Outreach Services Assessment Paper

For my management class I had to write an assessment of a couple of library outreach services. Here is the assignment criteria:

In this assignment, you will begin by conducting field research (through on-site visits to libraries, searching library websites, and/or interviewing librarians) and identify two or three examples of effective outreach services. In a paper of no more than 5 pages, you will describe each service and explain how you believe it is part of an effective marketing plan, identify the user group to which it is directed, and reference the elements of marketing plan as defined by Kendrick (see next paragraph) or draw on your other readings on this topic. If the Determine if the library uses social media or other technologies in its outreach – if so, what and how? Do not use a library, information center, special collection, or archive where you work. 

Kendrick defined an effective marketing plan as a plan that “will identify what drives users and build products and services around their needs; enable a highly differentiated service, not ‘one size fits all’; create value and inspiration to use the library; and do all this with as little cost as possible. It will provide a process to ensure maximum use of the public libraries by the public, attract non-users and develop loyalty behaviors in existing users, and will clearly influence attitudes towards the library—our ‘offer’ as the best, the winning offer (in terms of use of time) in the scramble for their attention.” (Kendrick, T. (2006). Developing strategic marketing plans that really work: A toolkit for public libraries. (London: Facet, 2006), 9.)

I choose to write about the Bibliocycle and bWell outreach services at the Boston Public Library. Here is my paper.

 Outreach Services Assessment Paper