PurposeMarketing supports the reaching of organizational goals by focusing on the identification and satisfaction of customer needs, thus it can also contribute considerably in achieving the objectives of non‐profit organizations such as libraries. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on the incorporation of marketing notions and the implementation of marketing techniques in library management. It reviews definitions, present different opposing views, marketing issues, social media and Web 2.0 and opinions on the adoption of marketing in a non‐profit organization environment, and examines different successful examples of marketing implementation, concentrating on the gains resulting from such a move.Design/methodology/approachA thorough literature search on various databases and on various aspects of this topic was reviewed. The literature review is organised on emerging themes directly drawn from the literature, thematically and chronologically within each section. It aims to identify the changing perspectives, the current challenges, and the benefits offered by examining information science specialists' views. The main marketing concepts are identified throughout a strategic planning approach, which has been recommended as the most successful by the majority of researchers.FindingsThis paper examines and clarifies the existing misunderstandings and difficulties in library and information services marketing, and stresses the importance of its adoption in this contemporary competitive environment. It examines library marketing in six sections: misconceptions regarding library marketing, main challenges and reasons as to why the adoption of marketing concepts is an integral part of the strategic planning, reports on the international library organizations, provides a description of the implementation of strategic marketing and planning processes, presents some library marketing approaches and examines the contemporary technological opportunities for library marketing in the digital era, such as the use of Web 2.0 tools.Originality/valueThe paper broadens the library marketing literature by gathering researchers' scientific views and advice and identifies the main implementation concerns derived from the earlier and more recent relevant literature. Moreover, for the first time, IT records issues concerning library marketing, social media and Web 2.0.