July 21, 2008
New OCLC Membership Report Published
"From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America," is a new report just published by OCLC. The paper, funded through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, explores attitudes and perceptions about library funding and evaluates the potential of large-scale marketing and advocacy campaigns to increase public library funding in the U.S.
The report suggests that targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the voting public is key to driving increased support for U.S. public libraries. Among the findings from the report:
- Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation.
- Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support.
- Voters who see the library as a "transformational" force as opposed to an "information" source are more likely to increase taxes in its support.
Purchase a print copy of the report or download a free, electronic version from the OCLC website.
