Marketing and advertising Community Library Solutions in Sierra Leone
Introduction
The notion of instituting marketing ideas to non-income establishments such as library and details Providers is no for a longer period a controversy. Organisations operate in an setting of alter. These days we stay in a global marketplace for lots of goods and companies in which technology, paying for electrical power and several aspects modify on a regular foundation. A person of the crucial features of marketing and advertising is to discover out how these alterations have an effect on clientele’s desires and needs and to produce organisational methods and plans that will make sure that the library meets these problems (Dransfield and Needham, 1995). It is as a result not astonishing that community librarians are joining the internet marketing bandwagon. This article explores the advertising activities in the operations of the Sierra Leone Community Library services.
Community Libraries
A Public Library is funded wholly and partly from general public money and the use of which is not limited to any class people in the neighborhood but freely readily available to all. It is a big company of enlightenment for older people, delivering for children the recorded experiences of other folks which will support them mature into grownups.
Usherhood (1981) described Public Library as an group proven, supported and funded by the local community, either by way of area, regional or national authorities or by way of some kind of or other local community group. It gives access to expertise, details and operates of creativity by means of a range of assets and products and services and equally available to users of the public group no matter of race, nationality, economic and work position and academic attainment.
The Sierra Leone Library Board (SLLB)
The Sierra Leone Library Board (SLLB) was set up by Ordinance in June, 1959. The environment up of the Board was envisaged in the Government’s White Paper on Educational Development in 1958 and its functions outlined therein as follows:
• To deliver a countrywide/general public library Provider
• To aid and strengthen programmes of grownup and fundamental education
• To supply successful products and services for little ones and young adults like requisite products and services to faculties
• To give a lot wanted information and facts and references companies
• To provide exactly where wanted ample providers for particular groups, that is women of all ages and girls, language teams.
The Central Library is built to give community services to Freetown and also to functionality as headquarter of the Countrywide/Community Library solutions and to supply lodging for a rising collection of e-book and non-e-book components in the country. It does all complex processing of inventory for the Regional and Department Libraries and has an Grownup Lending Reference and a Kid’s division.
Libraries are billed with obligation to deliver details services to help instructional, recreation and private endeavours of the users of their respective communities and the Sierra Leone Library Board is not an exception to that. The pursuing services are offered at the Sierra Leone Library Board to Clientele:
Young children Companies
The Sierra Leone Library Board delivers data solutions to children by the provision of guides and other supplies for small children which are frequently housed in a distinctive area known as the Kid’s Library. A unique assistance for youngsters identified as little one oriented educational programme specifically developed for more youthful library people is involved in the kid’s library providers. They also offer expert services to youngsters through storytelling, drama/participate in and looking at aloud.
Ebook Borrowing and Lending Company
The key job of Sierra Leone Library Board is to offer the community with access to textbooks and periodicals. The Sierra Leone Library Board ordinarily features entry to a wide variety of textbooks which are readily available for borrowing by anyone with the proper library card.
Present Awareness Assistance
At the Sierra Leone Library Board, present awareness company is aimed at bringing to the see of likely end users, newly readily available documents and information and facts products and services. This is done by collating information and facts and manufacturing new secondary sources, circulating present periodicals or other documents acquired and generating and distributing 1 or additional kinds of bulletins.
Selective Dissemination of Info
A a lot more own info support is currently being operate at the Sierra Leone Library Board in which the library continuously notifies library buyers about unique information/materials matching them in a profile of the info desires and investigation pre-occupation of their clientele. This is performed by possibly bringing references to pertinent products to the detect of their clientele and by obtaining copies and then provide the files themselves to library users.
Outreach Companies
The Sierra Leone Library Board presents outreach facts solutions which is committed to developing library outreach programmes for non-buyers, the undeserved, and individuals with distinctive requires in the communities in limited areas.
Computer and World wide web Expert services
In an try to bridge the electronic divide, details resources and authorities solutions are being provided on the internet by the Sierra Leone Library Board. This is finished by offering obtain to the Net and community computers for end users who otherwise would not be able to connect to these expert services.
Library Marketing and advertising
Internet marketing is typically considered as a established of techniques and strategies that belongs to directors outside the house of librarianship. But, librarians are also involved in the internet marketing method. The essence of marketing requires obtaining out customers wants and want, then location out to meet these demands.
Advertising and marketing in accordance to Weingand (1995) “can be seen as a procedure of trade and a way to foster partnership concerning the library and its community” (p.296). In purchase to preserve the romance amongst the public library and the community, marketing approaches have to be used as productive resource.
Internet marketing in the community library implies much more than simply just promotion or promoting. It is a lot more concerned about consumer demands. Internet marketing the Public Library is a social and managerial procedure by which merchandise and products and services as nicely as values are exchanged in buy to fulfill people or group desires. Advertising refers to those devices via which information, each raw and processed, are transmitted to its customers. Advertising or campaigning is but two functions in the broader physical exercise of advertising
Scheduling Library Internet marketing Programmes
The continued existence of libraries, if not their survivals, may well perfectly count upon the use of marketing and advertising and organizing approaches, communicated by way of productive community relations, to noticeably change the perceived function and place of the library in culture.
