Thomas Maher

Thomas worked on the Understanding Book Appeal course at Wexford Libraries in Ireland, exploring how to use the reading experience and the look of the books themselves to help readers discover something new to them. Like many library workers at the time, Thomas took the course while working from home with the library closed - not simple, but it gave him an opportunity to plan and think about how to tempt readers towards a wider range of the collection.

From the start it was clear Thomas was full of enthusiasm for the job, and keen to find ways round the barriers readers often experience - both in the layout of the library and in widely-held prejudices around genre. He contributed some of the very best work the team has seen from learners on this course, and his good humor, insight and empathy shone through in everything he wrote.

01 Promoting books across personal taste

Thomas is particularly strong on how to promote books he himself would not read, and has astute strategies for interesting readers in books they might otherwise avoid. The work isn't about pushing his own preferences but about meeting readers where they actually are - and he's developed practical ways of doing that across genres he doesn't personally read for pleasure.

02 Auditing the collection for gaps

Thomas took a careful look at areas of the collection that might reward more attention. He used the course as an opportunity to expose the gaps in the current collection and suggest titles to fill them, and he's keen to talk to readers as part of that work - uncovering practical ways to increase the appeal of areas that currently underperform.

Working from home pushed him to use the online library catalog as the source of his examples for the course, which turned out to be useful preparation for the wider question of how readers find books when they can't physically browse.

03 Audio books and reaching readers

Thomas's work on the course pointed him towards parts of the collection he doesn't personally use - most notably audio books. Rather than pretend to a knowledge he doesn't have, his approach is to ask his readers directly: why do they use audio books, when do they use them, what do they look for, and is it the same content they'd read in print? He also looked at how the library might use social media to connect with more readers and broaden its reach beyond the building.