"Perhaps the primary experience people look to 'buy' at their public libraries is a personal relationship with a staffer." ~ Steve Coffman
"Think of the library as the community's Main Street. A place for community meetings, music, books, computers, events...." ~ anon.
"I just love your new Home and Garden section." ~ anon.
"Location, location, location is the most important decision
managers can make." ~ anon.
Resources From Trading Spaces: Reinventing the Library Environment.
While it is difficult to change the location of the library, a poor
location will make merchandising both more difficult and much more
important.
Merchandising is part of marketing. More specifically, it is the distribution and placement of all of the content in the library as well as furnishings. It includes design, the use of color, the use of space, shelving and display options and opportunities to welcome the customer and making finding the right content and help as easy as possible. Merchandising encourages customers to stay and shop. It should also encourage them to consider new opportunities by bringing new and perhaps unexpected content and services to their attention. Since this is a retail sales model, merchandising would encourage the library to look more like a popular, well designed and well managed book store or other retail outlet. Merchandising can change or improve customer expectations.
While the use of library materials may be "free," there is a real cost in terms of time and effort, of "toil and trouble," in using the public library. Merchandising attempts to reduce those costs by making "shopping" easier and more pleasant. Customers are diverse. Customers change so their needs and wants change too. For example, the proportion of older Americans is growing. The library's collections and services must be dynamic and change with the customers
In particular, merchandising demands that we look closely at how:
This means that items are displayed in smaller groups rather than
ranges of tall shelving. Collections are reduced to themes and topics
and these receive special attention so that finding good stuff is less
of a challenge and much easier. Cover out display invites and
encourages browsing. While good order remains important, it is less
important ease and appeal.
Survey results find that many view bookstores are "warmer, smarter,
more comfortable, more welcoming, more modern, and more stimulating
than the library." Interestingly, female respondents viewed the library
more positively than males. Younger adults viewed the library
less favorably, in comparison to the bookstore, than older adults. Many
adults believe that libraries lack comfortable seating for reading or
resting. A major benefit of visiting the bookstore was the ease
of browsing and the visibility of interesting content. The availability
of food and drink was also a bookstore draw. Bookstores typically have
several copies of popular items [no stock outs or the need to wait for
weeks to get an item].
Key question: to what degree should the library look like and act like a retail environment?
Librarians who have used merchandising principles to renovate their library indicate that these factors are responsible for success or failure:
A common getting started question is "if you could change one aspect of the library what would that be?"
Problems likely to derail a merchandising initiative include the opposites of the above variables. The two most likely problems are a lack of resources and a staff who are too comfortable with the status quo.
How common are these problems? How might you overcome them?
Merchandising begins at the library's entrance. What does the customer see as she approaches the front door? If there are display windows, the displays should be eye-catching. As she enters the door? After entering the door? Since most people are right-handed, welcoming displays/exhibits/signage should be on the right side after the entrance. That would be the best location for a help/assistance or advisory desk. Similarly, the circulation department would be on the right side when the customer leaves.
Comment on the entrance "impact" of your public library.
Retailers classify goods as:
One merchandising approach is to divide the library into zones with appropriate traffic flow between them. Such zones might include:
Should there be one for seniors? Other zones that should be added to this list? What do you think of "zoning" the public library?
Thoughtful librarians will spend some time in retail outlets, including the large chain bookstores, to see how the store is arranged and how stock is displayed. An idea file for themes and topics must be created and solidly linked to the calendar.
Displays or at least substantial parts of the display must change regularly or people will ignore them. Displays are evaluated, primarily in terms of the check-out history of the items displayed, but also with periodic surveys. Based on this evaluations, some display ideas are modified, others enlarged, and a few are scrapped. No display should continue longer than two to three weeks without some notable revision.
Displays must attract and encourage pick up and examination. This means that the display must:
Reader's Interest displays or "centers [such as a parenting center or a gardening center]" work well since most customers find the scatter of the DDC system difficult to navigate. For example, a computer display might include books normally found in the 000's, the 600s, and the 300s. This means that an investing display area where content on various aspects of investing and retirement planning may be found increases interest and circulation. These centers focus on content that may be circulated so this is not a reference collection. Themes should mix formats and categories to encourage cross-over use and expose items that might not otherwise be considered. Since too many items inhibit selection, displays need to be limited and that means that the stock must be regularly replenished as items are removed and checked out.
Cross merchandising brings together content that might otherwise be scattered. For example, a display might include both popular histories and historical fiction or gardening books and gardening videos. Similarly, books at different levels might be displayed together so both the newbie and more advanced books on Photoshop Elements would be displayed together.
Tie-ins are also useful. For example, digital photographs or scrapbook pages might be displayed near the how-to-do-it books.
Many themes will be seasonal and may be used again in the future [although we new content]. For example, income tax payments are a seasonal event. Other examples would include holidays, anniversaries, elections, and such events as summer vacations. Chase's Calendar of Events is often helpful here. Some attention must be given to community interests and events so that themes may reflect the community. Book stores often do this with a local, regional, and state history section.
If you were beginning to add displays to the library, which topic or theme would be your first?
Adequate space must be available so that it is comfortable for people to stop, look, and examine items.
Items may be displayed in or on top of display furniture, library shelving, window ledges, and on walls with the right hardware to hold items upright and face out.
Many libraries are crowded and have little free space. What would you do to free space to create a more comfortable and inviting environment?
Many artifacts may be used to add interest to a display or display area. For example, a gardening display could include seed packets, a watering can, and similar items. Only a few props are needed. Too many will overwhelm the exhibit and occupy too much space.
Customers will compare library displays with those found in other retail outlets so the displays must appear to be professionally done with some attention given to details and to appearance.
What would you do to insure that displays and exhibits have a professional look?
Merchandising is usually associated with a fuller service model.
This means that library staff spend much less time behind a service
desk and much more time on the floor assisting customers. "Personal
selling is the most powerful promotion tool, and it's underutilized by
most librarians." In the bookstore, we would call this hand
selling. Library staff via eye contact, body language, and
clear communication skills "sell" our collections and services. Our
most important task is to make it easy for the user to find what she
wants. Personal selling is the best way to do that.
To what degree is your staff customer-focused?
A few libraries have even created a "greeter" position to assist customers in locating items in the catalog or on the shelf and hand off questions to the reference staff. When not engaged, greeter shelf and merchandise [add items to display, straighten up]. Self-service checkout is used to free circulation staff for other tasks. Building relationships with customers creates a continuous, long-term relationship and substantially increases positive word of mouth. Customer retention is a key concern.
In the libraries that have adopted the retail model, all staff merchandise the collection and all staff have a public service role. "Bring staff out to customers, rather than make customers come to staff desks."
One of the rationales for user check out is that this frees circulation staff for public service work. Does that seem persuasive to you?
"It takes constant vigilance and reinforcement to keep the collection merchandised and library looking attractive."
How difficult would it be to enhance public service and make it much more active?
Furniture must be comfortable, durable, and easily cleaned.
Fixtures may be found from a variety of sources, including traditional library suppliers such as Brodart, Highsmith, or Demco. A wide range of fixtures is available [new and used]:
Furniture purchase provides an opportunity for fund-raising and naming.
Merchandising includes promotion, publicity, and advertising to attract new customers and to encourage present ones to visit more frequently. Since the renovated library is a legitimate news event, press releases should be created and sent to local news media as major stages are completed. News should also be shared with users via the library website, blogs, discussion lists and the like. Public service announcements are available in most communities. Announcements should also be sent to partners or similar nonprofit organizations in the community. Other promotional ideas include:
How would you promote the "new" public library?
