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WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? A SURVEY OF PUBLIC LIBRARIANS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MARKETING OF LIBRARY SERVICES1 Marilyn L. Shontz,2 Jon C. Parker,3 and Richard Parker4 The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes of public librarians toward the marketing of library services and relate these attitudes to selected independent variables. A questionnaire was mailed to individual members of the New Jersey Library Association. Although most of the respondents had generally positive attitudes toward library marketing, there were some statistically significant differences between subgroups. For example, more positive attitudes toward marketing were expressed by library administrators, librarians who had taken a course or workshop in marketing, and those who perceived marketing to be a high priority in their libraries. Implications for library practice and library education are briefly discussed. Introduction Many people do not take full advantage of all the services available in public libraries. Large-scale library usage studies conducted in the 1990s suggested that 34 percent of Americans and 24 percent of U.K. residents do not use public libraries at all [1, 2]. One reason for this may be that libraries do not market themselves effectively. Many librarians may lack knowledge about marketing, may not think marketing is important, or may actually have negative attitudes about marketing. For the purposes of this study, marketing in a library context is defined 1. For their help with various aspects of this project, the authors would like to thank the LQ editors and reviewers, as well as Patricia Tumulty, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, Holly G. Willet of Rowan University, and Carol Kaufman-Scarborough of Rutgers University. Please address all correspondence to Richard Parker, Marketing Department, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028; Telephone 856-256-4013; E-mail [email protected]. 2. Associate professor of education and librarianship at Rowan University. 3. Librarian at the Camden (N.J.) Free Public Library. 4. Professor of marketing at Rowan University. [Library Quarterly, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 63–84] 2004 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0024-2519/2004/7401-0004$10.00 63 64 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY as “a purposive group of activities which foster constructive and responsive interchange between the providers of library and information services and the actual and potential users of these services. These activities are concerned with the products, costs, methods of delivery, and promotional methods” [3, p. 140]. There has been some controversy over whether marketing is an appropriate activity for libraries, or whether marketing should be restricted to for-profit businesses. In the marketing field, an influential paper by Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy in 1969 argued for a “broadening of the marketing concept,” so that marketing insights could be applied to all kinds of organizations [4, p. 10]. Kotler has continued to be a spokesman for this point of view, and his book Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations (now coauthored with Alan Andreasen) has been a leading text in this field through six editions [5]. Nevertheless, some writers have remained skeptical about the value of applying in the nonprofit sector techniques and perspectives developed in the for-profit sector. For example, James Hutton recently argued for “narrowing the marketing concept” on the basis that marketing is often misapplied to—and may even be incompatible with the fundamental purposes of—public institutions [6, p. 7]. Notwithstanding such dissenting voices, Greta Renborg has pointed out that libraries have always implicitly engaged in marketing activities, and she traces the explicit use of marketing concepts in U.S. libraries to the nineteenth century [7]. There is now an extensive, international literature on library marketing. Writers such as Darlene Weingand have applied marketing perspectives and techniques directly to libraries [8, 9]. Others have focused on the promotion aspect of marketing and have provided useful suggestions concerning how libraries can better promote themselves [10, 11]. Excellent reviews of this literature have been provided by Gene Norman, Sheila Webber, and the Colorado Library Marketing Council [12–14]. There is also evidence that interest in marketing among librarians has increased in recent years. A Marketing Public Libraries Section (MPLS) was created within the Public Library Association (PLA) in 1989 [15]. In 1995, Weingand edited a special issue of Library Trends on the subject. As she noted, “the decision by Library Trends to devote an issue to marketing is a significant affirmation of the relevance of marketing to our field” [16, p. 289]. Within the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), “a growing interest in marketing resulted in the IFLA Professional Board establishing a new Section on Management and Marketing in 1997” [17]. Most of the writing in this field has focused on discussions of the applicability of marketing to libraries or has consisted of guidebooks demonstrating the application of marketing techniques to libraries. There have WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 65 also been a few studies of the extent and types of marketing activities engaged in by libraries [18, 19], and of patron reactions to library