MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

Effective Practices for

Marketing School Media Centers Services
Tara Jarvie
Southern Utah University

MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

Effective Practices for

Marketing School Media Centers Services
Introduction
As a new generation of school librarians begin to take their places as media coordinators
it is increasingly clear that a media center has to be able to hold its own in the arena of educating
students in order to retain funding. In my memory a school library had a very definite purpose
and it was the only place where many sources of information were available. As materials have
become easily available outside the walls of the library some call into question the purpose and
necessity for funding and staffing a media center when budgets are tightening.
While many could produce a compelling argument as to the value of a school library
evidence and customer testimonials speak louder than a librarians words. Advocacy, a longterm, deliberate plan that is designed to build stakeholder support (Gruenthal, 2012, p. 13) isnt
the same as marketing; however, if a media center markets quality services and produces the
services marketed stakeholders provide far greater advocacy for funding and maintaining a
school media center.

Thesis Statement
As the role of school libraries has shifted the marketing practices must take into account
all stakeholder availability, needs, and perception of the media center; a well marketed library
builds advocacy for school libraries among stakeholders.
In this paper I will discuss effective marketing strategies for school libraries, and the
reasons for their effectiveness. First we will explore what marketing is and how customer service
impacts marketing. Also, we will examine how branding the media center as a solution center

MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

and a pivotal part of the school impacts marketing. Meeting all stakeholders: students, teachers,
and administrators where they are to deliver marketing messages is an important part of every
school library marketing plan.

Marketing
To properly market a media center one first must understand what marketing entails. To
design marketing strategies that will effectively market you must consider the journey on must
take to utilize the services available. Breigeen Houghton, Library Coordinator for Freson County
Office of Education, says this journey begins with the customer realizing they have a need,
finding the services, using the services, and reflecting on the process (2016). She suggests that
media centers who base their reputation solely on the quality of books on their shelves may find
themselves in the shadows of more forward thinking technologies. She parallels school libraries
to the once immensely popular one-stop technology hub Radio Shack and its current place in the
shadows of companies like Apple who are cutting edge and innovative. In order to brand or
market our school media centers as relevant we must draw attention to the new innovative
services available in media centers. We must find ways to attach our services to technologies that
are driving the digital citizens we serve.

Media Center/Library Services

Library services are information services. Libraries offer a variety of services in addition
to the old standard perception of a library. School libraries offer a variety of grade level and
reading level appropriate fiction books to read for the love of reading or the study of literature.
They offer a large non-fiction section with information on a wide variety of interests, topics, and
ideas. You will find newspapers, magazines, and even encyclopedias there. They also have

MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

library aides to help you locate those print materials. Realistically many would agree this list is
the extent of what a library has to offer. However that is in large part because many of the
services offered or available havent been marketed widely enough.
In addition to print materials libraries are gaining expansive digital libraries, and can be
accessed even when the library is closed. Digital reference materials are available to school
library customers, which can also be accessed from home or other classrooms. Reading programs
are a fundamental staple of school libraries; these programs reward students for reading to
reinforce reading for pleasure. Many media centers offer technology assistance, to help students
better manipulate computers, tablets, and smart devices. Most media centers are staffed
adequately enough for librarians to visit their classrooms to teach lessons on research. Teachers
and students can now check out technology from most school libraries, and a growing number of
media centers offer Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) centers and clubs.

Approachability and Customer Service

Have you ever had an unpleasant experience at a retail store? How likely are you to
return to that store? Customer Service is a large piece of the puzzle when it comes to marketing a
school media center. Whether or not you are having a good day it is extremely important to be
kind, responsive, and welcoming to all customers. Approachability is a huge factor in return
customers. Welcome customers to the library with a greeting. You may deal with library
customers via email, chat, telephone, or in person, and the demeanor will determine the likeliness
for the customer to return. Be willing to go the extra mile to walk a student to the computer to
show them how to find what they are looking for. Find the time to follow-up after a service has

MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

been provided. Do what you can to make sure customers are comfortable talking to you (Young,
2010).
The job of a media coordinator and the support staff is to provide customers with
knowledge, skills, and materials to progress their literacy development and overall knowledge. In
one way or another we are there to put the information into the hands of the customer. We have
to ask the right questions and appear to be genuinely interested in their information need no
matter the topic. Positive customer experiences are conveyed to others and services begin to
market thanks to word of mouth.

