Using marketing in Romanian libraries. Study case: The Romanian National Library

Nowadays, marketing has become a central part of libraries’ interest worldwide. Their motivation is varied: the missions of organizations have lost compatibility with market demand, budgets are low, while their units require more funds, the increase in the competition for funding, the harsh competition between service suppliers, etc. Furthermore, the Western world understood the necessity of library marketing for reasons like: the support offered in library management, the focus on consumers, the capacity of attracting consumers to use libraries, the improvement of the organization’s image. Despite all that, most Romanian libraries do not understand the part played by marketing in the library or in the information service, as well as its usefulness in day-to-day activities. The purpose of this essay is to present the importance of marketing in the National Romanian Library’s activity.