marketing [20]. However, little has been written about the attitudes of librarians toward marketing. In 1990, Joseph Grunenwald, Linda Felicetti, and Karen Stewart suggested that “many librarians have been reluctant to adopt and implement marketing strategies. It has been widely believed that marketing activities were inappropriate and perhaps unnecessary for libraries” [21, p. 5]. More recently, Eric Morgan agreed: “All too often the concept of marketing leaves a bad taste in the mouths of librarians. We associate it too much with for-profit institutions, the process of making money for money’s sake, and the efforts to convince people to use unneeded services or products” [22, p. 51]. As a reflection of these attitudes, when the State Library of Ohio prepared a handbook of library marketing techniques in 1993, the title of that volume, Marketing and Libraries DO Mix, indicated a perceived need to persuade librarians of the value of marketing [23]. Joy Greiner examined the role of marketing in public libraries and the views of leading members of the Public Library Association. She quoted Pamela Brown of the Baltimore Public Library, who said that “there is a great deal of confusion about the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘public relations,’ causing some anxiety among librarians” [15, p. 11]. John Christensen, a library director from Mankato, Minnesota, observed that many librarians have a narrow understanding of marketing: “Marketing is often thought of as public relations, promotions, and selling. However, marketing is satisfying the needs of a customer” [15, p. 12]. Greiner noted that businesses understand that good marketing is essential, and that it includes the “four P’s” of product, price, place (distribution), and promotion. She applied this to the library setting as follows: “The public library’s products are the programs, resources, and services provided for the patrons. Price is what the community must pay to keep the library functioning at a particular level, place concerns access, and promotion refers to letting the community know what the library has to offer” [15, p. 11]. Of course, the positive attitudes toward marketing reported by Greiner are primarily those of public library administrators with an interest and involvement in library marketing and are not necessarily representative of the opinions of librarians who are not as knowledgeable about library marketing. More recent research showed that many librarians were still interested in marketing but have misunderstandings about it. Rejean Savard conducted an exploratory interview study of twelve Canadian library administrators. Based on their comments, he concluded that “while librarians show a growing interest for marketing, their concept of marketing seems inaccurate . . . the marketing orientation, as defined by experts, is insufficiently developed among librarians” [24, p. 41]. Savard concluded that 66 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY many librarians still tend to think of marketing as only selling or promoting the library, not realizing that library marketing refers to a total organizational effort to attract and serve library users. Methodology This article presents the results of a survey of public librarians regarding their attitudes toward marketing and the marketing of library services. The questions of interest included the degree to which librarians were involved with marketing, the degree to which they had positive or negative attitudes toward marketing, and the degree to which their attitudes were influenced by selected independent variables. As discussed above, a literature review revealed that there were misunderstandings about marketing and a belief among some librarians that marketing was either not applicable or not appropriate for libraries. However, previous discussions of librarian attitudes about marketing were either speculative or based on extremely small samples. No empirical study could be found that actually surveyed a substantial sample of public librarians to determine either their knowledge of, or attitudes toward, marketing. Therefore, the present study involved the development of a questionnaire for this purpose (see the appendix). The questionnaire consisted primarily of seven-point, Likert-scaled items asking respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with statements about library marketing. There were also several items that asked about the degree to which certain marketing-related activities were part of the respondent’s work responsibility, and how important to their library the respondent perceived these activities to be. The final section of the questionnaire contained items addressing various independent variables. The face validity of the questionnaire items was determined by pretesting and reviewing the questionnaire with library students, practicing librarians, and faculty members in library science and marketing. The reliability of the items was determined by (a) using two or more different items to measure each of the more important attitudes under investigation (this allowed combining intercorrelated items into composite scales) and (b) using statistical techniques [25, 26] to test the results for reliability during the data-analysis phase of the project. The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), the primary membership organization for public librarians in New Jersey, provided a current list of its members for the survey mailing. Questionnaires were sent to 1,198 individual members of the NJLA in February 2001. One of the questionnaire items asked in which