Getting Started: Creating a Brand

Many young children can read signs long before they can read, because they recognize
the brand. We are constantly bombarded by branding we have become accustomed to some level
branding in almost everything. Schools long ago started sporting school shirts along with a motto
about their mission to produce the most successful students. Students, parents, and even faculty
want to be part of a greater community. Libraries need to create their own identifiable brand for
their customers. The American Library Association has even created taglines/slogans that can be
used to help market what is happening @ your library (Gruenthal, 2012, p. 14). The branding
of the media center should tell a story to customers about the variety of services and benefits the
media center offers and reinforce the pivotal role a media center plays in the educating of
students at all levels. It may be a hashtag, logo, or even a saying; but it should be recognizable to
faculty, administration, and students.

MARKETING SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS SERVICES

Marketing Targets
By most definitions a school media center serves students, teachers, administrators, and
parents. Houghton has said that in order to best match our services to our customers needs we
should start by examining who benefits from the services offered. Are all customers, including
those who rarely have physical access to the media center able to access services or information
about services? Often the people with decision making power spend the least amount of time in
the media center, and are in many cases those least aware of the services offered. It is time to
make your services portable along with the marketing that raises awareness of their existence
(Houghton, 2016, p. 22-23).

Reaching Stakeholders: Administration

One of the most important things to remember is that the decision makers often spend the
least time in the media center. All that work being done may be unnoticed by the very people
who determine the fate of the media center. With the demands of state testing, school grading,
teacher evaluations, and the abundant work load many administrators are faced with daily it is
likely that the media center doesnt come to their attention until there is an issue or it becomes an
agenda item on a budget discussion. If they dont come to you, you must go to them or make
your media center visible to them. Create a newsletter to share events and information about
services and programs. Take pictures and share them on the school webpage in addition to the
library webpage, and whenever possible highlight the librarys impact on student achievement.
(AASL, 2015, p. 2,33).
Breigeen Houghton asks, what have you done for your decision makers lately
(Houghton,2016, p. 24). Be visible, be available, and provide them with solutions whenever
possible. In my experience leadership committee positions can be difficult for administrators to

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fill, ask to take part or join the leadership committee for the school. Staying informed about
current issues facing the school is a great place to survey the needs of the administrators and
classroom teachers. Having been on the leadership committee for a few years, I have found
multiple opportunities to market the services offered in our media center. Marketing takes place
when a need arises, and often times the need for services arises outside of the media center. For
example, at a leadership meeting the discuss turns to the professional learning goals for the
following year. A topic is selected based on common goals with a school, and a discussion of the
best materials ensues. The media coordinator has an opportunity to market resources and offer to
coordinate with the media coordinators at other schools to select common resources for
professional teacher training. This service wouldnt be found on a flyer, but simply being in the
right place to offer the services is a marketing strategy. Although the task seems small it saves
the administrator and staff developer time and hassle of finding and ordering the materials that
will later be housed in the school library.

Reaching Stakeholders: Teachers

Teachers are busy, overwhelmed, and absorbed. A teachers perception of the media
center can be greatly affected by outreach marketing. Like administrators there are many
classroom teachers that dont ever find time to visit the school media center or even notice
traditional marketing flyers posted around the building. Some teachers perception of librarians
sitting behind the circulation desk all day checking out books is based on the fact that, that may
be the only place they actually see the media staff. To deliver you marketing message to the
teachers who dont visit the library you will have to find a place to interact with them.

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Many libraries have a hidden marketing hot spot. Often times the school Xerox machine
is located in the media center, and many copy centers in Washington County School District are
maintained by the media coordinator. High traffic areas such as these provide marketing
opportunities. Having access to what teachers are copying, is a quick way to gage what
curriculum is being taught at any given time. Also, it allows a conversation about resources
related to materials being printed. Eventually teachers foreign to the school library will begin to
seek out opportunities to collaborate and find resources for themselves and their students.
Participation in department meetings is a requirement to all teachers, and a sales
opportunity for media coordinators. Volunteering to attend these meetings can foster a
collaborative partnership. Taking part voluntarily in these mandatory meetings sends a message
to teachers that you are invested in their success and want to help. The image of the media
coordinator is a pivotal part of the branding of the library. A media coordinator who is available
and present enhances the view of the school library. Services may be suggested or developed to
support the goals of individual departments. This idea goes along with Houghtons suggestion to
be seen as part of the solution (Houghton, 2016, p.23). Once the media center establishes a
reputation as a solution center the energy surrounding the perception of the media center will
become more positive and draw in more customers to take part in the services that others have
found beneficial. We begin to shift the view of what the school library has to offer from physical
materials to services and solutions.

