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Student Learning Outcome 7

The student applies advocacy, marketing, and communication principles for entrepreneurial leadership.
Libraries need support. No library stands alone without its community or support from investors and stakeholders. This is why advocacy, marketing, and communication is important in librarianship. In order for libraries to provide for their users, they must be able to prove their worth and value to the community. They also have to exhibit their merit to investors and partners and shareholders. Outreach to the community fosters relationships that are beneficial and fosters collaboration for programs and learning services. Most importantly, advocacy and marketing can change a perception or enlighten the opinions of those who have not experienced what libraries have to offer. We all know that there are certain impressions people have of libraries and how they used to operate, but libraries have evolved so much that it’s important to show the community all the potential there is for an information hub.    
 
 In the MLIS program, we have discussed the many ways libraries provide the users with what they need. Then we shared our experiences with how libraries make users aware of the services and programs they host. Marketing and advocacy is a common thread through all aspects of librarianship. Through my Archival Management course, I’ve learned ways to promote the importance of collections. There were class discussions on the significance of makerspaces and how to involve local business in the community to partner with the library on programs and events. Exploring the benefits of social media through my Digital Libraries course, put into perspective on how to best use these tools for marketing. I hope that in my future career in archives, I will have the opportunity to advocate for the value of archives collections and even earn a grant for a project that brings the archives to the community in ways they didn’t know archives could connect. The idea is to reach the community and connect in meaningful ways to foster the relationship.
Artifact 1: Communication Within the Library: A Focus on                                Marketing and Outreach Paper
In order to connect with everyone that has an interest or investment in the library, there has to be clear marketing and adequate advocacy. Libraries should pursue relationships throughout the community, especially with local businesses and state level companies. Events can be shared between the library and community outreach partners, collaborating on classes and workshops hosted in the library space. Advocacy for libraries, as librarians and information professionals, helps to encourage the use of libraries and resources as well as promoting a positive image and user engagement. Communicating the library’s strategic plans is part of what keeps the investors and friends of the library as well as other interest groups involved. This means a library’s mission has to be direct and inclusive with a distinct understanding of what are the expected and hoped-for outcomes. Transparency and accountability aren’t just core values for archivists.     

 

For this paper, I interviewed Greg Needham, Director of Sheppard Memorial Library, regarding how his library uses marketing to reach their users. One of the best ways mentioned was at point of contact, especially at the front desk. This idea makes the point that employees are the face of the organization and it’s where the patrons look for assistance. There’s also the underlying notion of promotion through word of mouth, getting first hand references, referrals, and good reputation. My Digital Libraries course also covered marketing tools in the realm of social media. Using social media platforms begs a certain understanding of your users, who to target, how, and with which application. In researching marketing, I found the helpful proposition of forming your library’s advertising to show what will happen, not just the details of when. This kind of idea will spark the interest from the community by grabbing more of their attention. Every library wants the community to know that the library supports them, but they can’t exist without support from the community. 
Artifact 2: A Reflection on Professionalism: In the Scope of                             Communication and Decision-Making Paper
Communication is important in all departments, workplaces, companies, and institutions. As my Leadership and Management in Information Organizations course explored, a lot of what makes a good leader is how they communicate. It’s not just communicating within the organization, communication goes beyond the brick and mortar to the community. The way communication is distributed can have an impact on internal and external groups.There are always costs in communications and being aware of all the factors and what is best for the organization will reflect on the organization. Communication should be a tool to express the mission of the library to establish a consistent perspective for the future. 
 
Part of what makes a leader capable is not just how they manage their team, but also how they make decisions and communicate to others. I perceive good communication from a manager as a sign of professionalism. This is something I discussed in this paper for Leadership and Management. Sometimes a leader’s management style coincides with their decision-making style. How a leader decides to disseminate  information within their department reflects their view of the importance of their team. A leader should always hold the institution’s best interest in mind when communicating. They have to think about the purpose of the communication and what they are trying to convey. Communication that circulates within the organization should match what is presented to the community.
Artifact 3: PEWWK Educational Collection OER Promotional Poster
The best way to attract users is to keep the marketing punchy and interesting. When it comes to visual marketing, there are many things to consider such as colors, text, images, and placement. The library wants their advertisements to be seen so location counts and is important to target the right audience. Probably the most important aspect of visual marketing is the message and impact. I’ve learned that the mission should be clear to make a lasting impression. 
 
Before attempting to create promotional material for our group project in Collections Management, we examined different types of existing marketing and how it reflected upon the institution or program for which it was advertising. Some advertisements can miss the mark or muddy the directive. Other advertisements can draw the audience in and speak to them on a subliminal level. As a group, we decided all of our posters advertising our subjects within the main education collection need to be connected. We came up with a slogan and a template to tie everything together. There was no mistaking the cohesion in our marketing.      
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