type of library the respondent was employed. WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 67 For the current study, respondents were included in the data analysis only if they indicated that they were public librarians. The main dependent variables in the study were a variety of librarians’ attitudes toward marketing, for example, whether they perceive any benefits in library marketing, whether they were knowledgeable about marketing, and their degree of involvement in certain marketing-related activities. Independent variables considered included individual librarian characteristics such as • • • • • • • the librarian’s age, job responsibility (e.g., administration, reference, etc.), number of years of experience, level of education, how long ago they had their library education, whether or not they had taken marketing courses or workshops, and whether they had any personal experience with library marketing. The study also considered the effects of community characteristics such as population size and income level of the community. Results There were 623 total responses representing an overall response rate of 52 percent. (This is approximately the norm for academic studies of this type and slightly above the norm for single-mailing studies and surveys directed at organizational representatives [27]). After excluding responses from those who were not actually public librarians and other nonusable responses, 415 responses were usable for the purposes of this study. These responses were tabulated and analyzed using the SPSS statistical package [25]. Characteristics of the Respondents Respondents were asked to indicate their primary job responsibility. The largest proportion of those responding to this question, representing 35.4 percent of the responses, indicated that they were in library administration. Reference librarians comprised 29.6 percent of the respondents, followed by children’s–young adult (18.4 percent), public service (4.6 percent), technical services (4.4 percent), and circulation (1.7 percent) librarians. In terms of their level of education, 92.7 percent of respondents reported having a Master of Library Science degree or better. Respondents were also asked if they had taken a course in marketing during their library education, and the great majority, 95.3 percent, had not taken such a course. Another question asked whether respondents had taken a course 68 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY or workshop in marketing in the past five years. Approximately half (49.5 percent) of respondents had never taken such a course or workshop, but 41.7 percent had taken one in the past five years, and another 8.7 percent indicated having taken one more than five years ago. Respondents were asked how long ago they had completed their education. More than half (56.3 percent) did so sixteen or more years before. The results were similar for a question as to how many years of experience they had, where 62.3 percent of respondents had sixteen or more years of experience. This was consistent with the ages of the respondents in that 74.9 percent reported being forty-six years old or older. In summary, although there was considerable variation on each of these items, the overall profile of the respondents was that most tended to be middle-aged or older, with considerable experience and graduate education, and with a large proportion involved in library administration. In fact, the variables of age, years of experience, and years since completion of education were highly and significantly intercorrelated (coefficients between .50 and .81), indicating that respondents with higher scores on these variables were essentially the same people. There were no available data that would allow a determination of whether this combination of characteristics reflected the membership of the NJLA as a whole, or New Jersey librarians in general, at the time of this study. However, there is clear evidence that the library field is graying and now includes a large proportion of baby boomers approaching retirement. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) reports that “as many as 58 percent of our nation’s librarians will reach retirement age between 2005 and 2019.” Referring to this as a “quiet crisis,” the IMLS recently announced a recruitment initiative that includes $1.8 million of support for library education [28]. Former ALA President John Berry also recently established a Recruitment and Diversity Task Force to address this “recruitment crisis” [29]. Although this situation certainly presents a challenge to the field, it may also present an opportunity to recruit persons with greater diversity and a different range of skills. Several questions were used to identify characteristics of the community in which the respondent’s library was located. There was considerable variation in the size of the library community’s population, but approximately two-thirds (64.9 percent) were communities of fewer than 50,000 people. Respondents were also asked to indicate the community’s income based on subjective categories ranging from “low” to “affluent.” Although the category receiving the largest number of responses was “average” (38.1 percent), 44.9 percent of the respondents perceived their libraries to be located in “above average” or “affluent” communities, while only 15.1 percent perceived their communities to be either “low” or “below average.” WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 69 TABLE 1 Descriptive Statistics for Agreement with Selected Attitudinal Statements Statement Marketing is relevant to the needs