Always Be Circulating: How Public Libraries Meet Demand and Increase Use

Always Be Circulating

How Public Libraries Meet Demandand Increase Use

Selection, Distribution, Floating

Buy SmarterFormulasWhat Is The Goal Of Distribution?Depth & BreadthStatisticsTurnoverFloatingAnd Don’t Forget Deselection!

always be using … your public services staff

from http://digital.omahapubliclibrary.org/earlyomaha/galleries/librarian%20helping%

20kid.jpg

make your collection work

support readers’ advisory

ensure communication between selection and public services staff

allow all staff to “talk books” with patrons

support readers’ advisory work

people want to interact with books -- and with youfrom the late 2012 Pew Internet study (http://www.pewresearch.org/daily-number/even-in-the-digital-age-many-library-patrons-say-traditional-uses-are-important/)

support readers’ advisory work

from http://www.digitalforsyth.org/jpg/uzz/lbd/uzz_lbd_00358.jpg

bring back the serendipity

encourage connection and conversation

promote beyond the bestseller

displays, book lists, personalized reading recommendations, blind date with a book

don’t forget the virtual...

selection & public services staff

from https://s3.amazonaws.com/WebVault/surveys/ReadersAdvisorySurvey_repo

rt_Jan2014.pdf

selection & public services staff

share newsletters, galleys, catalogs

consider an internal newsletter highlighting what’s new and interesting (and outside the box)

engage public services staff in the collection maintenance and refreshment work

selection staff: work the desk!

handsell the inventoryyou have staff -- at all levels -- who are passionate about reading: celebrate it

your clerical and page staff have the most patron contact: take advantage of it

from https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/151625739/book-stack-illustration-screen-print?ref=shop_home_active_2

Merchandising and LayoutWendy Bartlett

What’s your long term strategy?

• “They loved the experience,” William S. Simons, the chief executive of Wal-Mart’s United States division, said at a recent conference. “They just bought less. And that generally is not a good long-term strategy.”

Public Space with BOOKS!

Three enduring merch principles

• The first twenty feet are completely lost, so use it for branding—urls, books,etc.

• People turn right, not left. The left is a dead zone. Put circulation or self check there.

• Need to balance “the way men shop” with the need for “abundance”. That never changes.

More says “value”

A branch within a branch

• Capturing the “Smash and Grab” customer

• Mini-versions of our store front “retail” branch in our new/renovated locations.

• Helps to increase our “items per transaction” and increase convenience.

It’s all about perception

“Historically, the more a store is packed, the more people think of it as value — just as when you walk into a store and there are fewer things on the floor, you tend to think they’re expensive,” said Paco Underhill,, founder and chief executive of Envirosell, who studies shopper behavior. .

Competing Demands can Co-exist

Commit to using the front door

Be the Customer in Chief

Silent Readers Advisory

• Not “Passive Readers Advisory! There shouldn’t be anything passive about it.

• Turn it in to PASSIONATE Readers Advisory and help your librarians curate a great browsing selection; the Pew Report says that’s what our customers want.

Passionate RA the Cheap Way!

Act like your job depends on it

Bibliography

• Why We Buy: the Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill, (revised 2008)

• www.pacounderhill.com; and he’s on FB and Twitter• “Stuff Piled in the Aisle” NYTimes, April 7, 2011• “Take the Merchandising Test” Dave Genesy. American

Libraries. Apr2006, Vol. 37 Issue 4, p69-69. 1/2p.

Contact

Wendy Bartlett Collection Development Manager

Cuyahoga County Public Library• wbartlett@cuyahogalibrary.org• Follow me on Twitter:

CCPL_WendyB

Dirty Little Secrets Or, How we really count!

Let me count the ways we count!!● How is your AV cataloged - individually

or as a set? ● How is eBook circulation counted and is it just eBook

or all eContent?● How long are your circulation periods?● How often can you renew items?● What is your holds ratio? Does it change by format?● How many items can your patrons check out?● How many buildings are in your system?

Robin Nesbitt, rnesbitt@columbuslibrary.org

@CML_RobinReads

Alene Moroni, amoroni@kcls.org

@surlyspice

Stephanie Chase, stephanie@bibliocommons.com

@acornsandnuts

Wendy Bartlett, wbartlett@cuyahogalibrary.org

@CCPL_WendyB