Indiana State LibraryProfessional Development office

How would you set up the library if you would get $1 in your personal bank account for every item borrowed? What would change?

Trading Spaces program • New spaces• Display areas• Self check stations• Morning briefings • Greeters

The Act of Merchandising and attractive visual display

• ALL staff • Key factors• Mess = Success

Layers of service

• Info desk• Phones• Greeters

• Communication• Planning, implementing, maintenance • Talking Points (NJ)

• Recommendations • Walkabouts (NJ)

• Training & Cross Training• Experts/hobbies

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

What is the appeal?• Location• Welcome!• Layout & signage• Food, drink and entertainment

What can we learn?

Way-finding

• Color/Contrast • Font/Shape• Pictograms• Finish• Industry Standards

• ADA standardsNova Scotia, Canada

BLACK

BLACK

YELLOW

WHITE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

White

• Determine the Purpose• Determine Location• Keep it there and study it

• Adjust for success or failure• Continue with what works• Drop what does not

• Displays

Imagine if we didn’t have all those horizontal lines.

http://www.powells.com/blog/category/shelf-talkers/page/2/

Mini Merchandising - for Smaller Libraries

School Libraries

Sensible Tips

Suzanne WalkerProfessional Development OfficeIndiana State Library317-232-3718suwalker@library.in.gov

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.

https://www.pinterest.com/statelibrary/display-ideas-for-public-libraries/

Woodword, Jeannette. Creating the Customer-Driven Library: Building on the Bookstore Model. USA. 2005

Jacobson, Alan. “Building Displays that Move Merchandise.” American Libraries. Jan/Feb 2012, Vol. 43 Issue ½ p42-44

Butcher, Holli. “Dewey vs. Genre Throwdown.” Knowledge Quest. Nov/Dec 2013, Vol. 42. Issue 2, p 48-55.