Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hacking the library: Impromptu Marketing

Everyday there are opportunities to market the library just waiting to be used. Today we had a staff member have the misfortune of her car catching fire in the library parking lot. We called the fire department and they quickly came and extinguished the blaze. I must compliment our local fire and police departments. They come whatever the reason, as quickly as they can, and have always been helpful.

While the fire department was rolling up the hose and doing paper work I had an epiphany. A fire truck is a great marketing tool. I sent a staff member to get the digital camera. I grabbed the Bill Engval Christmas CD, a Danielle Steele movie, and "Gone with the Wind". I had Christmas, steamy romance, and fire represented in my choice of materials to compliment the fire truck. I offered the firemen and the firewoman the opportunity to hold the materials in front of the fire truck, but they declined. As a compromise they let me borrow a fire hat. So with my borrowed hat I squatted in front of the truck holding the materials and had a picture taken.



We then posted it on our website with the caption "Smokin' Hot Music and Videos at the Library". Opportunities like this make my job more fun than work.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Hacking the library: Marketing Music

One of the greatest opportunities my job provides is the ability to focus and tackle specific problems. For several years my boss has been heartbroken that one of our branches out circulates the headquarter library in music. He has a true love of music and would probably be happier as a full-time musician rather than as a library director. Since taking over as branch manager I've been able to work a little magic on various areas of the collection. Part of the success has been my effort, part my boss allowing freedom, but mostly it goes to some incredibly talented staff who make my ideas work. They figure out how we are going to take the hill while I decide which hill to take. You can go far with limited resources if you have the right people.

One day I was taking a gander at last quarters statistics and determined that the "music" branch out circulates us by a ratio of 5 to 1. Yes, they are winning, but heck I haven't spent one dime on music in the past year. To the best of my knowledge we haven't spent money in the past 5 years on music. Well the little wheels started turning and I started realizing that we could win in music circulation, if we wanted too.

So I polled my valued staff members and listened to what they told me:

1) We needed to do a better job buying music that patrons wanted.

2) Dewey for music isn't helpful to a patron browsing.

3) The music display is over crowded.

4) The music display is too easy to overlook.

With that input in mind I started mapping out a strategy. To solve the first issue I had to determine what music my patrons were interested in. The only place I see people buy music is Starbucks, and Cracker Barrel. So after some more discussion a staff member and myself went over to Starbucks and bought a copy of every CD they had. The folks at Starbucks were pretty nice. They honored the library tax exemption, gave us a discount, and provided several hundred iTune download cards for the library to pass out to patrons. So now we had a collection of music patrons might want and a steaming Cafe au Lait. To supplement these new CD's We picked through the existing collection for a few diamonds in the rough. To our surprise we found some real gems. Most of our music collection comes from the great music industry CD settlement of 2004.

Since Dewey for music isn't helpful we decided to switch to genre based shelving. We already had the music arranged in genre specific statistical categories so that was a relatively pain free switch. Though the grumbling of staff members making labels can be deafening at times.

Fixing problems three and four was just a matter of ordering a new display and putting it in a place that could not be overlooked. The display pictured below was around $150 to purchase, unfortunately it cost $150 to ship so it ended up costing more than I wanted to pay but, that happens. Placing it was simple, smack down in front of the circulation desk was a no brainer.



Now for a total investment of less than $1,000 we have a wicked new music collection that people cannot miss. The results are already showing an uptick. Last quarter music circulation was a mere 22% of the "music" branch. This month we have circulated 38% of the total music circulation of the "music" branch. Not bad at all for a 2 week old project. Small focused projects that make a noticeable difference are what I like most about my job.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

What could PINES affiliation look like?

My previous post generated more interest than I could have imagined. Obviously, emotions on the subjects discussed are running high. There is nothing wrong with spirited debate--it's healthy, productive, and necessary.

One of my statements, "Right now, half of Georgia's library materials are unavailable to half of Georgia except via ILL," generated the following response:

"What would you recommend here? You could help fund OpenNCIP, which could be used by both Koha and Evergreen, but even automated ILL is still ILL, and would be subject to political agreements."

I'm not shying away from a political agreement. My issue with accepting a new circulation policy book, one that I have limited ability to influence for my library, does not mean an unwillingness to reach an accord. I'm not naive enough to think a PINES affiliation agreement wouldn't be a compromise. The difference is I feel many of my concerns are shared by many libraries interested in some form of less-than-full PINES membership.

At present, Inter-Library Loan isn't really automated in a way that is directly patron accessible. Patrons aren't placing their own ILL requests without librarian interaction. Statewide automated ILL would be a benefit to PINES and non-PINES patrons. I really don't think anyone should discount ILL. It has real potential to solve problems and address the current inequities.

Because many non-PINES libraries desire PINES benefits that their patrons fund (all patrons do statewide), and a few PINES members would reconsider their membership level, if other membership levels were available, it might be helpful discuss what a PINES affiliation, could be. I believe all the benefits of PINES should be available a'la carte.

I do want to touch on the statement about funding OpenNCIP. I fail to see why my library should fund the development for the open source implementation of the National Circulation Interchange Protocol (NCIP) to allow my patrons transparent access to state-funded services. It is my opinion that funding OpenNCIP is the responsibility of the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS). It's fine to tell me how you're developing a feature to improve some module. With library systems servicing half Georgia's population, and providing half to two-thirds the states circulation sitting on the sidelines, it seems development of a protocol that would allow the rest of Georgia to receive the benefits they pay for should be a priority. My non-PINES patrons contribute just as much funding as the patrons of a PINES member library. Why shouldn't they have the opportunity to receive some benefit in their local community without the library having to surrender the independence that provides their service? If my board stops making circulation policy, how can they effectively serve as the community representatives when they no longer have input on how a basic library service is provided?

I'm going to give a description of how this might work. I'm not going to go into technical details, because I find talking about them imposes limitations. The description should be the same for PINES and for Not In PINES Yet (NIPY) libraries.

I want my patrons to be able to:

*Search my catalog and all the catalogs in Georgia.

*Choose items that fit their needs and wants.

*Collect those items at their library, and if it's an item we do not own, or possess an equivalent, then I want them to be able to request this item from another library.

*Have the other library honor this request and immediately, upon availability, send it to my library, where the patron can retrieve the material.

*Walk into any library, present their local library card, provided it's valid and in good standing, and have it honored.

This should allow them to directly check-out materials from the honoring libraries and use other library services, such as computers. I think all librarians should want this for their patrons. Heck, I want it for me as a patron. However, I'm not willing to do it by surrendering my library's ability to change local circulation policy such as a longer lending period. I'm not criticizing libraries that have agreed to full PINES membership. I simply value the ability to implement local preference and policy. I have seen the effects that a change like a new check-out period, adjusting fee and fine levels, and yes, whether or not to require a library card makes, on circulation.

We should be able to reach an agreement and implement communication protocols that can make this possible. It should be as transparent as possible for the patron. There is nothing wrong with needing intermediary systems to make this happen. It may require another system to bring the different individual ILSs together, or a brand new module in Evergreen might provide this glue. The point is, whatever the mechanism, I should be able to serve my patrons and have the option to serve PINES patrons without limiting my board's ability to enact and modify local policy addressing the needs of patrons residing in their community.