of libraries Libraries should market themselves more like businesses do Marketing is primarily about providing better products and services to the consumer Marketing is primarily used to persuade people to buy things they do not really need Marketing is too costly for most libraries It is more difficult to apply marketing techniques to libraries than to businesses Marketing uses up resources that could be better used to provide more services Marketing is mostly hype and hustle Marketing tries to satisfy people’s wants and needs while also achieving the goals of the organization Marketing is inconsistent with the professionalism of a librarian Libraries need marketing to survive in an increasingly competitive environment Marketing is unnecessary because we barely have enough resources to meet current demand for library services Library school programs should require a course in marketing If a library already provides a full range of services, there is not much need for marketing Libraries do not need marketing because people already know what services we offer N Mean 415 415 6.18 5.26 410 4.64 413 413 2.80 3.24 413 3.67 415 415 3.05 2.78 408 5.36 413 2.36 414 6.03 414 2.07 413 5.09 414 2.10 414 1.73 Note.—7 p strongly agree; 1 p strongly disagree. (It should be emphasized that this item represented a subjective perception rather than an objective measure.) Attitudes toward Marketing Respondents were asked for their level of agreement with forty-four items related to their attitudes toward the marketing of library services, as well as their level of knowledge about marketing and their involvement in marketing activities. Most respondents tended to agree with statements indicating positive attitudes toward marketing, and very few respondents strongly agreed with statements indicating negative attitudes toward marketing (see table 1). However, there was considerable variation in the responses. Also, many of the responses were intercorrelated, which means, for example, that respondents who agreed with one positive statement about marketing tended also to agree with other positive statements, and 70 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY TABLE 2 Composite Scales Scale and Items Promarketing: Marketing is relevant to the needs of libraries Libraries should market themselves more like businesses do Knowing more about marketing techniques would be helpful to my work Libraries need marketing to survive in an increasingly competitive environment Library school programs should require a course in marketing Advertising and promotion are important to my library Antimarketing: Marketing is primarily used to persuade people to buy things they do not really need Marketing is too costly for most libraries It is more difficult to apply marketing techniques to libraries than to businesses Marketing uses up resources that could be better used to provide more services Marketing is mostly hype and hustle Marketing is inconsistent with the professionalism of a librarian Marketing is unnecessary because we barely have enough resources to meet current demand for library services If a library already provides a full range of services, there is not much need for marketing Libraries do not need marketing because people already know what services we offer Marketing knowledge and experience: I am knowledgeable about marketing techniques I have been personally involved in marketing library services Advertising-promotion is a large part of my work Attracting new patrons is a large part of my work Developing new services is a large part of my work Alpha Coefficient .81 .87 .78 respondents who agreed with one negative statement about marketing tended also to agree with other negative statements. In order to reduce all of these responses to a manageable number of variables, factor analysis was used to construct three composite scales by combining similar and highly intercorrelated items. A “promarketing” scale was created by combining positive statements about marketing, an “antimarketing” scale was created by combining negative statements about marketing, and a “marketing knowledge and experience” scale was created by combining items that indicated knowledge of marketing or involvement in marketing-related activities (see table 2). Each of these scales was sta- WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 71 tistically tested for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient [25]. The coefficients, ranging from .78 to .87, indicated a high degree of reliability. In the next phase of the analysis, these scales were evaluated with respect to their correlations with each other and with other variables in the study (see table 3). Not surprisingly, promarketing and antimarketing showed a strong and significant (at the .05 level) negative correlation (which supported the validity of these measures). Promarketing was positively and significantly correlated with marketing knowledge and experience, which indicates that those who know about and use marketing tended to have favorable attitudes toward it. Promarketing attitudes were also significantly correlated with several of the independent variables used in this study. They were positively correlated with respondents’ years of experience and the number of years since the respondents had completed their education. This suggested that librarians with more experience had more appreciation for the need for the marketing of library services. Antimarketing attitudes showed statistically significant correlations with several variables. They were negatively correlated with marketing knowledge and