[Publib] Advertising space on websites

[John]

I would hesitate before adding ads to our website, but...to buck the
trend of negative responses--and I missed the original question, I
guess--our regional system, the Alliance Library System
(www.alliancelibrarysystem.com), advertises.  The revenue is not
gigantic/huge/life-savingly big, but it's not inconsequential, either.
I can't quote income figures, I am sorry to say, and I'm on the ALS
board...so what kind of board member am *I*?  But looking at the site
might be worthwhile, and contacting the system useful.

Library system funding from the State of Illinois has been depressingly
flat for a long time.  Several years ago, System leadership made
"alternate streams of revenue" a year-long theme, and has carried on the
theme, one way or another, because of that flat funding.  Advertising
was/is part of the "alternate revenue stream" deal.  ALS made the most
money on "Libraries Matter" wristbands, which were sold all over the
world and brought in lots of $$$--not the same thing as advertising by
outsiders, just an example of other stuff the System has done to find
those "streams."

But then, I don't mind at all competing with, say, the local grocery
store for public fax pricing; I've heard other librarians say, "We're
not here to compete with other entities in our community."  Libraries
are *never* funded adequately, really, and there's a little bit of
competitive spirit in me.  Besides, we use the same grocery store for
provisions for public gatherings or anything else that requires us to
serve food, or for which food = enticement.  AND, even though I was born
in 1952, I have this weird penny-pinching, Depression-era mentality
about money.  It's a character defect, I'm sure, and I should have it
beaten out of me.  It drives my wife crazy, intermittently.

John D. Richmond, Director
Alpha Park Public Library District
3527 So. Airport Road
Bartonville, IL 61607
Ph: (309) 697-3822, ext. 12
Fax: (309) 697-9681
E-mail: jrichmond at alphapark.org
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"To do two things at once is to do neither." -- Publilius Syrus, 1st
century B.C.