Presentation on how a college library can work with all departments within a college. Includes career services / graduate placement, student services, and admissions.

1. Marketing
Library Services
through
Interdepartmental
Programs
Laura Loveday
Southwest Florida College

2. Assess your situation
 Know what needs to be fixed before you
attempt to fix it, and do so by asking
important questions.
 Write down the answers honestly. Ask
others what they think about the school or
the library before you progress any further.

3.  What are the preconceived ideas your
students may have of the library?
 How much use is the library getting? Does
this use correlate with the activity you see
around the campus?
 What relationship does the library have
with other departments?
 Are you or one of your staff meeting with
classes? Why or why not?
 If you walked around campus, would
most students know who you are?

4. Finding Solutions
to campus and library problems
 Problem #1: New students were hesitant
to use the library
 Problem #2: The retention of students
 Problem #3: Marketing the library to
student interests
 Problem #4: Marketing the school (while
still performing library duties)

5. Problem #1: New students were hesitant to
use the library
Solution: Work with the admissions department
 Began attending every new student
orientation and handing out my contact
information and a brochure of services
 Sat at the entrance with admission
representatives as students got their schedule
for the first day
 Met with the Director of Admissions to discuss
what we have (we have a lot of eBooks and
that’s a good sell. Know your collection’s
strengths!)
 Attended new faculty orientations and
offered a “Classroom instruction menu”

6. Large staff libraries
 Library liaisons – Appoint staff members
holding a related degree to serve as a
liaison to an academic department.
Students will recognize a face when they
walk into the library after working with the
librarian in the classroom.
 Create a virtual introduction by putting
staff biographies on your library’s website.

7. Problem #2: The retention of students
Solution: Work with student services and
academic support
 Talked to instructors to encourage them
to send students to the library. One
instructor now requires her students to
schedule a one-on-one session with me to
review papers. I sign off on the draft as
proof we met.
 Suggestion box
 “Graduates in Progress” program

8. Graduate in Progress
“Recognizes students who have at least 48
credit hours, or are halfway through their
program.”

9. Problem #3: Marketing the library to student
interests
Solution: Work with student services and
graduate placement
 Found that students were most interested
in books on resumes, cover letters, and
interview tips
 Asked student services when there was an
availability in events and if I could jump in,
which led to the presentation: “Career
Building with the Learning Resource
Center”

10.  Provided an overview of in-
house resources and handouts
with recommendations for
each academic program
 Went through online resources
and how they could help in job
searching
 Demonstrated my own “online
portfolio” and LinkedIn profile
 Asked a representative from
graduate placement to stop
by and introduce herself
 Left copies with the graduate
placement department for
them to give to students
 Only mentioned books
available in our collection

11.  “Festival of Reading”
The picture above was taken
with Instragram (another free
marketing tool)
Outcome: Organized a field trip for an English class, promoted
our name, and added value to our collection.

12. Problem #4: Marketing the school (while still
performing library duties)
Solution: Work with academics
 Began meeting with the Director of
Education and several instructors (who I
had gotten to know from these other
events) to form a weekly “marketing
brainstorm” session
 “The Tampa / Brandon Book Club”

13. A few things to keep in mind…
 Lesson #1: Write down solutions that will
help the students and know how it will
benefit any other departments involved.
 Lesson #2: Become an advocate and
promote what the library is doing.

14.  Lesson #3:
 Brainstorm free ways
to market resources
and events.
 I update this blog
weekly and asked
our IT department to
make it the
homepage to every
computer in the
library. On the right
under “Pages” are
links to our hours,
email, OPAC, etc.
Make information
easy to find.

15.  Lesson#4: Join and help out with events
organized by other departments
Pictures from
“Constitution Day”

16. Finally, lesson #5: Keep talking with students
and faculty to know what they think. Always
reexamine what the library is doing so you
can make it accessible and welcoming for
everyone.