experience, which suggested that negative attitudes about marketing may result from a lack of understanding about, and experience with, marketing techniques. Antimarketing was also inversely related to community income, which may mean that libraries in lower income communities may not see the need, or have the resources, to market their services. Marketing knowledge and experience was positively correlated with years of library experience. This may indicate that marketing techniques are learned over the course of a librarian’s career, or perhaps late in one’s career (e.g., after taking on administrative responsibility). A previous empirical study undertaken in the United Kingdom [30] found that libraries that offered a broader range of services tended to engage in more marketing-related activities. This was confirmed in the present study inasmuch as both promarketing and marketing knowledge and experience were positively correlated to agreement with a questionnaire item that stated, “My library offers a broader range of services than others in the area.” It may be that librarians who work in libraries that offer a broader range of services learn to appreciate the importance of making the public fully aware of these services. (It should also be noted that range of services was positively correlated with both community population and community income.) Another item in the questionnaire examined agreement with the statement, “Marketing is not a high priority in my library.” Agreement with this statement correlated positively and strongly with antimarketing attitudes TABLE 3 Correlations Promarketing: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Antimarketing: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Marketing knowledge and experience: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Years since education was completed: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Years of experience: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Community population: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Community income: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Not high priority: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Broader range: Pearson correlation Significance (two-tailed) N Promarketing Antimarketing Marketing Knowledge and Experience Years since Education Was Completed Years of Experience 1.000 ⫺.584** .000 386 .466** .000 382 .141** .005 392 .160** .001 393 .011 .834 387 1.000 ⫺.073 .144 400 ⫺.080 .108 402 1.000 394 Community Population Community Income Not High Priority Broader Range .016 .754 384 ⫺.394** .000 394 .153** .002 390 ⫺.026 .603 395 ⫺.084 .095 393 .428** .000 403 ⫺.104* .039 397 ⫺.584** .000 386 403 ⫺.310** .000 383 .466** .000 382 ⫺.310** .000 383 391 .060 .240 389 .142** .005 390 ⫺.043 .397 383 .083 .107 382 ⫺.324** .000 391 .117* .021 386 .141** .005 392 ⫺.073 .144 400 .060 .240 389 1.000 417 .805** .000 416 .016 .752 409 .064 .197 407 ⫺.038 .445 415 .039 .430 410 .160** .001 393 ⫺.080 .108 402 .142** .005 390 .805** .000 416 1.000 419 .060 .224 411 .065 .191 410 ⫺.054 .276 417 .056 .258 413 .011 .834 387 ⫺.026 .603 395 ⫺.043 .397 383 .016 .752 409 .060 .224 411 412 ⫺.158** .001 404 ⫺.033 .507 410 .244** .000 405 .016 .754 384 ⫺.084 .095 393 .083 .107 382 .064 .197 407 .065 .191 410 ⫺.158** .001 404 1.000 410 ⫺.097* .050 408 .152** .002 404 ⫺.394** .000 394 .428** .000 403 ⫺.324** .000 391 ⫺.038 .445 415 ⫺.054 .276 417 ⫺.033 .507 410 ⫺.097* .050 408 1.000 418 ⫺.242** .000 412 .153** .002 390 ⫺.104* .039 397 .117* .021 386 .039 .430 410 .056 .258 413 .244** .000 405 .152** .002 404 ⫺.242** .000 412 * Correlation is significant at the .05 level (two-tailed). ** Correlation is significant at the .01 level (two-tailed). 1.000 1.000 413 WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 73 and negatively with both promarketing attitudes and marketing knowledge and experience. This suggested that librarians’ attitudes and interests were influenced by the environment in which they work. In the final phase of the analysis, the statistical technique of analysis of variance, or ANOVA [25, 26], was used to examine relationships between the dependent variables in this study (attitudes toward marketing) and some of the independent variables (characteristics of the respondents and their library’s community). The ANOVA determines whether differences in the mean scores on a scaled item are statistically significant for different subgroups of respondents. Table 4 shows that differences in mean scores on promarketing were statistically significant (at the .05 level of significance) for the independent variable of job responsibility. As indicated in figure 1, administrators and public service librarians tended to have more positive attitudes toward marketing than reference or technical service librarians. This is likely to be a function of differing job descriptions. Administrators generally have the most direct responsibility for developing marketing programs, and public service librarians can observe the need for, and consequences of, such programs because they are in direct contact with library patrons. (Both administrators and public service librarians also tended to be slightly older than the other categories of respondents.) Figure 2 and table 5 show that both those who had taken a marketing course or workshop in the past five years and those who took one more than five years ago had higher mean scores on positive attitudes toward marketing that were statistically significant as compared with those who had never taken such a course or workshop. (The antimarketing results were essentially