 
boards or other collaborative spaces on the 
library Web site. 

•  Within 12 months the library will be: 
1. developing materials and packages for 

new incoming students, and frequent­user 
cards and incentives for returning students 
and users; 

2. beefing up content on the library Web 
site to include specific information on items in 
the collection and consistent media lists; and 

3. creating an online survey to gather 
ongoing feedback. 

Activities two and three, above, would be 
ongoing and continuous. Long­term strate­
gies will build on the success of these initial 
efforts in marketing and include the broader 
outreach to other institutions, the community, 
and the media. 

Estimated budget for initial activities 
The library’s marketing activities will be 
tempered by available funding. A marketing 
budget of $10,000 would fund the following 
activities: 

•  ($2,000) Hire professional designer to 
create logo and banner artwork for indoor 
and outdoor signage; 

•  ($1,000) Hire a professional photog­
rapher to create high­end photographs of 
real people using library resources for use 
in marketing materials; 

•  ($3,000) Subscribe to an e­mail mar­
keting service to create, launch, and track 
e­newsletters. Expense is for a one­year 
subscription that includes basic services and 
monthly e­mails to more than 5,000; 

•  ($1,000) Print four large outdoor ban­
ners (350 dpi, four­color “billboard” sized 
printer prints on heavy weight 14 oz. nylon 
reinforced banner material). The cost per 
banner is approximately $250. 

•  ($500) Purchase two indoor signhold­
ers for interchangeable inserts for internal 
signage. The cost per signholder is $250. 

•  ($400) Create and print inserts for 
signholders to rotate on a regular basis. This 
amount reflects the cost of eight signholders 
costing $50 each. 

•  ($400) Printing custom stickers for a 
12­week teaser campaign; cost for 2,000 
stickers. 

•  ($750) Promotional items: printing 500 
promotional mouse pads with the library 
Web address and new logo/tagline. Each 
mouse pad would cost $1.50. 

•  ($500) Promotional items: Print 200 
promotional 12­CD holder cases (denier 
vylon case) with library Web address, 
logo/tagline. Each CD holder case would 
cost $2.50. 

•  ($240) Promotional items: Purchase 
200 custom “stress balls” with library Web 
address and logo/tagline. Each stress ball 
would cost $1.20. 

•  ($375) Promotional items: Purchase 
500 tri­highlighters with library Web ad­
dress, logo/tagline. Each highlighter would 
cost $0.75. 

C&RL News February 2007  94 



Ongoing measurement 
For all activities to be successful in the long­
term, the marketing and outreach plan should 
remain flexible and dynamic. Although the 
plan provides an essential road map for out­
lining outreach goals and how to achieve 
them, it should grow and change as ap­
proaches are measured and studied. In this 
way, unsuccessful ideas can be removed and 
abandoned, and successful ideas offering the 
most “bang for the buck” can be enhanced 
and broadened. To do this, it is critical for ev­
ery marketing and outreach activity to include 
a method of measurement and evaluation 
that is built into the front­end of the activity 
before it takes place rather than later as an 
afterthought. 

Measurement and evaluation can include 
the following approaches: 

1. gathering user feedback on the success 
of library events through a short entry form 
for a prize drawing; 

2. gathering details on how users learned 
about the library through online and print 
sign­up forms for the e­newsletter; 

3. analyzing opens and click­throughs for 
the e­newsletter to determine information of 
use and interest; 

4. regularly surveying users through easy 
and interactive questionnaires at different 
library access points; 

5. analyzing Web site traffic to specifi c 
pages or domain names created for targeted 
marketing and outreach activities and pro­
moted through marketing materials and 
promotional items; 

6. including special offers through adver­
tisements (print and online) to determine 
and analyze response rates related to specifi c 
advertising venues; and 

7. determining who is coming to the 
library and why with first­time visitor ques­
tionnaires that can be turned in to library 
staff for assistance with specific services or 
resources. 

Gathering this type of information not only 
provides an invaluable method for refi ning 
outreach approaches, but also illustrates the 

value of conducting marketing and outreach 
activities in the first place. For example, if 
surveys show that 20 percent of fi rst­time visi­
tors heard about the library from a welcome 
kit produced for new students, then the cost 
of that material can be justifi ed. Furthermore, 
if surveys show that most fi rst­time visitors 
returned because they subscribed to the e­
newsletter and read about upcoming events or 
new and exciting additions to the collection, 
then that activity can prove its worth. 

Taken a step further, the library can begin 
to determine a return on investment for each 
of its marketing and outreach activities. The 
return on investment can be in the form of 
new users, increased usage of library materi­
als, increased return visits to the library, or 
any other measure to determine if outreach 
efforts are indeed serving the goals and objec­
tives of the plan. 

For goals and objectives to be effective, 
they must be measurable; and any plan 
that does not outline how activities will be 
measured will struggle to gather that data 
later. 

February 2007  95 C&RL News