marketing your library’s physical space

Marketing Your Library’s

Physical Space

Signs, displays & collections…Oh My!

Think Marketing

As an 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

Does your Library look like this?

Rutherford B.

Hayes

Presidential

Library (1952)

Oxnard Public Library (date

unknown)

Wichita City Library

Bookmobile (1925)

When it could look like this…Seattle Public Library, WA

Mount Laurel Library, NJ

Allen County Public Library, IN

Kendallville Public Library, IN

The BIG Question…

Isn’t all about money?

Sensory Perception Audit

(SPA)What is it?

Who conducts this audit?

How to conduct the audit?

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?

SPA Continued

Outside

Curb Appeal and Traffic Flow• Parking Lot & Walkways

• Book Drop Access

• Grounds

Entryways• Signage

• Waiting Areas

• Information Center

• Traffic Flow

SPA Continued

Inside

Public Services Landscape• Circulation

• AV

• Other Public Areas

Target Market Landscapes• Youth

• Teens

• Adult

Internal Customer Landscape

SPA Concluded

Next Steps

Bookstore Model

What is the appeal?

Location

Welcome!

Layout & signage

Food, drink and entertainment

What can we learn?

Smell & Music

Scent Marketing

Odor associations• Cinnamon, coffee, apples

• Orange

• Lemon

• Wood

Music

Affects on purchases/check-outs and quantity

Target Market

Food & Drink

Already in many libraries

Policies

Signage

Color

Contrast

Font/Shape

Rule of 25

Finish

Pictograms

Industry standards• ADA standards

Nova Scotia, Canada

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)

Lighting

Brightness

Be aware of glare

Create “areas” in the library

Technology

Blogs

Wikis

RSS feeds

Social Networking

Merchandising

Library Layout

Power Aisles

Traffic Patterns

Collection Organization

Dewey-less plan

Popular genre break-out

• Booklists (If you like…)

Merchandising

Displays

Recommendations

Frequency

POCO

Spice up your displays

Merchandising: the New Jersey

Model Trading Spaces program

New spaces

Display areas

Self check stations

Morning briefings

Greeters

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

Merchandising

Merchandising

Merchandising

Merchandising

Merchandising: New Jersey

Continued Layers of service

Info desk

Phones

Greeters

Mount Laurel PL, NJ

Greeters

Basics

1 hour shifts

ALL staff

What they do…

What they don’t do…

A S K method

Staff Involvement

Communication

Planning, implementing, maintenance

Talking Points (NJ)

Recommendations

Walkabouts (NJ)

Training & Cross Training

Experts/hobbies

Patron Satisfaction

Ask!

What do they want their library to be?

What type of services do they wish to have

available?

Communicate!

Patron Communication

Third Place

It isn’t home, it isn’t work, it is a “third

place”

What makes a third place?

Casual, welcoming/inviting

Social, comfortable

What are the experts

saying?

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

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

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

Free or Cheap & Easy

Spine out/Face out

Cleaning (shelves, keyboard, light switches)

Painting

Sensory Perception Audit

Greeters

Signage updates

Collection organization

Recommended Sites

http://themwordblog.blogspot.com

http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/

http://in.webjunction.org/marketing

http://www.elearnlibraries.com/index.html

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.

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.

Questions?

Jessica Jacko

Indiana State Library

Professional Development Office

317-650-8492

jjacko@library.in.gov