The Campaign for America's Libraries - American Library Association

The Campaign for America’s Libraries: Academic and Research
Libraries
The Campaign for America’s Libraries is a multi-year public education campaign sponsored by ALA to
speak loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians in the 21st century.
Goals
The campaign, developed in collaboration with ACRL, seeks to:
promote awareness of the unique role of academic and research libraries and their contributions to
society;
increase visibility and support for academic and research libraries and librarians;
help librarians better market their services on-site and online;
position academic and research librarianship as a desirable career opportunity.
Audiences
The campaign targets undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers, administrators, and staff
as primary audiences. Secondary audiences include alumni, donors and institutional funders, trustees,
policymakers, parents, the general community, and media.
Key Messages
The campaign’s key messages focus on the unique value and characteristics of academic and research
libraries. These were developed based on research (focus groups and interviews) conducted by KRC
Research, a subsidiary of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, a public relations and communication
management firm that has worked with ALA to design The Campaign for America’s Libraries. The
messages also were the subject of informal testing by the ACRL @ your library Task Force among
their students and colleagues.
College and research libraries are an essential part of the learning community.
College and research libraries connect you with a world of knowledge.
College and research libraries are investing in the future, while preserving the past.
For more about the research conducted, go to www.ala.org/@yourlibrary. Click on “Academic and
Research Library Campaign.”
Strategies
The campaign is designed to support academic and research libraries in reaching out to key audiences by:
helping to unify and maximize the communications efforts of ALA, ACRL, and academic and
research libraries nationwide;
providing messages, tools, and resources to promote their value;
sharing “best practices” in library marketing and public relations.
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