MARKETING IN LIBRARIES

contemporary strategies for visibility, engagement, and civic education

Abstract

Library marketing has moved beyond isolated promotional actions to become an institutional strategy articulated with information management, digital curation, cultural mediation and the strengthening of informational citizenship. This article discusses how Brazilian libraries, both physical and digital, have incorporated informational marketing practices to increase visibility, enhance their digital presence, reinforce institutional image and consolidate their role as sociotechnical ecosystems for lifelong learning. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, exploratory and literature-based study grounded in national and international research on marketing, librarianship, information literacy, digital communication, curation and information governance. The literature review shows that, when conceived as an educational, relational and dialogical process, marketing contributes to the democratization of information access, to the ethical and responsible use of data, to the strengthening of user communities and to the alignment of libraries with contemporary open science agendas and the Sustainable Development Goals. The study concludes that library marketing should be understood as a strategic, ethical and educational practice capable of integrating communication, digital curation, information governance, community engagement and inclusion principles, thereby consolidating libraries as spaces for knowledge mediation and citizen formation