Public relations is essentially about communications—projecting a favorable image to the public. To reach this goal, the organization carrying out the public relations campaign will often use several communication vehicles to market, promote, and advertise itself to the public it serves. Libraries tailor many of these media strategies to communicate with their specific users and publicize their services.

Sometimes, one particular marketing strategy will achieve the desired outcome; at other times, a combination of strategies may be required to be successful. To assist libraries in identifying which marketing strategy or strategies is most appropriate or beneficial and how best to utilize that strategy, it is useful to evaluate a few of the more popular advertising tools libraries use. Particularly, this evaluation includes discussion of the newsletter, the suggestion box, and the library website. Following consideration of these three modes of communication, libraries will be better equipped to develop their own public relations and communications plans to meet their particular needs.