Crash Course in Marketing gives the librarian with little formal training, a member of the friends of the library who would like to help with marketing, or someone who has had little experience with marketing to gain skills needed to build a marketing plan for their library. Examples from libraries are used to illustrate the marketing elements described. Here is everything librarians, especially those in small libraries, need to know about marketing, PR, and advocacy. You'll learn what these things are, and why they make sense for the librarian in a small library. More important, this book will teach you how to perform these important tasks, including how to develop a marketing plan, how to work with the media, and how to raise money with events. Appendixes include Useful Resources for the Librarian. Created for those with little formal LIS training who are working in small, rural libraries, this entry in the Crash Course series will also be useful for librarians who are new to this area of service or need to brush up on their skills. The reader will find easy-to-follow instructions with examples to illustrate the implementation of various methods.

Explains effective marketing strategies and identifies the tools needed to boost the visibility and increase the use of your library in the community. Marketing a library's programs or services takes more than sending out a flyer or posting an announcement on the website. Effective marketing is important for every library, as it can lead to a significant increase in library use—which is a major factor in budget justification. Crash Course in Marketing for Libraries: Second Edition will help you develop a strategic direction for your organization and identify methods for employing your best marketing and public relations strategies. Each chapter of this second edition has been updated and expanded, comprehensively addressing the planning, implementation, and evaluation stages of the marketing and public relations process in libraries. The rise of social media as a powerful marketing tool is discussed in particular detail. The authors cover topics such as planning, promoting through the use of the existing media or advertising, and assessing the project. The book's appendixes provide examples of marketing plans and projects as well as other helpful marketing resources.

Designed to help librarians understand what they can do to make library premises and collections for accessible to people with disabilities.

Weeding is a perennial challenge for librarians. This book will help you rise to the task by offering you basic instructions, including information on new formats and digital collections. Weeding is often difficult—who can easily decide to discard books and other materials that someone may someday want to borrow? But weeding is essential to keeping your collection healthy and relevant. Perfect for all types of libraries and for both paraprofessionals and librarians unfamiliar with modern weeding methods, this practical guide offers clear guidance that can help you cope with the sometimes-paralytic fear and distaste that can accompany a must-do task. Each of the book's chapters treats a specific concern—for example, weeding electronic collections. Practical matters related to collection maintenance through material and online resource weeding are addressed, as are policy and procedure documentation and communication planning and best practices. You'll read about weeding ethics, using vendor-provided weeding tools, and floating collections. The book also shares advice on training volunteers as weeding assistants and on communicating with library stakeholders about collection maintenance. By showing you how to make weeding a normal part of your library's routine, this book will help you provide your community with a healthier, better circulating, and more valuable collection.

This book helps libraries identify and implement new ways to serve their physically or mentally disabled patients. Authors Ann Roberts and Dr. Richard Smith work at the state level with persons with disabilities. They find that very few librarians feel comfortable with providing services addressed to the needs of the disabled, yet those who do offer services and programs other libraries can adopt and adapt. Crash Course in Library Services to People with Disabilities will help librarians get up to speed in understanding disabled persons and what they can do to make library premises and holdings more accessible to them. It provides basic information on the different types of mental and physical disabilities a librarian might encounter, then offers a range of exemplary policies, services, and programs for people with disabilities—efforts that are in place and working across the country.

Concise, informative, and well-indexed, this book helps readers get the "big picture" as well as the considerable number of details involved in managing the finances for a library. For all libraries, money is critical to decision-making about technology, staffing, and collections. As a result, informed budgeting is critically important for any library to succeed. This book explains library finance in a practical, engaging way, using examples of real situations in different types of libraries to teach key points. Written by authors with years of experience in budgeting and financial planning within a variety of library settings and in teaching library management or fundraising at the university level, Crash Course in Library Budgeting and Finance makes it painless to learn how to properly manage money in any library environment. The book addresses the entire process of financial planning, from a general, conceptual overview of library budgeting to the details of generating and spending income, and describes best practices for implementing financial controls. Subjects covered include building construction and capital projects, fund raising, capital campaigns, moving to fee-based services, extending and developing earned income, financial best practices, and assessment and evaluation. The authors also make recommendations regarding when and how to share relevant financial information throughout the organization and with constituents throughout the book.

This indispensable resource provides tools for collection management in public libraries, featuring essential strategies for inventory assessment, market analysis, budgeting, marketing, and customer service. This book is a must-have for those just entering the field or professionals in need of a refresher in effective library operations. This professional volume covers all aspects of collection development and management in the public library, from gathering statistics to design a collection that meets community needs, to selecting materials, managing vendor relations, understanding the publishing industry, and handling complaints. Author Wayne Disher provides public librarians—especially those without the benefit of academic training—access to the tools to make them successful, and their collections beneficial to the public they serve. The second edition features two new chapters on digital curation and cooperative collection development. Additional updates include helpful information on infographics, more budgeting formulas, and a section on core collections, as well as content covering eBooks, electronic storage, and digital rights management. Chapters discuss subjects such as marketing the collection to patrons, book repair, and handling censorship issues when collections are challenged.