Marketing U.S. Government depository libraries: Preliminary report on a public awareness campaign in New England

Abstract

The article describes an ongoing public awareness campaign for federal depository libraries in New England designed by the Government Publications Librarians of New England (GPLNE) in collaboration with the Marketing Department of the United States Government Printing Office. This marketing effort is aimed at professional people in non-profit organizations and small businesses concerned with energy, the environment, health, housing, consumer, and other public interests. Results of a telephone survey and in-depth interviews of persons in the target audience are discussed. These suggest that people in this population are regular users of government publications but are unaware of depository libraries and do not rely on libraries as their main sources for government-generated information. However, they appear willing to try different information-gathering strategies and might use depositories if they were informed about collections and services, especially services which can be used without travelling to a library. Components of the marketing campaign are described. The plan emphasizes the free information services that depositories offer and the problem-solving skills of librarians.