Your library collection is a powerful advertisement for your whole service. This course will help you ensure that it sends a dynamic and attractive message. You can try out practical ways and new routines to improve the performance of your collection and keep your library always appearing as a tempting destination for your reading community.
The course is packed with ideas to connect books and ebooks to readers – both those who want them and those who might not know they exist. You will understand the importance of a dynamic approach and how to keep books moving to improve issue rates. Your role as curator is essential in ensuring the library has a range of books for a range of reading audiences so you will choose an area of your collection to check range in different ways.
In planning a strategy for the next 6 or 12 months, you will consider possible target readers, stock areas and promotional techniques and then look at creative ways to connect these together. You will look at what’s in the calendar already and explore creative ideas to stretch your promotional approach beyond what is usually done. You will build in evaluation and staff training before getting down to the practicalities and creating your own timetable. Send your plan to your mentor and you will receive useful feedback to help turn it into reality. Your mentor will help you adapt the course content to your own workplace and shape your coursework so it is relevant to your own professional situation.
On our courses for Library Managers, you will develop a personal relationship with your mentor who will support and stretch your learning every step of the way. Your mentor will help you adapt the course content to your own workplace and shape your coursework so it is relevant to your individual professional situation.
A new opportunity | |
What readers want from a library | |
A dynamic collection | |
The core offer | |
Product knowledge | |
Using on-shelf merchandising | |
A few books make a big difference | |
Creating a feeling of change in the physical library | |
Creating a feeling of change online | |
Managing choices | |
Helping online browsers | |
Tempting the curious | |
Books can work harder | |
Revive staff interest in books and reading | |
A new way to keep stock up to date | |
Selecting books for Trending | |
Task One: Using the Trending concept to keep books moving |
Involving readers | |
Display as a conversation | |
Meeting different reader needs | |
Recognising reading prejudices | |
Understanding physical factors | |
Understanding psychological motivations | |
Your role as curator | |
Book marketing and libraries | |
Book cover fashions | |
Linking old into new | |
The importance of range | |
Task Two: Choosing the area you will check | |
Task Two: Checking range by representation | |
Task Two: Checking the balance for beginners and experts | |
Task Two: Checking range by reading appeal | |
Task Two: Report on different ways to test range in one collection area |
Unit Three: Bringing books alive | |
Bringing ideas together | |
Creating a strategy | |
Starting points | |
Making connections | |
Different types of promotion | |
Thinking deeper | |
Reaching beyond the traditional | |
Reaching beyond the expected | |
Reaching beyond the booklist | |
Reaching beyond a topic | |
Reaching beyond difficulty | |
Measures of success | |
Building stock knowledge with staff | |
Motivating staff to maintain promotions | |
People-watching | |
Create your timetable | |
Task Three: Design a six-month or one-year promotional strategy | |
Thank you |