Library marketing activities should always be informed with user data. When conducting market research, you don’t need a large sample to see the “big” picture. Developing scalable micro assessments such as mini surveys, usability studies, interviews, and focus groups with only a few questions can add value to your library’s marketing and outreach efforts. With quantitative research, you are expected to have a large sample. However, that is not the case when conducting market research. In this presentation, micro assessments will be shown to be more effective, easier to manage, and garners more responses than more lengthier surveys.

Presenter: Mark Aaron Polger (they/them)

Mark Aaron Polger is an academic librarian and information literacy instructor who has been working in libraries since 1992. They received their MLIS degree in 2000 from the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada) and has worked as a librarian in public, hospital, and academic libraries. Currently, Mark is the Coordinator of Library Outreach at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY). They have written about library marketing in journals and other publications and has presented nationally at library conferences.

Mark is the author of 3 books; Engaging Diverse Learners: Teaching Strategies for Academic Librarians, co-authored with Scott Sheidlower (2017, Libraries Unlimited), Library Marketing Basics (2019, Rowman and Littlefield), and Library Signage and Wayfinding Design: Communicating Effectively with Your Users (2021, ALA Editions) Their research interests include library marketing, outreach, and UX (user experience) design. Currently, Mark is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the open-access, peer reviewed journal Marketing Libraries Journal, which was launched in Fall 2017. Their next book project will be on Library Marketing Post-COVID.

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