In a actual perception, Community Relation is the advertising component of a entire marketing and advertising prepare of library programmes. It can be witnessed as the communicated module which serves the marketing purpose conversely, it might be simply depicted as a philosophical relationship amongst library and neighborhood which serves as a guiding gentle for promotion activities.
Both of those communication and analysis techniques provide effectively in the marketing and advertising organizing approach of which Public Relations is an vital part. Specific capabilities and knowledge are also desired in marketing arranging courses for libraries. It goes with no saying that both equally ongoing internet marketing arranging and programmes, and in particular, how the requirements of unique teams of buyers vary from each individual other. Library and info providers are elaborate entities, as are the human buyers and possible people of these products and services.
Setting up, promotion and campaigning are but all activities in the boarder training of marketing. Consumer studies hence, have a extremely vast array of takes advantage of in relation to the arranging of library advertising and marketing programmes of a service. They contribute in the planning, promotion and advancement of library solutions. In their contribution they help in the understanding of various person team behaviour and their needs, and can assist in successful campaigning and scheduling procedure.
A few steps to arranging library advertising and marketing programmes are:
• Understanding what your beliefs are and thus what you want to attain
• Communicating these beliefs as sensible objectives to the folks with whom you function, in buy that these goals can be fulfilled and
• Developing a vehicle which makes it possible for this to materialize. This can only be attained by defining the essential elements and via group.
Strategies of marketing in Sierra Leone Library Board
Book Displays and Exhibitions
Shows and exhibitions are broadly utilised in most general public libraries as a promoting strategy to provide their products and solutions or products. The SLLB displays jackets of new guides which are not but integrated in the lending section for uncomplicated entry by users and to enhance utilization. It is also a means of drawing the focus of consumers and non-buyers to distinct aspects of library means and solutions.
Printed supplies and Publications
In buy to make a really very good graphic of the public library and for general public librarians to build better conversation concerning the library and consumers, publicity programmes are place in location by the management of the Sierra Leone Library Board as a result of news launch. The management also considers annual stories and newspapers as simple publicity procedures. Publications these as bibliographies, guides and brochures are utilised by the library to talk with the broader community.
General public Relations Office environment
Community relations in accordance to Usherhood (1981) is involved with attaining of community aid for an action, bring about, movement or establishment. It is a method that furthers psychological comprehension and cooperation involving a federal government or any organisation and its a variety of publics. The Sierra Leone Library Board has a Community Relations Office environment charged with the responsibility to enrich a sleek method of communication.
User Schooling/Readers Advisory Company
This could be described as coaching a group of consumers in the efficient use of the library and its means. It is utilized to promote the customers to make greater use of the library and introduces library staff to clientele who may possibly be hesitant to look for their help. This is the principal implies via which library staff can master about readers’ wants, opinions and habits. Excellent communication with readers permits employees to advise and impact readers.
The Media
These entail printed and audio-visual types of conversation and any necessary equipment to render them usable. The Push, radio and tv are critical implies of publicising information and facts provider, because they present probable of achieving several people today from all walks of existence. The media are cultivated so that messages are distributed with regularity. Publicity system such as news releases, exclusive occasions and brochures can also be utilized.
The Social Media Groups (SMG)
The Sierra Leone Library Board can make use of the Social media groups such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Watsapp’ as an effective way for publicity in buy to set their messages across to end users of their solutions.
Troubles of Internet marketing Library and Info Products and services at the SLLB
A great deal of issues have militated from the helpful planning and implementation of library marketing and advertising plans at SLLB. The adhering to are some of the difficulties:
• Inadequate Team: Though personnel numbers have been maintained, the ratio of expert workers is very small. The library is manned primarily by paraprofessionals who largely absence the capabilities to approach and put into action promoting programmes.
• Finance: The library is dependent closely on federal government subsidy. The authorities has no particular or substantial resources for the running of the library as a result the library administration has to foot most of the expenses that have to do with marketing. The irregular stream of cash has served as a barrier to the progress of advertising and marketing library and details expert services at the SLLB.
• Deficiency of standard printed products and publications: The SLLB lacks most common printed components and publications owing to poor organizing of advertising and marketing programmes. This negligence has built the library handicapped of general public relations applications in the kind of printed products and publications these types of as newsletters, questionnaires, diaries and calendars.
• Displays are improper and exhibitions seem virtually absent: The library depends largely on donations and most of the publications are obtained devoid of jackets. Therefore exhibiting e-book jackets in inconsistent. In point exhibition programmes are but to endure as they are only not long ago introduced. The library lacks applicable screen and exhibition elements to mount these things to do.
• Incapacity to manage recurrent Radio Courses: The SLLB lacks media interaction facilities. The library cannot commonly organise radio programmes on its individual simply because of deficiency of money. The absence of radio programmes stands out as an acute problem to the development of marketing and advertising applications in the library.
Conclusively, advertising and marketing is the instrument that libraries use to rework their aims and targets into operational strategies of motion. In most building countries’ general public libraries this sort of as the SLLB, promoting strategies simply cannot work appropriately due to the existence of bottlenecks in preparing programmes. Good advertising and marketing programmes actualise the strategies and actions important for the accomplishment of targets and goals.
