What do your patrons and the rest of the public think of when they think of the library?  What does the "library brand" mean to them?  According to OCLC's 2005 report, "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources", the most common library image is the printed book.  If the public is going to pay any attention to us in the near future, we have to persuade them to think of us differently, to re-brand ourselves.  Take a look at these articles, available in the InfoTrac OneFile database:

• Does your perception of your service match your clients' opinions? You know you're doing a great job, but your clients may not agree. The magic is in the service, the personality, and the behaviors of you and your staff. Debbie Schachter.  Information Outlook 11.4 (April 2007)

• Rebranding the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.  Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) (Jan 31, 2007)

• Rebuilding? It's Time For Rebranding.(Museums). Carol Vogel. The New York Times (March 30, 2005)

• Space: the final frontier: a leading tech advocate imagines a media center fit for 21st century learning.(LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE). Alan November.  School Library Journal 53.5 (May 2007)

The Professional Development Service collection at the Idaho Commission for Libraries has several recent books on branding that you can check out:


• A clear eye for branding : straight talk on today’s most powerful business concept / Tom Asacker. Ithaca, N.Y. : Paramount Market Pub., c2005. 143 p.
• Emotional branding : the new paradigm for connecting brands to people / by Marc Gobé.  New York : Allworth Press, c2001. 319 p.
• The inspired retail space : attract customers, build branding, increase volume / Corinna Dean.   Edition: 1st pbk ed. Gloucester, Mass. : Rockport Pub., c2003.    165 p.
• Strategic marketing in library and information science / Irene Owens, editor.   Binghamton, NY : Haworth Information Press, c2002. 254 p.