How many times have you said “no” to promotional requests in the past week or month, or year? If the answer is “never”, this article is for you.
I bet some of these situations sound familiar to you:
- A librarian running a small program like a knitting group or a recurring storytime asks you for posters, flyers, social media posts, a press release, and newsletter space, even though the program doesn’t align with the library’s big strategic goals. Saying no can feel like you’re not supporting your co-workers.
- A library director loves a specific service (like the seed library) and wants a big promotional push for it, even though your user data shows it’s a niche interest with low engagement. It’s hard to push back against leadership!
- A department forgot to tell you about a major event until a few days before, and now they want a huge promotional campaign. (This happened to one of my library marketing friends recently!) You want to be a collaborator, but rushing something often leads to poor results.
- Every year, the library promotes a National Poetry Month event with posters, displays, and social media blasts, even though turnout and interest have been very low for years. You’ve likely heard the sentence, “But we’ve always done it this way” before! It’s hard to change traditional promotional campaigns without seeming like you’re devaluing them or being difficult.
- Someone suggests you start posting to a new platform, like Threads or TikTok. Even if it doesn’t fit the strategy or audience, there’s a fear of “falling behind” if you don’t jump in.
As hard as it is to do, it’s important to say “no” sometimes because library marketing is not just about being busy. It’s about being effective. If you can learn when to push back, you’ll demonstrate to your coworkers and supervisors that your job isn’t just to be a “promotional service desk.” Your work has a strategic purpose.
To help you make those strategic decisions, you’ll find a link at the end of this post to a guide I’ve created. It has a list of questions to ask so you can decide how much promotional support to give to each request.
So, how do you politely say “no” to requests outside of your strategy? Here are some scripts you can use.
Scripts to help you politely say no:
- “Thanks for thinking of the marketing team! Right now, we’re focusing our resources on initiatives that directly support our library’s strategic goals for the year. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to take on additional promotions at this time.”
- “I really appreciate your enthusiasm! We have a full slate of promotions already planned that align with our library’s key priorities. I won’t be able to add this to the calendar, but I’m happy to brainstorm ways you could promote it independently.”
- “Our current marketing plan is tightly focused on [example: increasing card signups among new residents], so we have to prioritize projects tied to that goal. I’ll keep your event in mind for future opportunities.”
- “We won’t be able to offer a full campaign for this event, but here’s a customizable poster template you can use. We can also share it internally with staff to help spread the word.”
- “While we can’t do a full feature in the main newsletter, I can add a short mention in our ‘Upcoming Events’ section if you get me the info by [deadline].”
- “This project doesn’t align with our current focus areas, but it might be a great fit for our [bulletin board / in-branch digital sign / social media story]. Let’s talk about some of those options.”
The importance of buy-in from your supervisor
Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need to say no, it’s a good idea to give your supervisor a heads-up. You can say:
- “I wanted to let you know that I’m going to recommend a lighter promotion plan for [person or department]’s [project/event]. It’s a great initiative, but based on our marketing priorities for [this quarter/this year], it doesn’t align with those priorities. I’m offering [a few options] instead to support them without pulling too much from our strategic efforts.”
You might also consider asking your boss for guidance and support in managing these requests. This invites your boss into the decision without making it feel like you’re just refusing work or being lazy. You can say:
- “I’m seeing more requests come in for promotions that aren’t tied to our current goals. To stay focused, I’d like to suggest that we prioritize projects based on [brief criteria — like audience reach, strategic importance, or alignment with core services]. Would you be comfortable if I used those filters to decide what we promote fully and for what we offer lighter support?”
And what if your boss is the one making these requests? Try saying:
- “That’s a really interesting idea, and I am happy to do it. As you know, our marketing plan is heavily focused on [strategic goal], and I’m concerned that if we stretch ourselves and our work too thin, we won’t hit the targets we’ve committed to. Can you help me prioritize this work?”
When you receive pushback from a supervisor, remember to frame your response in terms of impact, like meeting goals and maximizing results. Emphasize that you’re thinking of the big picture and trying to protect library resources. Sometimes, offering alternatives instead of a flat-out “no” is a good way to redirect a request.
Library Marketing Promotion Decision Guide
To help you choose between full promotional support and lighter promotional support, I created a cheat sheet of sorts. The Library Marketing Promotional Decision Guide contains questions that will help you and will help the requestor understand your decision. You can download the guide for free here.
Need more inspiration?
Stressed? Exhausted? Here Are My Top 4 Tips for Handling Library Marketing Burnout
Subscribe to this blog, and you’ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 