OUR "UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION"
by Marylaine Block
A few weeks back <http://marylaine.com/exlibris/xlib249.html>, Tia Dobi talked about identifying the library's "unique selling proposition" (USP) -- what we, and we alone, have to offer. One USP that she suggested was, "Free books. All the time."
That's true enough, and good as far as it goes. It's akin to Wal-Mart's "Always low prices" USP, appealing at the purely economic level. And no question, that's an appeal that will resonate with some people. But it doesn't appeal to any more deeply felt value system. And what are libraries about if not values?
So try this one on for size. The Toledo-Lucas County Library used this in one of their promotions: "Come visit the million-story building..."
Now, that's more than just a clever play on words; it's an invitation to think beyond just our books and videos and CDs to the stories that tie them all together. And where else in the community will you find such a vast treasure trove of stories? Since the need for narrative is deeply embedded in the human psyche, that's a great appeal.
But people attach even more weight to moral values, and as it happens, libraries have a deeply moral mission. What we're all about is SHARING.
I talked this over with Tia Dobi, because while I'm good at coming up with ideas, she's good at implementing them with rhetorical parades and fireworks. Here's what I wrote to her:
"I was just thinking about librarians' unique selling proposition, and what it comes down to, I think is SHARING. Like I've said many times: we are the ultimate share-your-toys people. It's a value almost everybody teaches to their children, but we're the ones who are passionate about it, live by it; we're the ones whose professional code of ethics demands it of us. And it' a deeply-held value people realize has been slipping out of sight in our increasingly winner-takes-all society.
"A little library history: the people who started the free library movement and the public schools movement in 19th century America were people historian Stow Persons called "the gentry elite." These people realized that talent, brains and energy are not the sole property of their own monied class but are distributed randomly among the population. Therefore, TO PRESERVE THEIR OWN CLASS, it was important for them to identify, cultivate and recruit this talent, wherever it resided, and let its holders interbreed with them to preserve the vitality of their line. Sharing, in short, was a preservation strategy that benefited them, and in so doing, everybody else.
"So that's what librarians do: Share knowledge. Share pleasure. Share ideas for a better world."
And here's what Tia had to say:
"What I know is that understanding = success. (I did not know the history of the library AND branding - the ultimate understanding of oneself one's product business offering, etc. IS the KEY to USP - and everything else ;-D )
"Therefore I think:
1. It is imperative what you've written here get out into mainstream.
2. The quality of sharing... I would take what you've written (perhaps also keeping in mind these gem words: talent brains and energy ((akin to how I sign my business emails: Thank you for your time energy and attention and sometimes I alternate or throw in the word: talent - further universal spirits telling me I need to work as a marketeur for libraries ;-D ;-D )) and go thru the steps/qualities of a USP included in the article.
3. Meanwhile, yes, I think sharing as a principle of your business could be that $Million USP we KNOW CHANGES businesses and lives.
"Do it Marylaine - write and use that USP!! You would change the library world.
"Even 'the Sharing Card' would have been wiser than the 'Smarter Card' - it's all about context and relevancy. Sharing gives us a greater appreciation of the library (again, understanding is the only thing that brings about appreciation) AND the library could have used the entire card campaign as a springboard for putting the history (as short and easy as you've made it here) to the press and to the world.
"There could have been (and still always can be!) a resurgence of that time and place - social class/educational angles are mainstream press these days... with the high costs of EVERYTHING - even the angle of sharing (aka another word for free) is smart. And yet another play on smart card - sharing is smart business (uh oh I'm going on and on now). Another angle is how government pays so much for war and fortunately a government-funded entity that still shares is the library.
"We are also so attuned to sharing as US giving - share with the church give money share your toys... We aren't accustomed to the basic that the library gives and gives and gives. All the time. "The ultimate givers" (the press could go nuts with it... there's so many ways to say it for each of the styles of the newspapers).
"I didn't even know that the free library movement + free school movement were related (nobody teaches us the good stuff!!). Again, here in CA. with Arnold's major education cutbacks - another way for the library to get free press. (tie it in..it's so easy when you know the info).
"Which gets back to what I've always said: "Librarians make the best marketeurs."
So, if any of you want to try that USP on for size and see what you can do with it, it's yours. After all, I share my toys too.
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COOL QUOTE:
All who work for the good of public libraries know that we will need some careful navigation to get them to a safer harbour. But this we must do. Our links to the past, our bonds with the present, our path to a civilized tomorrow are all maintained by libraries. They are agencies of the public good. They allow all of us to be, as the Hebrew saying goes, pilgrims at the gate of a new city. They are sources of knowledge and imagination, and they never allow us to forget that we are always at a threshold, constantly at the verge of creating anew our civil society. Whether or not we are able to see it realized in our own lifetimes, all of us, as individuals and in our communities, are striving for that city – that eternal city of the good and the beautiful and the true. And the public library, for me, has always been a lovely part of that vision.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson Speech on the Occasion of a Luncheon Hosted by the Regina Public Library. http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
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