2. Background
• Countywide reading promotion for adults
every March
• To encourage people to read and borrow
when it’s still cold and dark and to boost
the issue figures at a quiet time of year
• More critical this year because we had
reduced opening hours and staffing
• Norfolk’s big - 47 libraries and 13 mobiles

3. The takeaway
• Aim - help customers to borrow a book
and get reading
• Target - increase issues by 1 book extra
every opening hour at each library
• 4 takeaway reading menus were promoted
1st March to 15th April 2012

4. The target group
• People who visit the library but do not
actually borrow anything to read
• Busy mums, dads, carers and people who
come to the libraries accompanying
someone else or to use PCs

5. What we did
• Food takeaway menu style used -
recognisable and accessible style
• Printed 4 colourful, glossy, reading menus
themed around China, Italy, India and
Britain
• Chose “Specials”, “Chef Recommends” and
menu numbers

6. Great Reading Takeaway Menus

7. The books
• Targeted a proportion of new stock at the
promotion from existing budgets
• Included all formats and concentrated
these in libraries with reading groups for
people with visual impairments
• Included ebooks and eaudio in the offer

8. What communities did
• Author events in Norwich in partnership
with Waterstone’s
• Bollywood dancing children’s event in
Cromer organised by the local volunteers
• Town Read in Wymondham involving the
community
• Dragon dancing in Gaywood organised by
the West Norfolk & District Chinese
Association

9. The reach
• Menus featured on facebook, twitter and
blogs, as well as being on the Norfolk
County Council and library service
websites
• Extended through posters and headers at
every library, plasma screens at 20
libraries and pull ups at the 2 biggest
libraries

10. How we did
• Exceeded the target - issued 3.25 more
books per opening hour than in the
comparable period in 2011
• 6 titles issued over 200 times each during
March. The Italian Wedding by Nicky
Pellegrino came top
• Author visits averaged 40 people at each
event
• Blog - 1,179 views, facebook landing page -
848 views and 57 posts, twitter feed - 55 re-
tweets

11. The impact
• Reading groups at the Norfolk and
Norwich Millennium Library loved being
asked for their choice of titles
• "I've never been to an author event before
but I loved the television adaptation of the
book and wanted to meet the brains
behind it”

12. • “I would absolutely hate to lose this
service as it means so much to them”
• “This was so much fun and it counts
towards my Children's University passport“
• "He's usually quite shy so didn't think he'd
join in but he's gone straight to have a go
on the dragon“

14. • “What a clever idea. I like the mix of books
with DVDs”
• “This is imaginative. Makes me feel hungry
too!”

15. The cost
• £ 4,576 Design, art work, printing
• £ 2,000 Marketing and media officer time
• £ 4,777 Staff on the organising team as part
of their day job
• £ 100 Events
• £11,453.00
• Funds from existing materials budgets to
purchase new books and ebook/eaudio titles
Thank you to Waterstone’s for providing author visits at no charge to us, to the
Eastern Daily Press for giving consent to use editorial and to all the local
sponsors

16. Insert Yarmouth poster