She's Not a Marketer - and Proud of It
The Library does not have enough money to balance its budget in 2007 without taking some dramatic action. MPLIB.ORG
Ain't that the truth. So it was with some surprise that I read this the other day,
Kit Hadley, director of the Minneapolis Public Library, is reluctant to play the economic development card. Indeed, she insists, "[W]e take great pride in not knowing" who uses the library. "That makes us a marketer's nightmare."
Why the pride in not knowing who your patrons are? Most other non-profits, musesums for example, seem to keep much better track of who walks through their doors. It costs money to acquire library resources, store them, and make them available for public consumption. It couldn't hurt if they knew more about who's walking through their doors.
Maybe that's why the MPLS Public Library has been closing branches, and is now looking at merging with the Hennepin County Library System.
Check out the latest on Mpls Library budget woes at their site:
To balance its budget for 2007, the Minneapolis Public Library's Board of Trustees voted to close three neighborhood libraries - Roosevelt, Webber Park, and Southeast - and to close Central Library on Mondays.
Ain't that the truth. So it was with some surprise that I read this the other day,
Kit Hadley, director of the Minneapolis Public Library, is reluctant to play the economic development card. Indeed, she insists, "[W]e take great pride in not knowing" who uses the library. "That makes us a marketer's nightmare."
Why the pride in not knowing who your patrons are? Most other non-profits, musesums for example, seem to keep much better track of who walks through their doors. It costs money to acquire library resources, store them, and make them available for public consumption. It couldn't hurt if they knew more about who's walking through their doors.
Maybe that's why the MPLS Public Library has been closing branches, and is now looking at merging with the Hennepin County Library System.
Check out the latest on Mpls Library budget woes at their site:
To balance its budget for 2007, the Minneapolis Public Library's Board of Trustees voted to close three neighborhood libraries - Roosevelt, Webber Park, and Southeast - and to close Central Library on Mondays.
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