Marketing of library information services and products in tertiary education institutions : a case study of Gweru Polytechnic College Library in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Many academic libraries struggle to effectively promote their services and products (Gyimah 2011:44; Ramasodi, 2009:45; Waithaka 2013:15). This has negative consequences, such as low user and patronage rates and a decline in the importance of academic libraries as information centres. This is despite the rationale that academic libraries are nerve centres of learning. This study sought to assess how the Gweru Polytechnic College library, an academic library located in the Zimbabwean city of Gweru markets its services and products. The study specifically sought to establish services provided by Gweru Polytechnic College library to its users, investigate library users’ awareness about services and products, examine skills and competencies of librarians in promoting library services, inspect marketing schemes meant to stimulate advertising of library facilities and products and identify factors inhibiting effective promotion of academic library facilities and products at Gweru Polytechnic College library. The study was quantitative in nature, adopted the positivism paradigm and used questionnaires triangulated by structured interviews to gather information. Major informants were students, lecturers and librarians. Frequency tables were used to analyse data. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 16.0 formed the base for the evaluation of the quantitative information. Tables, frequencies and percentages were used to present the data. Thematic subject evaluation was used to scrutinize the findings from the interview. The study established that, although the library offered many services and products, some of the services and products, such as inter-library loans and bibliographic services, were not well-known by users. Amongst the main challenges were non-utilisation of modern information technologies such as the website and social media platforms. On the basis of this study’s findings, the following recommendations were made: a marketing policy to serve as a framework for marketing strategies should be developed; orientation and information literacy should be offered to all library users; additional funding should be apportioned to libraries for their development; librarians should be committed to their work so that they improve their services and products; and seminars and trainings on how to advertise library services and products should be organised for library personnel.