Marketing the Library

Course

Branding [3:58]

Learn how to skillfully brand your library, from mission statement to logo.

As any business will tell you, successful marketing of products and services requires a clear and consistent brand. Branding is the external communication that lets community members know what to expect from your library. It includes logos and visual design elements, but it's also about the experiences associated with your programs and services. Your brand can be thought of as your promise to library users.

In this lesson, we'll talk about three aspects of branding: mission statement, communication, and logo.

Let's start with mission or vision statement. This statement describes where you'd like to be as a library. What does success look like for your library? Typically, a library's mission statement is tied to that of the school or district.

Maybe your library already has a mission statement, maybe it needs to be updated, or maybe you are developing one for the first time. In any of these cases, make sure your mission statement addresses your core values and tells who you are and what you do.

Here are three questions you can ask in order to create the mission statement: What is the purpose of the library? Who is it that you serve? How will the people you serve be impacted?

Once you answer these questions you can draft a mission/vision statement that enables you to look towards the future and define the now. Look in this lesson's activity for example mission statements for inspiration.

The mission statement is often printed on posters, put on the website and on any communication materials to the public. This builds your brand as students, teachers, and other stakeholders begin to understand what they can expect from using the library.

You will also want to communicate your mission in person through the relationships you have at the library, online, through newsletters, and out in the community. You want people to understand the mission of the library and feel that it applies to them.

A logo can help with this. A logo is a visual representation of your library. It's the mission/vision and core values combined into a visual representation. Logos help anchor expectation and understanding.

Creating a new logo is a great way to get students directly involved in marketing the library. You could create a "logo design" mini-class to give students the tools to design the library's logo. Maybe you can find a community member with design experience willing to help. Or connect with the school's communications department to see what design resources they have.

Consider these criteria when designing the library logo: Is it memorable? Does it work in small and large fonts? Is it unique? Can it be used in print, websites and social media? Invest time looking at excellent examples of library logos to get inspiration. To get you started, we've shared some in this lesson's activity.

Reflecting on your library's mission, being intentional with communicating it, and designing a consistent logo are three ways that you can effectively brand your library and help the learning community what to expect when they visit your library.

Make It Your Mission

A mission statement sets the foundation for your library's brand because in order to communicate what your library is about to stakeholders, you must first define it. Read the article "Developing a District Vision for Library Services" by Sara Culp Searles (in the Resources below) to learn about how one district collaboratively crafted a vision statement, then complete the Reflect & Practice activity.

RESOURCES:

Template

Developing a District Vision for Library Services

Article

REFLECT & PRACTICE:

What is the mission of your library? After reading Searles' article, complete pages 10–11 in the Marketing Plan Template, where you'll also find examples of mission statements from other school libraries around the country.

MLA Citation

Editorial Team, SLC. "Marketing the Library: Make It Your Mission." School Library Connection, October 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2174910?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902.

Entry ID: 2174984

Logo Land

A logo creates a visual identity for your library and can be used across print and digital media to draw attention to services, programs, and events in the library. Complete the Reflect & Practice activity to get started on developing one for your library.

RESOURCES:

Template

REFLECT & PRACTICE:

It's time to get creative! Look at pages 12–13 in the Marketing Plan Template to find some guiding questions and examples of effective school library logos. Then work on developing one for your library. Don't forget, as the Lesson 2 video discussed, you can always enlist the help of students and/or others in the school community to create the design.

MLA Citation

Editorial Team, SLC. "Marketing the Library: Logo Land." School Library Connection, October 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2174910?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902.

Entry ID: 2174991

Additional Resources

Supporting Resources from Libraries Unlimited.

About the Authors

Rebecca J. Morris, MLIS, PhD, is teaching associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. She earned her master's degree and doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh and her undergraduate degree in elementary education at Pennsylvania State University. Rebecca has published articles in journals including School Library Research, Knowledge Quest, School Libraries Worldwide, Teacher Librarian and the Journal of Research on Young Adults in Libraries. She is the author of School Libraries and Student Learning: A Guide for School Leaders (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2015). Rebecca is a former elementary classroom teacher and middle school librarian.

Email: rmorris@schoollibraryconnection.com

Twitter: @rebeccajm87.

Stony Evans, MS, is an adjunct instructor at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. He earned his master's in library science from the University of North Texas and a master's in library media and information technologies from the University of Central Arkansas. He served as a teacher-librarian for 12 years. Stony received the Arkansas Library Association's Retta Patrick Award in 2017. He was a finalist for the AASL's 2017 Sensational Student Voice – Social Media Superstar award. He was selected as the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media's Library Media Specialist of the Year in 2013. Visit his blog at librarymediatechtalk.blogspot.com, email him at stony12270@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @stony12270.

Jane Cullina, MSEd, is the professional development manager for School Library Connection and ABC-CLIO. A former children's librarian and humanities teacher, Jane earned her master's degree from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City and has taught in Boston, New York, Maine, California, and South Africa.

Jennifer Gibson, MA, earned a teaching credential and master's in technology from Chapman University, where she was an adjust faculty member for over seven years. With over 20 years of education experience, Jennifer fuels her vision, innovation and leadership by blending educational experience with professional development, educational policy, eLearning, and standards-based design to support educators in professional learning.

MLA Citation

Editorial Team, SLC. "Marketing the Library. Branding [3:58]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, October 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2174910?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902.

View all citation styles

https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2174910?learningModuleId=2174884&topicCenterId=2247902

Entry ID: 2174910