Primary Research Group has published The Survey of Public Library Reputation Management & Public Relations Practices, ISBN 978-1-57440-272-8.

The study looks closely at how public libraries, predominantly in the USA but also in Canada and the UK, study and assess their reputation and reach out to the public over the internet and through all means available to them. The study presents detailed quantitative data on public library spending on public relations, as well as their use of internet sites and tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and others to engage their audience. The study also presents findings on communications and website strategy and traditional means of reaching out such as children's storytelling, theatrical and musical events, library newsletters, library friends' groups, book sales, contests and other means of reaching out and engaging the public. In addition, the report presents detailed data and commentary on library use of focus groups and surveys. Data in the report is broken out by size of library budget, size of service area, per capita income of service area and other criteria.

Just a few of the report's many findings are that:

• Only 12.2% of the libraries in the sample have used any search engine optimization techniques
• Use of direct mail to promote the library was far more common in the United Kingdom & Canada than in the United States
• 50% of libraries with service areas of greater than 30,000 had a virtual reference service
• Nearly 44% of libraries serving populations in the highest annual per capita income category, more than $60,000, had a blog
• 40% of libraries with a budget of $1 million+ had a public relations representative or staff
• 22% have surveyed local teachers about their use of or opinions about the local public library
• For the smallest libraries in the sample online survey tools accounted for only 5.8% of patron surveys while for the largest libraries they accounted for more than 56% of patron surveys
• 29.27% of libraries sampled found Twitter very valuable in library marketing, its use rising with the size of the library budget

The study is available directly from Primary Research Group and also from major distributors of books and research reports. Print and PDF versions are available for $65.00. Site licenses are also available. For a table of contents, free excerpt, list of survey participants and tables, and the questionnaire, or to place an order, visit our website at www.PrimaryResearch.com.