CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Product marketing is critical for increasing sales and thus profit for the industry.However, in academic environments such as universities and colleges, the marketing of libraries and information is done through professional librarians who must envision that the reading public will become aware of their library services. Libraries are regarded as intellectual repositories. It is also known as a storehouse of knowledge. It is true that all libraries around the world are brimming with reading materials such as books, journals, films, images, manuscripts, audio-visual materials, and so on, all of which contain knowledge recorded by people, eminent writers, and eminent personalities.Because libraries are no longer the only information providers, the preservation of this knowledge is a primary task of all libraries and information centers. This necessitates the need for professional librarians to market the resources that libraries possess.They now have to compete for customers with the internet, bookshops, online book dealers and the demand for more efficient services and the needs of users.
Professional academic librarians must understand clients' needs, plan service provision, promote the available services and deliver them efficiently and effectively. To achieve this, marketing is an essential tool. Marketing is about keeping clients in touch and informed about resources and services that match their interests. Marketing is about keeping clients in touch and informed about resources and services that match their interests. The success of academic library marketing lies mainly in convincing the clients that the tools or databases are worthwhile. They must understand what the services are, and be enthusiastic about how they will be helpful (Noel & Waugh, 2002). Therefore, librarians must now act like business men by providing quality services and promoting their services at the right time and place for their users. Although emerging technological challenges and societal changes pose a threat to libraries as worthy information providers, it is now time for librarians to prove that they are invaluable to the continued survival and sustenance of their organizations through applying all the techniques of marketing, such as the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion).