Week 15 Prompt - Marketing Fiction in Libraries

Week 15 Prompt

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out.

Three ways to market library fiction:

1. Good Old Fashioned Displays

The most basic, old school low tech way to market a fiction collection is a display that invites the eye and prompts browsing. This can be a timely holiday display, a themed display centered around a topic, or a display organized like a bookstore, with outward facing books and signage. One of the pleasures of visiting a library is the serendipity factor of discovery. Displays facilitate serendipity.  One note on this, display cases that require a library staff member to unlock the case to get a book out for a patron are not browsing friendly! 

(I created the Jane Austen and the Blind Date With a Book displays.)




Here's some cool displays found on Pinterest....






2. Online marketing: Pinterest Pages

Pinterest is an extremely useful took for sharing ideas. Obviously, its highly visual, so book covers that catch the eye with a brief description, organized by genre, are an easy way for patrons to browse the library from home. For the final project, I used Pinterest to organize individual recommendation pages for my readers' advisory guinea pigs. One respondent created a page to respond to my request for feedback, using the collaboration tool to do so, enabling us to interact. Many libraries use Pinterest to promote their collections, as well as services and the library itself. One library I follow on Pinterest is the Cincinnati Public Library. Book pins are linked to the library catalog, making it easy for patrons to browse from home and place holds.






3. Library Website That Features Collections

A well designed library website that is easy to navigate and visually pleasing is a must have for a library to be "with it". The Carmel Clay Public Library in Carmel Indiana is a good example of a user friendly site that promotes collections. Their website features new releases, promotions centered around recent noteworthy events, (such as the recent passing of Stephen Hawking), genres, and readers' advisory based on formats, such as audio books.




Comments

  1. I love that you included photographs! These are all great ideas (I love the jane austen display!).

    ReplyDelete

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