Reaching Stakeholders: Students

Get digital! We are serving a digital generation and if we would like to reach them we
will have to meet them where they are. Kate Messner, a childrens book author, wrote an article
in 2012 highlighting the possibilities of Pinterest. Pinterest is an online pin board where people

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collect and share ideas about common topics. She talked about the opportunities for marketing
and connecting students to resources and marketing materials through Pinterest. Pinterest is used
by many different age groups, but does require a social media account to sign up. One item
featured on Kates Pinterest page was printable bookmarks with QR codes, a square barcode that
can be scanned and links the scanner to material. On her bookmarks she features book covers
and a QR link to book trailers. I can see students loving these interactive bookmarks. If used to
promote books and programs in the library Pinterest could be a great outreach for parents and
students (Messner, 2012).
Social media is scary, but a gathering place for all age ranges. Recently I surveyed a
group of 100 middle school students and approximately 86 percent of the students had a social
media account. With the increasing use of Facebook by older generations Snapchat seems to be
taking the lead for middle school students. Paige Alfonzo, a PhD student at the University of
Denver shared her book marketing ideas using Snapchat to highlight new materials, programs,
and increase student involvement. Taking live video of the media center staff can highlight the
fun loving, silly personalities behind the counter. Once students follow the library page videos
you post will show up on their news feed and checking out media services and events become
part of their daily routine. Alfonzo, reported that after students began to see the media center
staff on videos they also became more likely to approach staff in the media center because they
were more familiar (Alfonzo, 2016, 22-23). Paige also envisioned students taking over the
library Snapchat account once a week to market their books or services they are using. Social
media and peer marketing have the potential to reach a wider range of students.

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10

Lessons in Marketing from Retail Stores

The atmosphere of the library is a key component in attracting customers. It is important
to have an attractive store front with welcome signs. Place displays in areas that customers will
see them. Terrance Young, a school librarian from Louisiana, reminds us that research has been
done to predict customer behavior. For example he states that customers instinctively drift to the
right upon entering a business. Placing a display to the right of the entrance would be a wise
marketing strategy (Young, 2010). A study also suggests that merchandise placed on end caps is
more likely to be purchased than on the long side of the shelf. If you dont have the ability to
display items on the end caps of your shelves it may be a cost worthy investment. The displays
should feature eye catching visuals and intriguing tests. Make selecting materials convenient and
easy. Book displays with captivating quotes from the book displayed next to the books makes
selecting interesting titles much easier.
Signage plays an important role in marketing. Old tired signs that have been on display
since the opening of the school library sends a message to customers that the materials they are
advertising are old and tired as well. Signs should be colorful with clear and easy to read fonts,
and areas of the library should be clearly labeled and provided in additional languages depending
on the English Language Learner, or ELL, population in your school. They should be updated
and changed out from time to time. If you dont have room in your budget find a school library
nearby and trade decorations every couple of years. Is your media center growing and changing
or is it the same old library?
Posters and flyers outside of the media center can draw in customers. Getting the word
out gets people to the door, Courtney Pentland, research librarian, reminds of the importance of
typical advertising (2014). There are common areas that are great places to hang posters, but the

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11

inside of bathroom stalls offers a captive audience. In the lunch lines flyers may be more likely
to be read as students are waiting for lunch. QR codes printed and pasted around without any
words would be a great way to engage curious students. Reaching out to students who wont see
all of your wonderful marketing tools and displays in the library is a great way to build a larger
customer base.
Along with displays and proper signage the most crucial aspect of retail is customer
services. If a customer cant find the item they are looking for it is the best marketing possible to
help them find another acceptable substitute or order the item they are requesting. Providing
quality customer service promotes positive relationships and repeat customers (Pentland, 2014).

Research and Reference Materials

In the area of research services it could easily be argued that Google is the number one
competition. Many school libraries have access to incredible search engines and databases full of
scholarly articles, and with some assistance students can access better information. How do
market reference services that require a little longer than Google? Tina Thomas, Director of
Marketing at the Edmonton Public Library says it is a matter of teaching the difference between
popular and important (2016). Just because Google is popular doesnt mean it has the most
important answers. Branding research tools as discovery tools alleviates the comparison to
search engines. Market your media center as a place for discover and a place that will help you
narrow down information to develop new ideas and opportunities (Thomas, 2016, p. 211).

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12

Conclusion
In all things consider your customers. In the case of school libraries the customer base
and their needs vary greatly. It is more important than ever for media centers to brand themselves
as a place where everyone from students to administrators can find solutions. Providing quality
services and building positive relationships does as much for the marketing of the media center
as any advertisement campaign. Reaching the entire customer base of a school library will
require media coordinators to step out of the library and making themselves and the resources
and services they provide available outside of the library. Satisfied customers become advocates
for school libraries, and with budgets tight and increasing costs of education it will be very
important to have evidence and advocates to attest to the value of the school media center.

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13

References

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