Readers’
Advisory Marketing Trends in the Public Library
When it comes to
marketing trends in public libraries, statistics matter in meeting the needs of
patrons. According to a national survey by Library
Journal, NoveList, and the
RUSA/CODES Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Committee, four points of
service exist. In-person readers’ advisory takes place 85% at the reference
desk and 59% at the circulation desk. Regarding self-directed readers’ advisory
(RA), 94% of libraries created book displays and 75% offered book lists. Book
clubs (89%) and author visits (86%) are being held at most public libraries.
Seventy-nine percent of libraries provide read-a-likes or other tips on
websites. Less than half of the respondents posted recommendations on social
media (Thorton-Verma & Schwartz, 2014, 1).
Saricks states
that “displays are the easiest and best marketing tool” in libraries (2010,
43). She recommends that older titles be used since they “tend to be lost in
the stacks and need an opportunity to shine again” (43). Since patrons are more
visually-oriented, libraries need to include books with jackets which make all
the difference. The books selected must be “good titles we have loved ourselves
or ones that were well reviewed or popular at the library” (43). Displays are
important to recognize if the items truly have appeal with patrons, help
expand the librarians’ knowledge of the
collection, gets staff away from the reference desk, and show patrons that
librarians care about their reading and audiovisual interests (43).
LibraryAware
uses the information off of NoveList
to “create flyers, bookmarks, e-mail blasts, and press releases using the
library’s own stationary” (Circle, 2012, 30). Since more patrons are bringing
their smartphones to the public library, QR codes can be “printed on the signs
at the end of shelving units, collected on bookmarks, or placed directly within
the covers of highly circulated titles…these are used to point readers to book
reviews or a list of related titles” (Hampton, Peach, & Rawlins, 2012, 410).
For creating effective booktalks, the strategy is to use “a hook to entice
readers with a quick description of a book’s appeal rather than a detailed plot
summary” (Saricks, 2012, 29).
Readers’
advisory will still be evident in the future of libraries. Fifty-four percent
of respondents say that RA will be more important in the next three years, and
84% say that RA is important to their library’s mission. Half of respondents
surveyed plan to expand or digitally add RA services while several want to
expand self-directed RA (42%). Also it should include RA programming (41%) and
provide one-on-one RA in-house (38%). The readers’ advisory interview is best
preferred at the reference desk and then followed by roving librarians
(Thorton-Verma & Schwartz, 2014, 1). Going to the stacks dissuades becoming
a target for readers (Saricks, 2012, 29). On the Internet the library’s website
was rated more popular than social media (Thorton-Verna & Schwartz, 2014,
1).
The biggest
problems facing RA are keeping up with books and genres (21%) and discomfort
reading unfamiliar genres (17%). Although it is noteworthy that 72% of
respondents feel confident in their adult RA work, this is not the same when
advising children (58%) and young adults (51%) (2). Another crucial issue
facing RA services includes hiring library staff with previous technology experience over readers’ advisory background who have expertise in reading and
material collections (2). In regards to personal preferences, the library staff
surveyed had differing answers. A lack of RA training was deemed very important
to librarians; 23% of participants said that their library provided no training
or support for RA, 42% had no Readers’ Advisory class in library school, and
62% reported self-directed training (2).
Time is also a
critical issue, with librarians stating that 14% found finding the time to
train or read was an obstacle. The immediacy of remembering titles on the spot
was also an issue because “patrons want immediate answers and quickly lose
interest within minutes” (2). Furthermore, RA conversations are no longer only
face-to-face; questions now come via the Internet (Saricks, 2012, 29). Online
RA forms on library websites are now being used for the following reasons:
Readers can fill them out at their own leisure and staff members have time and
resources to search out a range of suggestions (Saricks, 2010, 43).
Patrons now have
a higher level of pre-existing knowledge which makes it more difficult for
librarians to know upcoming titles, new authors, and online publishers.
Centralized collection development also hinders branch librarians since they do
not know which titles to get in order to seek out advanced copies or reviews
(Thorton-Verma & Schwartz, 2014, 3). The various sources that librarians
use for RA assistance include professional journals and newspapers, NoveList, as well as Goodreads, blogs, and even word of mouth.
Librarians are
using recommended databases most frequently, followed by print and online
professional journals, social networking sites, word of mouth, online
booksellers, and the library’s catalog (3). The Readers' Advisory Online Blog offers several links to blogs and LibGuides for
reading lists, monthly articles, fun facts, marketing ideas, and new
technologies. The "M" Word-Marketing Trends library blog includes grants and
scholarships as well as ALA links and creative tips to promote library advocacy
and reading. Visually impaired readers who listen to audiobooks will want
various types of information that is not always provided on the library catalog
(Moyer, 2012, 348). The library staff must acknowledge the appeals of each
genre, and use a variety of tools and resources to be confident during the
readers’ advisory interview.
References
Circle,
A. (1, February 2012). A new player in marketing. Library Journal, 137(2), 30-31.
Hampton, D.; Peach, A.; & Rawlins,
B. (2012, October/December). Extending library services with QR codes. Reference
Librarian, 53(4), 403-414.
Moyer,
J.E. (2012). Audiobooks and e-books. Reference & User Services
Quarterly, 51(4), 340-354.
Saricks,
J. (2010, September 1). At leisure: Marketing 201. Booklist, 107(1), 43.
Saricks,
J. (2012, October 1). Expanding the RA conversation. Booklist, 109(3), 29.
Thorton-Verma,
H., & Schwartz, M. (1, February 2014). The state of reader's advisory. Library
Journal, 139(2).
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