Making the Case for Your Library: A how-to-Do-It Manual

Library Journal

Reed, director of the Norfolk Public Library, VA, and coauthor of Speaking Out: Voices in Celebration of Intellectual Freedom (ALA, 1999), presents an excellent collection of handy tips and tricks librarians can use to assure success in promoting, defending, and assuring funding for their libraries. In a step-by-step discussion, she explains various public relations and marketing materials for creating, developing, and sharing the messages librarians want to get out to the public. These include fundraising techniques, negotiating with the media, writing editorials and op-ed columns, and preparing public service announcements and presentations. The text is replete with practical examples of the various public communication tools that have been used by other public libraries nationwide. Although geared primarily for use by library directors, staff, trustees, and Friends in public libraries, Reed's book outlines the basic principles of public relations that can be adapted in any situation. This is a nice supplement to Lisa Wolfe's Library Public Relations, Promotions, and Communications (Professional Media, LJ 9/1/97) as it focuses more on the politically sensitive aspects of these communication tools. Highly recommended for public libraries.--Dale Farris, Groves, TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.