One of the best ways to keep customers—during tough economic times especially—is to offer a free product.  Luckily, there’s a nation-wide publishing industry related institution that offers books for free, yet continues to buy books for themselves.  Welcome back to the surge of the library.

Now more than ever (or at least now more than any time recently), a surging effort to market to libraries is an effective way to stimulate sales, promote new books, and plant seeds for buyers once these tough economic times pass.  As explained in last month’s newsletter, economic recessions are actually a great time to make a marketing push.  Libraries might be the perfect area to concentrate the efforts.

According to the New York Library Association, “When the public’s buying power shrinks and household expenses grow, people tend to rely more on their public libraries for free reading materials and services, like literacy programs and computer training.”  One California librarian, as quoted in the Contra Costa Times, claimed that, “We've been busier over the last few months than we've been in the five years I've been here.”  As recently as two weeks ago, at the Pennsylvania Library Association’s annual trade show and conference, one suburban librarian said that her library’s budget was actually raised in the wake of increased patronage. 

While an increased budget right now is probably not a common occurrence (on November 13, the New York Library Association announced that the state of NY would cutting library funding by up to 20%), reduced consumer spending is.  On November 14, in their daily newsletter, Publishers Weekly reported that bookstore sales dropped 4.5% in the month of September, and then again on November 20 reported that Barnes and Noble alone is facing major declines in sales, stating that, “the nation’s largest bookstore chain predicted that--based on the negative sales trend to date--same store sales in the fourth quarter will fall 6% to 9%.” 

With consumer spending down, and library patronage up, marketing to libraries is a logical approach to selling books.  For the rare library budget increase, it’s a great time to sell more. For libraries with a hurting budget, targeted marketing will help them make more informed decisions when spending their limited funds, possibly choosing your book over someone else’s.  To help better inform you on effective ways to market to libraries, and to learn more about how they buy, see this past CBE Newsletter article.