Public libraries are facing new challenges to reach more and new users and to remain as a valid source of knowledge and information. Fewer visitors and books lent in the last years are the main evidence of public libraries’s decline. A proper develop of the internal and external communication may play a key role to prepare public libraries to perform better in this competitive environment. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how public libraries in Santiago, Chile work with Strategic Communication in order to reach out to a growing number of users while meeting the organizations’ goals. The study identifies five elements that need to be in place in a public library to probe the presence of Strategic Communication. These elements are the following: presence of a library vision and goals, staff commitment and awareness communicating the brand, focus on user satisfaction, campaigns and outgoing projects in promotion and presence in internal and external social media.

Five semi structured interviews were conducted with the head librarians in five public libraries in Santiago, Chile, chosen randomly from a list of public libraries. The result shows that out of the five elements two of them are properly in place: 1) staff commitment and awareness communicating the brand and 2) user satisfaction. Conversely, factors that have low development are: 1) the library vision and goal, 2) campaigns and outgoing operations and 3) internal and external social media.

Athough public libraries in Chile show commitment to develop strategic communication, evidence shows that there is considerabe room for improvement.