Kathy Dempsey on Libraries and Mixed Messages

Kathy Dempsey, sometime LibConf blogger, author of The Accidental Library Marketer, and editor of Marketing Library Services has shared her thoughts on the messages libraries give, sometimes inadvertently, in the areas of Attitude, Facilities, Policies, and Signage and explains  how minor changes can make a big difference in how your library is perceived within the community.  Her post is a result of much rumination following her attendance of Wayne Disher’s presentation at the Texas Library Association’s annual conference this spring.

This talk was given by Wayne Disher, director of Hemut Public Library in Hemet, Calif. For years, he said, he’d been studying, observing, and photographing libraries and signs and people. And from all those experiences, he pointed out a number of ways in which libraries and librarians send mixed messages. Think about these examples and honestly assess whether any of this is happening where you work.

Disher pointed out four main ways that libraries send mixed messages:

1. Attitude
2. Facilities
3. Policies
4. Signage

Read on at The ‘M’ Word – Marketing Libraries: How Libraries Send Mixed Messages.

Tags: library hospitality, mixed messages