the reverse of the promarketing results. For example, those who had never taken a marketing course or workshop had more negative attitudes toward marketing than those who had. This indicates that negative attitudes may be a result of lack of exposure to accurate marketing information.) Marketing knowledge and experience tended to follow the same patterns as promarketing and the correlations discussed earlier. Figure 3 and table 6 show that mean scores were higher for those who had taken a course or workshop. Figure 4 and table 7 also show that technical service librarians had significantly lower scores than the other groups. It may be that those who work in technical services have less responsibility for communicating with the public or simply less interest in doing so. Conclusions and Recommendations Public librarians are becoming aware of the importance of marketing library services to the public, and many books and articles applying mar- 74 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY Fig. 1.—Mean scores on promarketing attitude scale, by job responsibility keting techniques to libraries are now available. However, very few studies have examined the attitudes of librarians toward marketing. As discussed earlier, some writers have speculated that many librarians lack knowledge of marketing, have negative attitudes toward marketing, or believe that marketing is relevant only to businesses, but not to libraries. Most of the respondents in this study tended to express generally positive attitudes toward marketing. However, there were some statistically significant differences between subgroups. For example, more positive attitudes toward marketing were expressed by administrators and public service librarians than by reference and technical services librarians. Those with more years of library work experience and those who had taken a course or workshop in marketing also expressed more positive attitudes toward marketing. Respondents who scored higher on marketing knowledge and experience tended to include administrators and those with more library exTABLE 4 ANOVA of Mean Scores on Promarketing Attitude Scale, by Job Responsibility Promarketing Sum of Squares df Mean Square Between groups Within groups 19.370 375.598 6 385 3.228 .976 394.968 391 Total F Significance 3.309 .003 WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 75 Fig. 2.—Mean scores on promarketing attitude scale, by having taken a course-workshop perience. Not surprisingly, those with higher scores in marketing knowledge and experience tended to have taken a course or workshop in marketing and also expressed more positive attitudes toward marketing. Scores on both marketing knowledge and experience and positive attitudes toward marketing were higher for respondents who believed that their libraries offered a broader range of services than other libraries and for those who perceived marketing to be a higher priority in their libraries. Librarians can clearly not assume that if their library offers good services, they do not need to worry about marketing them effectively. Library staff should constantly reconsider whether they need to offer new services to satisfy patron needs, to eliminate services that no longer meet those needs, to find the best ways to make services accessible to patrons, to make the public fully aware of what is offered, and to consider how much each service will cost the individual patron or the community as a whole. This study indicates that library managers have increasingly come to TABLE 5 ANOVA of Mean Scores on Promarketing Attitude Scale, by Course-Workshop Promarketing Sum of Squares df Mean Square Between groups Within groups 38.637 356.313 2 388 19.318 .918 394.950 390 Total F Significance 21.036 .000 76 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY Fig. 3.—Mean scores on marketing knowledge and experience scale, by having taken a course-workshop. appreciate the importance of marketing library services in a competitive information marketplace. However, the training of librarians still tends to give this topic minimal attention. A recent survey of North American library schools conducted by France Bouthillier [31] suggests that only a minority of programs offer a course in marketing (even by a definition that includes public relations courses), that such courses are typically electives that are not offered on a regular basis, and that they are generally not perceived as having high importance in the curriculum. This situation can be remedied somewhat with continuing education. However, this also does not yet seem to have become a priority. Even in a sample such as ours, containing a large proportion of administrators and TABLE 6 ANOVA of Mean Scores on Marketing Knowledge and Experience Scale, by Having Taken a Course-Workshop Marketing Knowledge and Experience Sum of Squares df Mean Square Between groups Within groups 140.632 554.041 2 385 70.316 1.439 694.672 387 Total F Significance 48.862 .000 WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 77 Fig. 4.