Clearinghouse - Marketing and Public Relations Resources

Clearinghouse of Professional Information

Marketing and Public Relations

This section includes links to initiatives that support public libraries in Ontario.

SOLS supports a number of initiatives that contribute to enhancing the public relations and marketing potential of libraries. Included are the Toronto-Dominion Bank Summer Reading Programme, and the First Nations Public Library Week, both province-wide projects jointly supported by SOLS and OLS-North.

OLS - North provides assistance with promotions and public relations through its consulting and advisory service and its marketing service. OLS-North also provides a marketing service to public libraries in Ontario. Marketing staff will assist clients in marketing their libraries, including, but not exclusively through the creation of brochures, websites and virtual library tours.

Marketing Service Plan Ontario Library Service-North and a Marketing Committee made up of librarians from the North and the South have completed a Marketing Service Plan (.pdf) for all libraries in Ontario. The service is a collaboration between Ontario Library Service– North and Southern Ontario Library Service and will be delivered through Ontario Library Service – North to all libraries in Ontario.

The Committee sent out a survey to all libraries in Ontario. The results were compiled and the service plan was developed according to these results. The Committee feels that the plan is in keeping with the needs of libraries across the province and will be reviewed on a yearly basis.

Please do not hesitate to contact our marketing team for any of these services at marketing@olsn.ca.

Topics include

General Resources | Ideas from Libraries

	indicates an item written by SOLS staff		indicates an item written by OLS-North staff
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General Resources

campaign OLA and ALA initiatives See the Action Kit
ALA's atyourlibrary.org website Launched in 2009, this site continues to post lively new content that encourages the public to use their local library. The mission of the site is to be a catalyst that drives people to their local libraries.
Benton Foundation's Toolkit for Libraries: "The Future's in the Balance"(.pdf)
Creating and Distributing Electronic Annual Reports and Marketing Materials (Tech Soup)
Dividends: The Value of Public Libraries in Canada. The Library Action Committee of the Book and Periodical Council undertook a research project in July 1996 to review the importance of public libraries to library users, suppliers, publishers, retailers and other businesses, as well as to Canadian culture; to analyze the effects of reduced funding to public libraries on the economy and society at large; and to produce a discussion paper that outlined these themes and concerns.
Helping Non-Profits Succeed Through Strong Marketing Articles that provide factual, practical information - tips, case studies, news, and announcements - to help you plan, implement, and improve your nonprofit communications efforts.
How to Market @ You Library TM, Creating Your Five-Year Campaign (ALA and 3M)
How to Write a Marketing Plan by Amelia Kassel. Amelia Kassel is principal of MarketingBASE, an information brokerage that provides business and market intelligence worldwide. She has an M.L.S. from the University of California at Los Angeles. (Article from MLS, Marketing Library Services Volume 13 No. 5 • June 1999)
LibraryClipArt.com
Library Marketing Kit (ProQuest Information and Learning) A how-to-guide on marketing your library's online resources. How do you remind your user community about the great online resources you offer, when they think all they need is Google? The tools in this free kit will help.
Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book (blog) Resources, readings, news and ideas for librarians who seek outside-the-book marketing innovations for their libraries
Library Media and PR: Tool Box Excellent clipart and ideas
Marketing Service Plan 2006 / Plan du service de Marketing 2006
Marketing Tool Kit A step-by-step tool kit on how to create a marketing plan for your public library.
Marketing our Libraries on and off the web (LibrarySupportStaff.com)
Marketing Treasures Each issue of Marketing Treasures includes a feature article about a vital marketing subject, followed by shorter sections covering marketing concepts, insights into promotion activities, popular communications resources, and upcoming learning opportunities to expand your marketing know-how. List of websites related to Marketing for libraries
Marketing Your Library Blog
Media Access Guide for Non-Profit Organizations - San Francisco, KRON/Bay TV Community
NetLibrary Marketing Kits promotional materials that will help you build awareness of your eContent collection. Whether you're launching a new collection, training your staff or library users, or planning an event, you'll benefit from having these tools at your fingertips.
News Release Workshop. (Knight Foundation) You do good work. You want people to know about it. But how do you spread the word?
This Web site will show you, with a guide to writing a news release.
Posters (State Library of Iowa) Fantastic photos and quotes. Can be used by any library. No need to customize.
Tips on Communicating Your Project (Atkinson Foundation) " How and when your organization communicates the results of your project is a decision that rests finally with you. But here are a few tips to help you develop a plan." Downloadable .pdf file
Trading Spaces (South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative) A demonstration site for the use of visual
merchandising techniques in a public library. See Do-It Yourself Toolkit
Why Libraries Matter A library awareness campaign sponsored by Alliance Library System, a regional organization consisting of academic, public, school, and special libraries in Illinois
Wikipedia Commons is a media repository that is created and maintained not by paid-for artists, but by volunteers. Its name "Wikimedia Commons" is derived from that of the umbrella project "Wikimedia" managing all Wikimedia projects and from the plural noun "commons" as its contents are shared by different language versions and different kinds of Wikimedia projects. Thus it provides a central repository for freely licensed photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts that are useful for any Wikimedia project.

Ideas from Libraries

ALA Online Store. For graphics promoting libraries, literary and reading
Alta Vista Images finder. Currently the most comprehensive database of images on the 'net, with the best searching capability.
AltaVista Photo Finder, and how to keep your images "unfound" This site explains the liabilities and risks involved in posting and or harvesting graphics on the web.
Awesome Library Clip Art
The Little Book of Public Libraries 40p. (.pdf) (Australian Library and Information Association

- ALIA) Marketing idea from Australia based on the concept that the public library is the new village green. How to use the booklet.

Reading lists and activities from the New York Public Library
Web Graphics (Kent School District) How to use.