making the most of our stock, reader development and marketing in stirling
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Liz Moffat, Stirling Libraries, gives and overview of the kind of changes that they have made in Stirling libraries to encourage borrowing amongst users.TRANSCRIPT
Making the most of our stock
Reader Development and
Marketing in Stirling
Mission Statement for Reader Development
‘The best book in the world is quite simply the one you like best and that is something you can discover for yourself, but we are
here to help you find it’
Strengths
Staff - positive attitude and strong customer focus
Wide range of productsComputer serviceGood back catalogueAccess to readers
Weaknesses
Library buildings, poorly builtLocationsLow profileIssues are decliningNegative public image of librarians -
boring
Improve Presentation
• Transition zone - First Impressions• Counter area• Power spot - Bit in the middle • Both above - Last Impressions
Displays
Mixed Messages
Eye catches on approach
Dump the dumpbins
Victim of success!Keep filled
Small feature filler
But you don’t need a huge budget
Other ways to promote stock
• Book Wobblers• Comments Cards• Reading Groups• Frontline Training Course
Walk the Walk
What is Marketing?
• Promoting the Service in a positive fashion to raise it’s profile within the community and to increase library use and issues.
What we did
Revived the Marketing Plan and updated it
Put Marketing and Customer Care as an integral action within the Library Service Plan
Set up a Marketing Group, involving a cross-section of staff
Established a Design Team
What we did, cont’dIdentified our opposition
Set up a Mystery Shopper programme in all Libraries
Prepared and costed a list of “concerns”
Agreed money had to be spent to start addressing these concerns.
Agreed that furniture colours and wood finishings should be standardised
Customer careWhat is customer care?
Ensure that the customer has the best experience they can on every visit
The first impression a person has, is the one that stays in their mind
Look up when someone comes in, smile and greet them.
Make everyone feel welcome
Customer care, cont’d
Be pro-active
Ask how they enjoyed their books or DVDs
Ask if you can help with an enquiry or with more books
Be empathetic if someone wants to talk
Branding
Develop a “Brand” – make it recognisable
Standardise poster style, colours, logos
Set up a Design team and invest in design software
Work with your Council Design and Communications Team
Publicity
Use the local paper and local radio.
Build up a network of contacts, meet with them and get to know them. Work with them.
Send information to BBC Scotland and STV – addressed to individual programmes. It works.
Publicity, cont’d
• Develop your website
• Use Twitter, You Tube and Flickr
• Have WiKis that the public, eg your Reading Groups, can feed into
Things that work
• Build up good local press contacts• Writing your own material• Keep information positive• Try different things – if one doesn’t work, drop it• Competitions• Remember ‘loss leaders’• Target age groups• Target new housing developments
Evaluation
• Constant evaluation
• Learn and adapt
• Access outside opinion
What is needed
Commitment
Pride in your Library Service
Willingness
Enthusiasm
Statistics to prove its all working
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
110%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Stirling All Book Issues Scotland All Book Issues
More Statistics ….
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
110%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Stirling Adult Fiction Issues Scotland Adult Fiction Issues
