Marketing Your Library's Physical Space
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Indiana State Library Professional Development office
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Transcript of Marketing Your Library's Physical Space
Indiana State LibraryProfessional Development office
“Marketing is not a poster; marketing is understanding your customers and creating products and services for them – that only you can uniquely provide.”
The Library Marketing Toolkit
Discuss…
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library
(1952)
Oxnard Public Library (date unknown)
Wichita City Library Bookmobile (1925)
Seattle Public
Library, WA
Nieuwe Bibliotheek,
Almere, Netherlands
Allen County Public
Library, IN
Indianapolis Public
Library, IN
As an experiment, think about the one product/service that you would like more people to use in your library.
Then answer these two questions:
1. Who is going to use this product/service?2. What need is it filling?
Isn’t it all about money?
How would you set up the library if you would get $1 in your personal bank account for every item borrowed? What would change?
You want to know, just ask!
Ask!• Surveys/Focus Groups• What do they want their library to be?• What type of services do they wish to have available?
My Starbucks – idea, view ideas, ideas in action
Communicate!• Social media
ADD something!
ADD something!
• Convenient location• Hours of operation• Make location appealing• Overcome psychological barriers • Leverage place design to better serve all customers
ADD something!
ADD something!
ADD something!
The what, who, and how of it all!
• What is it?• Who conducts this audit?• How to conduct the audit?
Big Picture • 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?
Outside• Curb Appeal and Traffic Flow• Parking Lot & Walkways• Book Drop Access• Grounds
Entryways• Signage• Waiting Areas• Information Center• Traffic Flow
Inside• Public Services Landscape• Service Desks• Collections• Other Public Areas
Target Market Landscapes• Youth• Teens• Adult
Internal Customer Landscape
What’s next?
What is the appeal?• Location• Welcome!• Layout & signage• Food, drink and entertainment
What can we learn?
• Readability• Color/Contrast • Font/Shape• Pictograms• Finish• Industry Standards• ADA standards
Nova Scotia, Canada
BLACK
BLACK
YELLOW
WHITE
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
White
Indianapolis Public
Library, IN
Allen County Public Library, IN
Hedberg Public Library, WI
•Library layout•Collection organization•Displays
Have a meeting with those decision makers. Limit the fonts used on signs. Limit the colors used on signs. Weed your collections (a lot). Provide comfortable seating for patrons. Carve out spaces with rugs. Get those books on displays or on face out
shelving.
Encourage staff to get out from behind the desk.
Wear “I can help you.” buttons. Weed your flower beds. Replace burnt out lightbulbs. Install small lamps on tables. Allow food and drink in some areas. Paint a wall (or two).
Consistency matters. Get rid of clutter on desks. Don’t cover those windows (consider films). Plants? Are they comforting or messy? Suggestion Cards and Responses What three words describe your library?
Would all your staff agree? How can you get to that place?
Suzanne WalkerProfessional Development OfficeIndiana State [email protected]
Cooper, Julia. “How to Evaluate Your Library’s Physical Environment.” Marketing Library Services 21.2 (2007) http://www.infotoday.com/MLS/may07/Cooper.shtml
Potter, Ned. The Library Marketing Toolkit. London: Facet Publishing, 2012.
Rippel, Chris. “What libraries can learn from bookstores: Applying bookstore design to public libraries.” (2003) http://goo.gl/Llt7BU
South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. “Trading Spaces Project” http://www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces/
Walters, Suzanne and Kent Jackson. Breakthrough Branding: Positioning your library to survive and thrive. Chicago: Neal-Schuman, 2013.
