Using bookstore modeling to increase circulation in public libraries

1. Marketing Your Library’s
Physical Space
Signs, displays & collections…Oh My!

2. Think Marketing
 Asan experiment, think about the one
product that you would like more people to
use in your library.
Then answer these two questions:
1. Who is going to use this product?
2. What need is it filling?
M Word Blog 9/10/08

3. Does your Library look like this?
Wichita City Library
Bookmobile (1925)
Rutherford B.
Hayes
Presidential
Library (1952)
Oxnard Public Library (date
unknown)

4. When it could look like this…
Seattle Public Library, WA
Mount Laurel Library, NJ
Kendallville Public Library, IN
Allen County Public Library, IN

5. The BIG Question…
Isn’t all about money?

6. Sensory Perception Audit
(SPA)
 What is it?
 Who conducts this audit?
 How to conduct the audit?

7. SPA Continued
 Big Picture (before you begin)
 Who is the target market?
 What is the lifestyle of the target market?
 Can you describe your library’s style in three
words or less?
 What kind of atmosphere does the building
and surrounding area convey?

8. SPA Continued
 Outside
 Curb Appeal and Traffic Flow
• Parking Lot & Walkways
• Book Drop Access
• Grounds
 Entryways
• Signage
• Waiting Areas
• Information Center
• Traffic Flow

9. SPA Continued
 Inside
 Public Services Landscape
• Circulation
• AV
• Other Public Areas
 Target Market Landscapes
• Youth
• Teens
• Adult
 Internal Customer Landscape

10. SPA Concluded
 Next Steps

11. Bookstore Model
 What is the appeal?
 Location
 Welcome!
 Layout & signage
 Food, drink and entertainment
 What can we learn?

12. Smell & Music
 Scent Marketing
 Odor associations
• Cinnamon, coffee, apples
• Orange
• Lemon
• Wood
 Music
 Affects on purchases/check-outs and quantity
 Target Market

13. Food & Drink
 Already in many libraries
 Policies

14. Signage
 Color
 Contrast
 Font/Shape
 Rule of 25
 Finish
 Pictograms Nova Scotia, Canada
 Industry standards
• ADA standards

15. Signage
 Instructional
 Describes behaviors, rules, etc.
 Way-finding
 Knowing where you are, how you got there
and how to get out
 Identification
 Identifies something (staff person’s desk,
vending area, meeting room)

16. Lighting
 Brightness
 Be aware of glare
 Create “areas” in the library

17. Technology
 Blogs
 Wikis
 RSS feeds
 Social Networking

18. Merchandising
 Library Layout
 Power Aisles
 Traffic Patterns
 Collection Organization
 Dewey-less plan
 Popular genre break-out
• Booklists (If you like…)

19. Merchandising
 Displays
 Recommendations
 Frequency
 POCO
 Spice up your displays

20. Merchandising: the New Jersey
Model
 Trading Spaces program
 New spaces
 Display areas
 Self check stations
 Morning briefings
 Greeters

21. Merchandising
 The Act of Merchandising & attractive visual
display
 New Jersey
• ALL staff
Full time staff/Part time staff
• Key factors
 Displays full
 Mix spines & covers
 15 books per shelf minimum
 No empty wall slats
• Mess = Success

22. Merchandising

23. Merchandising

24. Merchandising

25. Merchandising

26. Merchandising: New Jersey
Continued
 Layers of service
 Info desk
 Phones
 Greeters

27. Mount Laurel PL, NJ

28. Greeters
 Basics
 1 hour shifts
 ALL staff
 What they do…
 What they don’t do…
 A S K method

29. Staff Involvement
 Communication
 Planning, implementing, maintenance
 Talking Points (NJ)
 Recommendations
 Walkabouts (NJ)
 Training& Cross Training
 Experts/hobbies

30. Patron Satisfaction
 Ask!
 What do they want their library to be?
 What type of services do they wish to have
available?
 Communicate!

31. Patron Communication

32. Third Place
 Itisn’t home, it isn’t work, it is a “third
place”
 What makes a third place?
 Casual, welcoming/inviting
 Social, comfortable

33. What are the experts
saying?

34. Tech Impact on Libraries?
 Physical footprint of the collection reduced by at
least 50 percent
 Majority of reference questions will be answered
through Internet Q and A sites
 No longer be reference desks or reference
offices in the library.
 Ebooks and ebook readers will be the standard.
 A large number of libraries will no longer have
local OPACs.
Logan Ludwig, PhD
Loyola University, Chicago

35. 10 Simple Tips
 Have windows professionally cleaned inside &
out.
 Add small flower bouquets at each service desk
 Play Celtic, harp, jazz, flute or guitar music softly
over PA system
 Change reading lamps to pink light bulbs. The
light is softer and easier on the eyes
 Fill high ceilings and large wall space, hang
banners or other lightweight fabrics

36. 10 Simple Tips
Continued
 Check the dumpster area, clean up broken glass
or debris
 Place artificial greenery around tops of
bookshelves, this adds texture and color
 Clean all countertops with ammonia or vinegar-
based cleaner
 “Wallpaper” behind service desk with solid color
wrapping paper, creating a unified focus
throughout the library
 Check high-touch areas in need of cleaning or
replacing
Julia Cooper, MLS, MBA
Marketing Consultant, Ohio

37. Free or Cheap & Easy
 Spine out/Face out
 Cleaning (shelves, keyboard, light
switches)
 Painting
 Sensory Perception Audit
 Greeters
 Signage updates
 Collection organization

38. Recommended Sites
 http://themwordblog.blogspot.com
 http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/
 http://in.webjunction.org/marketing
 http://www.elearnlibraries.com/index.html

39. Works Cited
Cooper, Julia. “How to Evaluate Your Library’s Physical Environment.”
Marketing Library Services, May/June 2007.
http://www.infotoday.com/MLS/may07/Cooper.shtml. Accessed 9 July
2008
LaPerriere, Jenny and Trish Christiansen. “Work it Baby! Merchandising to
Increase Circulation.” http://www.cal-webs.org/handouts05/WorkItBaby.pdf.
Accessed 15 August 2008.
Ludwig, Logan. “Designing Libraries for the Electronic Age.” CD-Rom from
June 3, 2008 presentation.
Rippel, Chris. “What libraries can learn from bookstores: Applying
bookstore design to public libraries.”
http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/marketing/bookstore.html. Accessed 9 July
2008.

40. Works Cited
South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. “Trading Spaces Project”
http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/. Accessed 15 August 2008.
Woodward, Jeanette. Creating the Customer Driven Library: Building on
the Bookstore Model. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005.
Vlahos, James. "Scent and Sensibility.“ The New York Times. September 9,
2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09. Accessed 15 August 2008.

41. Questions?
Jessica Jacko
Indiana State Library
Professional Development Office
317-650-8492
jjacko@library.in.gov