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The poster of this terrific message on
PUBLIB granted me permission to pass his wise words along.
Laurie
Laurie Mahaffey, Deputy Director
Central Texas Library System, Inc.
1005 West 41st Street
Austin, Texas 78756
512-583-0704, ext. 18
Date:
Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:06:29 -0500
From:
"Dale McNeill" <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:
Re: [Publib] Low Circulation "Remedies"
To:
Kim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc:
Publib Publib Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi
Kim--
Here
are a few ideas from my years (since 1980!) in public libraries. I'm
assuming
that you're working in a library....so, just think about these from
the
librarian/library worker perspective if you're not. In general, people
are
reading more than ever, though not necessarily fiction (but in many
communities
fiction is booming--and poetry is quite popular in some
libraries).
So, you are right to be concerned about declining circulation.
These
suggestions are from my time as a branch manager at a library system
in
Texas, primarily, where circulation increased from about 10-fold using
these
ideas.
1)
Ask people in the community. Just make conversation in the grocery
store,
the deli, while buying coffee. It can be just this simple "You know,
I
work at the library a few blocks away, and I don't think I've seen you
there
(lately). Did you know it's free?" If there are some common
problems
(hours,
lack of selection, bad attitude from staff, that sort of thing),
you'll
know pretty quickly. Often low circulation is simply an indicator of
some
other problem.
2)
Weed. Weed a lot. Examine *every* book that hasn't circulated for more
than
3 years. Look for trends. Are certain authors no longer
popular? Do
you
have out-of-date travel or civil service exam books? What do the
non-circulating
books have in common? Note: I am recommending that you
*examine*
these books. There may be reasons to keep all, some, or a few of
these
items.
3)
Look at the books on the shelves. Honestly, would you check them out if
you
didn't work at the library? Are the shelves too full? Are the books
dusty
or worn? Are some books invitingly shelved face out? Are books too
high
or too low on the shelves for your customers to reach them?
4)
Do you literally buy books that people want to read? That is one simple
way,
assuming you can allocate some funds to it, to involve people in the
library.
5)
Carefully examine use of the collection by broad areas, let's say:
picture
books, children's fiction, children's nonfiction, teen fiction adult
fiction
(maybe divided into a couple of genres), adult nonfiction, DVDs,
recorded
music, recorded books. Now, compare these usage figures with
budgets.
You might want to make some changes.
6)
Every time a customer checks out a book, have staff ask "Did you find
_everything_
you were looking for?" or "Did you know you can reserve books
for
free?" or "Is there anything else we can find for you
today?". A
question
like that, asked of every customer can, in my experience, increase
circulation
by 5% to 10%--assuming staff weren't asking before.
7)
If there's a bookstore in your community, visit it often. Notice what
people
are reading and browsing. I made a lot of very popular magazine
selections
this way over the years.
8)
Thinking of magazines, consider multiple subscriptions to popular
magazines.
In a branch library in which I used to work, I had 5
subscriptions
to _Muscle and Fitness_, for example. I circulated all of
them,
even the current issue--as no one came to the library to read this
magazine.
>From those 60 items (5 copies x 12 issues), I usually got 1500 to
2000
circulations in a year. Not many other 60 items in my library could do
that.
This was, by the way, a 2000 square foot library.
9)
Every single time someone asks for a (real) book, offer to get the book
in
some way--ILL, purchase, whatever you can offer. Or look it up in
WorldCat
and let the customer know where it is. The library should be the
*first*
place people think of for books.
10)
I hid this down here because I know it's been the topic of conversation
a
lot on this list....but, if you have all adult fiction interfiled,
*consider*
dividing it into genres.
11)
Ask a friend (maybe start with a librarian) to look for a book in your
catalog
and find it in the library. Have them evaluate the experience. You
may
find that it's just not that easy to find materials.
12)
Ask the staff for ideas--make anything fair game. My staff suggested
eliminating
my desk (I was the only adult librarian) and replacing it with a
table
for the public. Great change--not in every library, but any means, but
in
this one. My staff also suggested adding black & white movies--which
were
wildly popular. They knew that people had asked for them; I didn't.
13)
Make an attractive sign "Just Returned" and put it on a book
truck. Fill
the
top shelf--and only the top shelf--with material that has just been
returned.
Much of that material will go out the same day it's
returned--increasing
circulation and saving shelving at the same time.
14)
Emphasize to your community--especially in poor communities--that it
really
is important for books to be checked out. That's the way you know
which
ones are popular. I would talk to people using a family restaurant as
an
example: " f you have pot roast, enchiladas, and cold potato soup--and no
one
ever orders pot roast, would you keep it on the menu? That's how we
know
what you're interested in so we can get more like it." In many
libraries
one couldn't do this, but I would there encourage poor people to
check
out books and return them on the same day (make sure this counts as
circulation
in your system). I would give them a printout showing that
their
account was clear when they left. Poor people understand this. If
they
know you're counting on them, it makes a big difference. On the other
hand,
in a wealthy community, you should also remind people who use the
library
often that the library is like a retail store--and its success is
judged
by its "sales".
15)
Talk about the library--outside the library. Go to civic groups, church
groups,
PTA meetings, local history meetings, any where you can. Just talk
about
the basic services. Smile. Laugh. Often you'll get lunch and
a few
new
customers.
16)
If other staff are comfortable, make a little display of books they
like.
We had an end-cap shelving unit with 4 shelves. There was a current
and
a childhood picture of each staff member (yes, there were 4 of us) on
each
shelf. On that shelf, we each put a few adult and children's books
that
we liked. Mostly these were older titles. Generally we re-stocked
this
display several times a day. We each had a loyal following.
17)
Look at demographic information for your community. Then look at your
customers.
Who's missing? The very young? The very old? A particular
race?
Men? Women? Speakers and readers of a particular language?
Target
that
missing group with information about the library. (Oh, and here's an
important
one--is your population decreasing? If so, that might be the core
of
the problem.)
I
think all the above can be summarized as: really know your community,
involve
staff, and market your merchandise. Also, if you are planning to
greatly
increase usage, you really need to think about what that means to
every
aspect of the library. Will you get more staff if you're checking out
twice
as many books? What about 5 times more? How can staff prepare
themselves?
How will schedules change? What will you need to stop doing,
if
you greatly increase circulation?
I
hope these suggestions give you some ideas. All of them have worked for
me,
but you have to think about your own library. Of course, not all will
work
in all libraries.
Best
wishes,
Dale
