The results of the recently completed ALA/AAP survey on library marketing practices and trends will be discussed during an all-day program at the ALA convention on Sunday, June 27. The program, "Marketing to Libraries for the Millennium," will compare these results with those from the previous two surveys, conducted in 1975 and 1987.
The new survey reports differences among librarians, publishers and vendors in their perception of the library market. Almost 60% of the libraries surveyed predict their budgets will increase over the next five years, while most of the others anticipate stable funding. A substantial part of the increase, however, is expected to go to electronic media. Publishers foresee a modest growth in library spending, with the same shift toward electronic media.
The survey also found that 77% of libraries place orders through vendors and that electronic bookstores have entered the marketplace with a modest 1.9% share of library orders. Although an equal number expressed no preference, 45% of the publishers said they would prefer more orders to come directly from libraries rather than vendors.
Hendrik Edelman, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, will lead an analysis of the survey, which was completed by 77 publishers, 12 vendors and 305 libraries, at ALA. More than 25 speakers and panelists -- including Pat Schr der (AAP), Michael Lynton (Penguin Putnam), James Ulsamer (Baker &Taylor), Nora Rawlinson (Publishers Weekly), Craig Virden (Random House Children's Books) and Rick Ayre (Amazon.com), as well as collection development and acquisitions librarians -- will address the implications of the survey.
