Abstract:
Marketing in libraries has been widely discussed in literature, but is often limited to
either prescriptive writing on the application of marketing theory to libraries, or
descriptions of marketing at individual libraries with little theoretical basis. The purpose
of this research was to compare the teen marketing practiced by public libraries with
library marketing theory, and to discover whether the application of theory is a conscious
decision by libraries. Staff were interviewed at two New Zealand public library networks
to discover whether they considered marketing targeting theory and the marketing mix
when marketing to teens. It was found that while both library networks did do some
formal teen marketing, the majority of marketing was conducted more informally by
individual community libraries. Libraries struggled in particular with defining their teen
users, and the marketing mix was dealt with in an ad hoc manner. Overall, library
marketing was more tactical than strategic.