—Mean scores on marketing knowledge and experience scale, by job responsibility other experienced staff, about half had never been exposed to continuing education focused on marketing. Library administrators who want to instill positive attitudes toward marketing in librarians and encourage them to increase their marketing knowledge and experience should first create an environment where everyone understands that marketing is a high priority. Incentives should be provided for librarians to continue their education in the full range of current issues, and this includes taking courses or workshops in library marketing. Even librarians with many years of experience appear to be interested in expanding their knowledge of library marketing techniques. Once they have received this training, librarians should be given time to become directly involved in library marketing activities. TABLE 7 ANOVA of Mean Scores on Marketing Knowledge and Experience Scale, by Job Responsibility Marketing Knowledge and Experience Sum of Squares df Mean Square Between groups Within groups 152.907 545.340 6 383 25.484 1.424 698.247 389 Total F Significance 17.898 .000 78 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY In libraries, as in other types of organizations, staff involvement is essential to implementing new programs. Early involvement at the planning stage helps staff understand the need for marketing. Involvement in the creation of brochures or other materials provides a sense of ownership. Evidence of success can provide recognition, a sense of accomplishment, and generally higher morale [32]. Once librarians become convinced of the need for marketing, they can begin the search for marketing techniques that will be effective in their particular situation. Unfortunately, although there are many available sources of ideas on marketing techniques appropriate for libraries (including many of the sources cited in this article), there is no single technique that will work equally well in all library contexts. For example, an informative Web page has become an essential marketing tool for many libraries. However, a Web page may have little value for a library in a lowincome community where few patrons have Internet access. Confidence that their efforts will have an impact is an important aspect of staff motivation. In this regard, there is a need for better measurement of the effectiveness of various marketing techniques. Libraries often develop such techniques on a trial-and-error basis. Individual libraries may evaluate these techniques over time and develop experience-based guidelines as to which are most effective. However, this research is rarely reported in the published literature, except anecdotally. Unfortunately, measurement of marketing effectiveness has always been “notoriously difficult” [33, p. 33]. Even commercial marketers with large budgets find it difficult to measure the effectiveness of their activities. As George Belch and Michael Belch observe, “Perhaps one of the more frustrating issues in integrated marketing communications is how to measure the effectiveness of the IMC program. For years marketers have discussed, debated, and denigrated just about every technique that has been proposed. Many have given up the chase, concluding that establishing a direct relationship is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack” [34, p. 635]. Web pages are one of the few aspects of library marketing for which empirical studies of effectiveness have begun to appear in the literature. This largely results from the availability of Web tracking software that can provide quantitative measures of various aspects of patron behavior. For example, Xiaodong Li examined the impact of various electronic promotional techniques on visits to a university Web site [35]. However, even with technological advances, the evaluation of electronic library services is a complex and often imprecise science [36]. WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 79 Suggestions for Future Research The results of this study are limited to the attitudes of a sample of public librarians in New Jersey. Future research could examine the attitudes toward marketing of other types of librarians (e.g., school librarians, college and university librarians, etc.) or librarians in other states, regions, or countries. The respondents in this study were also relatively older and more experienced and included a large proportion of administrators. Future research could investigate whether the attitudes of younger, lessexperienced librarians are comparable. Research is also needed to provide a clearer sense of what librarians understand by the term “marketing.” If many librarians associate marketing only with “hard sell” business practices, this would support a need for better education on this subject. A more general question is the extent to which librarians recognize the potential negative effects on libraries of a changing and competitive information environment. Have they yet developed a sense of urgency that would motivate them to become more proactive in library marketing? This article has also uncovered needs for research into various other issues in library marketing that extend beyond the domain of the current study. Most notably, there is little evidence in the literature as to the effectiveness of particular marketing techniques in a library context. One approach to this issue would be survey research asking librarians which marketing techniques they have used and what evidence they had collected demonstrating the effectiveness of those techniques. Another approach would be collecting studies already conducted by a variety of individual libraries, along with secondary analysis or metanalysis to determine general patterns that might emerge across such studies. In summary, librarians are beginning to appreciate the need for library marketing. However, more training and research will be needed to support their marketing efforts. 80 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY Appendix Librarian Survey (survey continues) WHAT DO LIBRARIANS THINK ABOUT MARKETING? 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