Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Week 15 Prompt

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out.
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There are two problems that need to be addressed.  One is getting people in the community to visit the library.  Second, once they are in the door, they need to know what they are looking for.

I would like to promote the library in the community by having a major literary event.  I would develop a “one book, one community” experience that includes an author visit and book signing and parts of the book acted out within the library. I would promote this in the community through local news coverage (TV and Print); website, email, twitter, Facebook announcements; and a sign on the buses or taxis.  The advertising buzz will catch people’s attention and bring them into the library for the entertainment. 

I would promote the library’s fiction contents through social media and send out regular lists of what we have based on genre and appeal factors. For example, I would have one 5-10 book list that is listed as Thrillers, then another list of fast paced books with a mix of genre of Crime, Romance, Spy, Mystery, Westerns, etc. I would have lists for all the genres including best sellers.

When the patron is within the library, I would promote fiction by doing at least these three things.  First, I would have a series of signs similar to Sarick’s suggestions on page 137 that are changed out weekly that are behind the information desk. I would alternate between Rosenberg’s First Law of Reading: “Never Apologize for your Reading tastes,” “Ask Here for a Good Book,” “Let us help you find your next great read,” and additional clever sayings.  Signs are like displays in that they need to be changed periodically so people will notice them.

A second thing I would do is utilize Sarick’s suggestion on page 140 to have a cart with 20-30 books near an area that is a regular walkway within the library that has a sign on it, “Good Books You May Have Missed.”  This smaller collection of books will be quick and easy to look through.  People often gravitate toward smaller collections of books.  

A third think I would do is have book marks in the checkout area and on the counters that direct people to websites that lead one to read a likes or other books. I would include the Novelist in the library database; GoodReads.com; Oprah’s Book Club; smartbitchestrashybooks.com; etc.

Work Cited:


Saricks, Joyce G. Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005. Print.

4 comments:

  1. I love the idea of a "Good Books You May Have Missed" cart! You're right about people gravitating to smaller collections. Especially in libraries with hundreds of thousands of materials, it's easy to get lost in the collection. We can always point people to more obscure titles through reader's advisory service, but the people who don't come to us for help are left to wade through a huge number of fiction titles in order to find a few in particular that they want to read. Having a small collection of various titles with various appeal factors off on its own would be a wonderful way for more "independent" patrons to find books they might have otherwise overlooked. Would you separate these books by genre for easier browsing, or would you just put them all together to appeal to all patrons? There's so many different ways you could go about this, depending on your library's patrons. It's a clever method of passive RA, regardless of how it's done.

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    1. I think I would put all the fiction in one cart and then all the non-fiction in another cart. This would make it more like the delightful treasure hunt that it is.

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  2. The "Good Books You May Have Missed" cart was a revelation to me. I definitely want to implement that at the library where I work. As Sara said, it's really easy to get lost in a collection. It's also a way to test out some books that might be in danger of being weeded that you really think more people should see. If they still don't check them out, you know they should be weeded, but if they get checked out and enjoyed, you can keep them around a little longer.

    At a recent conference, our director heard of a similar concept - put books that you're on the fence about weeding on a cart with comment cards to let patrons tell the staff if we should weed the book or not. It brings in the community and highlights some "hidden gems."

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    1. I think the comment cards is a great idea. Putting those books that might be weeded on a cart to draw people's attention to them may give a better sense of whether or not the book belongs in the library or not.

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