Make Your Library The Center of Book Culture In Your Community

On her blog RA For All, Becky Spratford recently posted Listening to Library Users: A Wake-Up Call For Library Marketing via Super Library Marketing with a Bonus Becky Rant . What stood out to me was the fact that readers do not think about libraries as the place to go for book recommendations. This is a huge marketing opportunity for libraries to reach to local readers. Creating a culture of book recommendations and sharing of loved books is something that any library, regardless of size or budget can do. 

I encourage library workers to use expansive versions of book display themes because you don't know what will draw a reader in. People approach books from different and sometimes unexpected angles. To use a few horror titles, Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House is also about a relationship between grown siblings and dealing with the death of parents. Cynthia Pelayo's The Shoemaker's Magician is about Chicago film history and parenting a child with special needs. These are in addition to the plot and horror themes in the books. AI will not help a reader find books that they might love beyond the obvious and simple examples. Talking to a library worker just might. 

Becky also emphasizes what I say when I talk about book displays - we should never assume that people know what we do and what we can offer them. Libraries need to tell their communities about their collections, resources, and services. It is something we need to do actively and often. 

Everyone should go to Becky's blog and review her free resources for booktalking and starting conversations. Have her train your staff on readers advisory as a conversation, not a transaction. Reach out to me if you are interested in more information about having me speak to your staff about using book displays and other forms of passive readers advisory. 

I will leave you with this anecdote - after I purchased a book by horror grand master Brian Keene, Amazon recommended self-help author Brene Brown to me. Maybe Alexa was worried about me but more than likely it was just a push for a best seller. A library worker trained in booktalking and conversations about books would not just hand a reader a best seller. A well designed display would not suggest that any best seller will do when you are looking for your next read. 

Unshelving the ALA Annual Conference in Philly.

 I will be attending the American Library Association Annual Conference in Philadephia. My hope is to post some content related to what I participate in and learn while I am there. I am participating in two panels. One is The State of RA Today, presented by Booklist. I have the pleasure of presenting with some of the best reader advisory experts around. Susan Maguire from Booklist is also very passionate about books and readers. 

I am also participating in Booklist/LibraryReads annual Read 'n' Rave. Participants have 10 minutes to rave about as many books as they can! It's at 10:30, PCC Room 112AB. This year’s Ravers  besides me include:  Jessica Trotter,  Alene Moroni, Migdalia Jimenez, and Rebecca Vnuk. LibraryReads executive director Rebecca Vnuk is a master at this so I will have to be on my toes!

If you are in attendance, come and say hello!

Cross Posting w/RA for All - Unshelve Your Collection!

I wrote this up for the blog RA for All which is home to Becky Spratford, the best readers advisory trainer out there and the head Halloween Librarian. She knows the best ways to effective turn your entire staff into people who can recommend books and help patrons find their next great read. Becky is also a tireless advocate for library workers while also serving as the secretary for the Horror Writers Association. Find more information about how you can bring her into your library for staff training here. 

Shelves and shelves of book spines can create a great picture but it's not always the best way for a patron who is browsing your stacks to find their next great read. That's why this year I am encouraging everyone to unshelve their collections. All this means to find as many ways as possible to get your collection away from being lost in your stacks and out where it can be discovered by someone. 

There are simple ways to accomplish this. The easiest is to purchase some easels and put one book face out on every shelf. You will be amazed at what will be checked out simply because you put it face out on a shelf. This also is easy for any library worker to help keep filled; all that has to be done is a book picked from the shelf and placed on an empty easel. There is a sort of serendipity to this as everyone in your building will likely pick a different book so what’s faced out will constantly change. 

Book displays are another way to unshelve your collection by curating a small collection of materials on a theme and grouping them together. I cover basics and try to provide ideas on my blog and in my presentations for library workers. The magic behind book displays is that they the covers are faced out and can catch someone’s eye. Mix up fiction and non-fiction. Move materials to a part of your building that is far from where the rest of the collection is located. Add audiovisual materials to a display with books. Keep the signage and decorations simple. The focus should be on the covers.

Your eBooks and eAudiobooks are a treasure that not everyone in your community know about. You can unshelve them by setting up a book display with covers from the titles included in your digital collection. Add QR codes to the website and information about how to sign up for the service. You can mix the face outs on your shelves by adding signage on some shelves with suggestions for titles in your eBook collection. 

Whatever social media accounts that your library uses can also help unshelve your collection. One idea I have suggested is a “Five for Friday” series. Just pick five titles on a theme and take a picture. You can put them on a cart, table, or have a staff member hold them. A schedule can be set up and anyone who works in your library can have a chance to pick a theme and their five items. Add a short paragraph explaining the titles and provide information about how to put them on request. If staff are comfortable, you can have a short video where the staff member explains their choices. 

If a topic pops up in the news, use that as a reason to add a post with some titles that might be of interest to someone who wants more information. Find a theme similar to what you would use for a book display and create a grouping of covers for your social media. If someone has the interest and skills, you can create clever graphic or just use a series of book cover images. 

Don’t limit your unshelving efforts to your building. Partner with local businesses and get small posters and fliers out into your community that include titles and covers from your collection. You can use local celebrations and events for inspiration. Create bookmarks with covers that can be given away. Make some themed posters and book marks with coffee related titles for a cafe or pizza related titles for a pizza shop. There are pet speciality stores that are popping up. There are many pet related titles in our collections. Remind the people in your community who don’t regularly come into your building how amazing your library is. 

For the rest of 2025 I am going to try to discuss ways of unshelving your collection that can be used by libraries regardless of size or budget. Reach out to me if you have ideas that your library has used to show off the titles in your collection. I would love to share them! Let’s use this year to help readers discover what treasures are waiting for them on our shelves.