Marketing Orientation of National Libraries

The use of marketing concepts in library services: a literature review

“…The concept of marketing non-profit organisations was initially introduced by Kotler and Levy (1969). However, in the early days marketing was considered to form part of a managerial process outside the boundaries of library science and librarians were reluctant to use it (Lovelock and Weinberg, 1990;Cronin, 1992;Weingand, 1999;Sass, 2002;Gupta, 2003;Schwamm et al, 2009). Marketing services has "witnessed an incredible growth of interest in non-profit service providers such as libraries" during the past two decades (Kim and Park, 2006).…”

“…Libraries, nowadays, are faced with revolutionary technological changes concerning their service development and provision. Many authors emphasise the need for adaptation to the digital environment, which has created a more demanding user culture for all library types worldwide (Dodsworth, 1998;Gambles and Schuster, 2003;Gupta, 2003;Wakeham, 2004;Garoufallou et al, 2008;Schwamm et al, 2009). Internet through user-friendly interfaces offers a more easily and immediately available variety of information choices (Morgan, 1998;Neuhaus and Snowden, 2003;Wakeham, 2004;Broady-Preston et al, 2006;Schmidt, 2006).…”

“…All the aforementioned activities such as the development of strategic planning, marketing strategies, and marketing mix should be coordinated and used for the achievement of the predetermined goal and the objectives, in order to achieve an appropriate implementation of a library strategic marketing plan in each individual case (Coote and Bachelor, 1997;Caballero, 2002;Schwamm et al, 2009). Careful examination though should be paid on how the selected strategies can be developed and incorporated to a marketing plan according to the special needs of each individual library and its community.…”

“…Peltier-Davis (2012) produced a field guide on Web 2.0 tools and their applications for libraries and information centers. Libraries are using these tools to reach as many users as possible (Lee, 2006;Black and Kilzer, 2008;Nguyen, 2008;Dale et al, 2011) for educational reasons, sharing news, marketing their services and providing information literacy instruction (Stover, 2006;Lepik, 2007;Boxen, 2008;Morris and Allen, 2008;Robertson et al, 2008;Adolphus, 2009;Schwamm et al, 2009;Mahmood and Richardson, 2011;Anderson and Nelson, 2012). Boxen (2008, p. 21) reviewed the content of the related literature to "see which articles demonstrate a qualitative or quantitative benefit to the libraries where they are used".…”