Library Marketing Conference Group Announces Nonprofit Status
*For immediate release*
Contact: Jennifer Burke, President, jburke@intellicraftresearch.com, Office: 267-347-4507; Tracy Rochow Byerly, Chief Programs Officer, Amigos Library Services, byerly@amigos.org, Office: 972-340-2893.
Board Members Appointed
Ballwin, MO – January 9, 2018 – The planners of the Library Marketing and Communications Conference (LMCC) revealed in Dallas, TX on November 16, 2017, that it had incorporated as the new not-for-profit Library Marketing Conference Group (LMCG). The group made the announcement during its third annual conference with more than 350 library and marketing professionals in attendance from around the world.
Conference planners named the inaugural LMCG board members: Jennifer Burke, president; Joan M. Barnes, vice president; Joan Petit, secretary; and Barbara Fullerton, treasurer. Additional board members will be recruited.
The purpose of the LMCG is to advance, promote and support the knowledge and understanding of marketing and communications among library professionals, library staff and those who work in or with all types of libraries and information centers.
Burke noted that the priority was to, "continue to hold the very successful annual library marketing and communications conference, the only event of its type for this library specialty." The Board will also consider sponsoring and hosting other events and projects to expand library marketing knowledge.
The planners saw a gap in professional development opportunities for librarians who work in marketing and communications, a newer area of focus for some libraries. The LMCG will attempt to bridge that gap.
Jennifer Burke is President of IntelliCraft Research LLC, a strategic library consulting firm in Philadelphia. She received her MSLIS from Drexel University and spent 5 years as an IMLS Fellow in Drexel's Information Studies Ph.D. program working on digital libraries and education.
Joan M. Barnes is the Community Engagement Librarian for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries and has been in her position since 2001. She is responsible for marketing, communications, outreach, and event planning. From 2001-2010, Barnes coordinated the Friends of the Libraries of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and their fundraising projects. Previous positions include the Membership Director at the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the Reference/Outreach Librarian at Bennington College in Vermont. Barnes received her MLIS from the University of Rhode Island.
Joan Petit is the Communications and Outreach Librarian and Associate Professor at Portland State University. She received her MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 and has held positions at Duke University and the American University in Cairo. She served as a Fulbright Scholar at Jimma University in Ethiopia from 2016-2017.
Treasurer Barbara Fullerton is the owner and founder of Librarian in the Cloud, a research organization based in the Dallas area, as well as an adjunct professor at the College of Information at the University of North Texas. She received her MLIS from Emporia State University and has worked in special libraries for over 20 years.
Amigos Library Services, one of the largest library service networks in the nation with offices in Dallas, TX and St. Louis, MO, assisted and facilitated LMCG in its incorporation to become a 501(c)3 organization. In addition to helping the group incorporate, Amigos Library Services also acts as LMCG's association management firm, facilitating, hosting, and supporting the Library Marketing and Communications Conference. Tracy Rochow Byerly, Amigos' Chief Programs Officer, will act as liaison to LMCG.
The LMCG and the LMCC planning committees are an all-volunteer effort and we thank all those who made our success possible. The Board intends to recruit additional volunteers for conference planning and as membership on the Board. LMCG is pleased to reveal that the 2018 Library Marketing and Communications Conference will be held in St. Louis, MO at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch on November 14-15.
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