- Displays, displays, displays! Chase's Calendar of Events is full of little known celebrations that happen every day of the year. Flip open the calendar and do an impromptu display. Did you know April 20th is Look Alike Day ("April, 2015 Bizarre and Unique Holidays")? It's the perfect time to pull all of the fiction about twins together in one place.
- Book Clubs - Book clubs are a great way to get to know the library's patrons, their reading habits, and force patrons to step out of their reading comfort zone. Book clubs can highlight the variety of genres available. The librarian also has a built in audience to let patrons know about new services such as eBooks, digital eAudiobooks, and more.
- Programs - Themed events centered on a book can pull in a completely different audience than a traditional book club. For example, my library is planning a future program for Game of Thrones. For this course's final, I've created a bookmark, pamphlet, and bibliography for patrons to pick-up while publicizing the program and also the night of the program. Book trivia, a craft, and a photo contest can help make books come alive and also get lively discussion started on what to read next.
- Social Media - One of the trends that I've seen lately is reader's advisory service happening via social media. Twitter is a great place for this to happen because of the short messages and fast pace. I've also seen several libraries do a weekly post asking what patrons are reading and sharing what the librarians are reading.
- Summer Reading Programs - Summer reading is a great way to market the library's fiction. If the library is interested in helping patrons broaden their reading repertoire, doing a summer reading genre Bingo can be fun even if some patrons may groan. Even if you do just a 'by the book' reading program, swapping out the book display each week and highlighting a different genre will get patrons to take notice.
- Little Free Libraries - If your library has permission and a selection of books that have been donated or withdrawn, a little free library is a unique way to advertise your library. By placing information about the library system in the little free library, you may attract users that have never walked through the doors.
- eBooks - It can be difficult to market eBooks. I don't remember if it was this semester or last semester, but one article I read suggested making little book markers to stick on the shelf in the place the print book would be advertising that the book is available via the library's eBook service. The bookmark could have room on the back for readalike titles!
I think something that many don't realize is that even if a program doesn't start off as a reader's advisory opportunity, it come quickly become one just by one patron asking for reading suggestions. Even though we are talking about adult programming this week, this very thing happened to me last week during a Percy Jackson program for teens in celebration of Teen Literature Day. We ended up having a great conversation about The Ranger's Apprentice and Harry Potter and it just took off.
Readers' advisory is an opportunity waiting around every corner when you're a librarian. Even when you don't want to, you've probably found yourself jumping into a book discussion. I know I have!
Readers' advisory is an opportunity waiting around every corner when you're a librarian. Even when you don't want to, you've probably found yourself jumping into a book discussion. I know I have!
Works Cited
"April, 2015 Holiday Bizarre and Unique Holidays." holidayinsights.com. Premier Star Co., 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
I think we're going to do a book bingo in addition to our normal Summer Reading Club stuff this year. We give people a ticket toward a big prize drawing for each book they read, but we're going to give them extra tickets when they get Bingos on their card. We'll also give them extra tickets if they read display books. Summer Reading programs can really help boost reading, and putting some clever displays and other ways to push people outside of their comfort zone really helps. (This year is especially great because "Escape the Ordinary" is the adult theme for collaborative summer reading - it's practically tailor-made for getting people to read outside their comfort zones!)
ReplyDeleteYou said "I think something that many don't realize is that even if a program doesn't start off as a reader's advisory opportunity, it come quickly become one just by one patron asking for reading suggestions." I think this is so true! We can take it even farther and do a display of titles that would appeal to the people who are attending a particular program, whether the program is about fiction/reading or not.
ReplyDeleteI had not thought of the little free libraries. Having those scattered around town or the county filled with withdrawn books and announcements about what is happening at the library is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI think you are right that there is no single way to promote the library. What is certainly true in addition to al that you list is that when people are happy about the library, they talk to their family and friends about it. They invite family and friends to the programs. Word of mouth is astonishingly effective still.
I love how creative you were with this project. Thank you for sharing your ideas. You make such a good point about the Little Free Libraries! They are an excellent way to spread the word. We "bomb" the ones in our town with flyers, poetry, art, reading lists, etc. We also do social media posts where we tell people to look for things like library swag, tickets, etc. in the LFL's which always encourage a lot of engagement!
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