ProQuest CSA Offering Free Library Marketing Kit

-- Library Journal, 03/05/2007

The newly formed ProQuest CSA is coming out swinging: the company is offering public libraries a free marketing toolkit that combines a wealth of "how-to" advice from library marketing expert, speaker, and author Beth Dempsey, who has written several articles for LJ, with print and digital marketing collateral designed to boost patron's awareness of their public libraries' online resources. Among the program's components:

• how-to guide on Marketing Your Library's Online Resource
• sample database descriptions that speak "patron" rather than library language
• customizable promotional flyer and advertisement
• customizable press release template
• getting started demo—a digital "ad" that can be downloaded to the library's homepage

"ProQuest CSA gave me the opportunity to 'consult' with thousands of libraries and help them break down barriers between them and their patrons," said Dempsey. "I think anyone who uses this kit and pays attention to its messages will get better at viewing the library from the patron's point of view. Once you've conquered that, it's so much easier to communicate what the library has to offer." The Library Marketing Toolkit is being mailed to public libraries, and the materials also can be downloaded from ProQuest's website.