Friday, March 30, 2007
I thought this was interesting.
"In its third survey on the book-buying habits of Americans, the advertising firm Spier NY asked readers what factors motivated them to buy a book. Readers could choose more than one answer; below are the top eight answers.
Reason % respondents
1. Friend's recommendation 49
2. Familiarity with author 45
3. Description on jacket 32
4. Reviews 22
5. Advertisement 21
6. Place on bestsellers list 17
7. Reading group pick 16
8. Cover design 12
Source: Spier NY. Based on responses from 813 book readers. 2007"
It is definitely interesting to me to see how certain books get insanely popular mainly through word-of-mouth. The Philippa Gregory books were like that in our library, and also The Memory Keeper's Daughter, which didn't really get all that popular till it was already out in trade paperback (great for us at the library, because we were able to buy multiple copies to satisfy demand without breaking the bank). And once Jodi Picoult hit the jackpot with My Sister's Keeper, all of her earlier books started flying off the shelf. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 4:50 PM 0 comments links to this post
"In its third survey on the book-buying habits of Americans, the advertising firm Spier NY asked readers what factors motivated them to buy a book. Readers could choose more than one answer; below are the top eight answers.
Reason % respondents
1. Friend's recommendation 49
2. Familiarity with author 45
3. Description on jacket 32
4. Reviews 22
5. Advertisement 21
6. Place on bestsellers list 17
7. Reading group pick 16
8. Cover design 12
Source: Spier NY. Based on responses from 813 book readers. 2007"
It is definitely interesting to me to see how certain books get insanely popular mainly through word-of-mouth. The Philippa Gregory books were like that in our library, and also The Memory Keeper's Daughter, which didn't really get all that popular till it was already out in trade paperback (great for us at the library, because we were able to buy multiple copies to satisfy demand without breaking the bank). And once Jodi Picoult hit the jackpot with My Sister's Keeper, all of her earlier books started flying off the shelf. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 4:50 PM 0 comments links to this post
Friday, March 09, 2007
Pay attention to what's going on around you.
I was just pulling some books to go out via inter-library loan. As I reached for the book I needed from the new book shelf, I noticed a woman standing nearby reading the bestseller list that we post from Publisher's Weekly. So I asked her if she was looking for a good read, and she said yes! Then she told me some authors she liked, I recommended a few books, and I also told her that she could sign up for NextReads, our email newsletter service (you can sign up too -- you don't even need your library card, just go to http://glenrock.bccls.org, click on NextReads, choose your newsletters and enter your email address).
By paying attention to what was going on around me, I was able to (I hope) provide good customer service to someone who wasn't even expecting it. Plus, I got to recommend books to someone, which always makes me happy. And all it took was being aware of what was going on around me!
¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 12:16 PM 0 comments
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If you're a public library, why NOT "give 'em what they want?"
A middle-aged gentleman came in last night and asked the person at the circ desk whether we have a graphic novel collection. They sent the guy to me, and I showed him our collection. Right now it's mostly manga and superhero stuff, and he said he was more interested in realistic graphic novelists, like Chris Ware. He'd already read the only Chris Ware book we had. But we got into a conversation and I told him that if he likes realistic non-superhero graphic novels, he might like Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Ex Machina (also by the prolific Brian K. Vaughan).
Even though we don't own those titles, I wrote the names down for him. As he left, he said something like "Wow, I'm surprised you know about graphic novels and have a collection. So many libraries don't." And I replied: "Well, that's their problem." It made me sad, though. Graphic novels are like any genre of literature: some are good, some are bad. If librarians are basing their decision to not collect graphic novels on an assumption that graphic novels are not "real" books and they are "trashy," then I really feel sorry for their library patrons. I believe it's our job as librarians to not impose our beliefs on our patrons. Even if you think graphic novels are worthless and trashy, I'm pretty sure that a large part of your library patrons do not. Why don't you serve them, along with all the people who read "trashy" fiction like Danielle Steel? Why impose your value judgment at all?
And: you don't have to be familiar with a genre in order to build a collection or give good service to library patrons. Even if you yourself don't read in a particular genre, I bet you have colleagues who do. Find out who you can use as a resource in your library (or your consortium, or your regional library cooperative). Our circ person didn't read graphic novels himself, but he knew that I did, so he sent the person to me. And the person left happy, even though he left without a book in his hand. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:17 AM 0 comments links to this post
Even though we don't own those titles, I wrote the names down for him. As he left, he said something like "Wow, I'm surprised you know about graphic novels and have a collection. So many libraries don't." And I replied: "Well, that's their problem." It made me sad, though. Graphic novels are like any genre of literature: some are good, some are bad. If librarians are basing their decision to not collect graphic novels on an assumption that graphic novels are not "real" books and they are "trashy," then I really feel sorry for their library patrons. I believe it's our job as librarians to not impose our beliefs on our patrons. Even if you think graphic novels are worthless and trashy, I'm pretty sure that a large part of your library patrons do not. Why don't you serve them, along with all the people who read "trashy" fiction like Danielle Steel? Why impose your value judgment at all?
And: you don't have to be familiar with a genre in order to build a collection or give good service to library patrons. Even if you yourself don't read in a particular genre, I bet you have colleagues who do. Find out who you can use as a resource in your library (or your consortium, or your regional library cooperative). Our circ person didn't read graphic novels himself, but he knew that I did, so he sent the person to me. And the person left happy, even though he left without a book in his hand. ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:17 AM 0 comments links to this post
Give people more than what they ask for
I have had great success lately with a very simple thing. When people come to the desk asking for a particular book, I'll get them that book, but I'll also often suggest another one they might like. (Or, if the book they want is checked out, I'll reserve it for them but also suggest an alternative.)
Yesterday an older woman came to my desk and she didn't have the energy to go into the stacks to get the book she wanted. So I walked back to get the book, and while I was there I also pulled another book off the shelf that I thought she might enjoy. I gave them both to her and said "I really think you'll like this book too. If you do like it, come back and tell me about it and I can give you some other book ideas. But if you don't, hey, just return it! It's a library book!"
Now, some people might not want you to offer more than what they asked for -- they are so pressed for time that the idea of taking one more library book home is just overwhelming. But I've found that senior citizens, especially, are often pleased to get personalized "bonus books" when they stop by the reference desk. And since reader's advisory is something I absolutely LOVE doing, it's certainly no hardship to me! ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:09 AM 0 comments links to this post
Yesterday an older woman came to my desk and she didn't have the energy to go into the stacks to get the book she wanted. So I walked back to get the book, and while I was there I also pulled another book off the shelf that I thought she might enjoy. I gave them both to her and said "I really think you'll like this book too. If you do like it, come back and tell me about it and I can give you some other book ideas. But if you don't, hey, just return it! It's a library book!"
Now, some people might not want you to offer more than what they asked for -- they are so pressed for time that the idea of taking one more library book home is just overwhelming. But I've found that senior citizens, especially, are often pleased to get personalized "bonus books" when they stop by the reference desk. And since reader's advisory is something I absolutely LOVE doing, it's certainly no hardship to me! ¶ posted by Mary Martin @ 11:09 AM 0 comments links to this post
