HCPL Surprises
May 3rd, 2007 by Karen
I’m still getting used to having a access to a really good public library at my disposal. I work at an academic library and although they have a lot of the stuff I need for my job. Some job related stuff they don’t have or it is checked out. This situation arose today and I found myself checking out the Harris County Public Library catalog. It isn’t as if I haven’t borrowed from the public library here before. It is just that I’m typically borrowing stuff for entertainment purposes. Not non-fiction and certainly not “work-related” stuff. However, today I needed desperately to look up something in Chris Anderson’s Long Tail book. UH’s copy was of course checked out. So I thought I’d take a stab in the dark and see if HCPL had it. To my surprise and glee they did and even better there was a copy at my branch. So I zipped off an electronic hold request and I’ll likely be able to pick it up tomorrow.
The great stuff that is available via HCPL never ceases to surprise and amaze me. Plus, my local branch is inviting, has good furniture, a wireless network, and a highly efficient and effective self-service for picking up and checking out requested items. They also have 24/7 reference chat and a good online form for requesting titles.
So why am a writing about this other than to sing the HCPL’s praises? Well, for one the fact that I was surprised about the services and resources the HCPL offers shows just how difficult it is for libraries to get their message out there to the communities that they serve. I am a librarian and use my local branch library often and yet know very little about the services and resources available. Just think about what this says about who libraries aren’t reaching with their message.
This isn’t a criticism of HCPL, it is a criticism and commentary on most libraries. As librarians, we often do a poor job of marketing ourselves and our libraries to the rest of the world. As a result, our message gets lost and people don’t know about the plethora of resources we have to offer. This is really frustrating to me, but at the same time marketing isn’t a strength I have so I’m not sure I can’t offer any new solutions the problem
I am the Marketing and Programming Coordinator for HCPL- and a librarian. I know we have an identity crisis and I am slowly working to correct that. Our main goal at HCPL is to provide great resources to our communities in a comfortable and inviting environment. The majority of our customers do have fantastic library experiences and keep coming back to visit. It is always great to hear from our customers, especially one that is a librarian!
I think HCPL is not alone in its struggles with these issues. From my perspective you are definitely achieving you goal of providing great resources in a comfortable and inviting environment. I am a repeat customer and so are some other folks who I work with at UH Libraries.
IMHO, marketing is one of my strong points if only for the fact that I love libraries and am thinking constantly about how to make everyone else love them as much as I do! LOL
I think one of the biggest problems libraries have with marketing and promotion is the idea that we can’t let go of the idea that we need to tell our customers everything. Each attempt at conveying a message should have one primary message, whether it’s come to this workshop that we have, or that the librarian doesn’t mind answering questions. There may more more messages “hidden inside” but there needs to be one obvious, clear message. Watch this commercial for the VW Phaeton — it’s only illustrating the fact that the car is “hand-crafted”. Nothing else. Nothing about price, handling, fuel economy, etc. You may infer other things about it if you want but that’s all they are saying: This car is beautiful. A very simple message that the audience can internalize. We need to do that more.
The number two problem is that sometimes, the message isn’t about communicating some piece of information. Check out this recent ad by Coke. Nowhere in the commercial does it say anything about how Coke can help you. It’s all about style. That’s pretty much what Coke (and Pepsi and MacDonald’s and Old Navy, etc.) always advertises: we are cool — talk about us.
Our collections are filled with books that are designed and coloured to sell, periodicals that are filled with ads, textbooks about marketing, and customers that we can ask what they think… let’s check them out.