xiv Preface I’m no longer an “outreach librarian,” and to be honest, I am somewhat relieved by this—I have conflicting feelings about social media, and have even recently deleted my own Facebook account in pursuit of being more present and in protest to their business model that is clearly causing societal harm. However, despite my job change, I still find myself drawn to the activ- ities related to promotion and engagement. Now, as a Student Success Librarian, I am careful to balance my work between communicating our value and providing it. Sometimes, these tasks are the same. Sometimes, they are not. The pandemic has changed my approach to marketing in a couple of ways. First of all, I prioritize more. We are all stretched and stressed— students especially—and it isn’t practical or possible or wise to replicate prepandemic work. Also, we are innovating with technology in ways that will likely persist past the end of COVID-19. I have seen a number of librar- ies do really exciting things with technology: such as the John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where librarians are engaging audiences using Instagram live (see the case study from Mackenzie Salisbury for an in-depth example), or the many libraries experimenting with virtual escape rooms for their new student orientations. It is vital that as we innovate, we are assessing the impact of these changes and adjusting our approaches accordingly. Regardless of, or maybe even due to these changes, the work that follows is more relevant than ever. Throughout this book, you will find approaches to library marketing that are relevant now and can be adapted as our libraries evolve and adapt to the changing landscape of higher education. Altogether, the book is a crash course in academic library marketing—taken chapter-by-chapter, it is an overview peppered with research and inspiring case studies. Regardless of how you use this book, we hope that it helps ground the work you are doing and demystify work that is now central to the success of an academic library. If you see me out there in LibraryLand, please say hello. It is from the community that this work comes, and you are part of that community too. —Kimberly
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