WebJunction

Our materials circulation has held steady these past few years for which we're thankful. We have heard that there is a downward cycle with circulation dropping off at some libraries. My question is which one RA tool generates the best return in circulation in your library? Do you keep statistics from displays, booklists, web lists, etc.?

Ok, so RA tools may not improve circulation. You are suggesting that we need to get more people into our libraries and this in turn would increase circ. Makes sense. I am always interested in ways to increase patronage. The population of our town is approx. 5000 and we have over 2000+ card holders. I would love some ideas on how to get the 3000 others to visit. Our town is in close proximity to another library that our residents visit. They borrow a goodly amount from this library. I have always wanted to do some type of focus group or survey of these users to understand the what and why of their usage of the other library. Our state reciprocal borrowing rules means our residents must visit their home town library to update their library card when it expires. The card must be current to be used in any public library in the state. I never miss the opportunity to "quiz" patrons that I only see for library card renewals. This has given me some insight as to why they borrow outside of our library but I'm not sure I'm getting the whole story. For some it's a matter of passing the other library on the way to work. Some live closer to the neighboring library.Some frequent the library in the town where they work as this is more convenient. There are a few who say hours are the reason. I often hear there is a perception that we are a small library without much in materials but this view changes when we get them in the door. I rarely hear that we don't have the materials they want or need but wonder if this is totally true.

Perhaps someone has some ideas on how to draw in new users. Perhaps dvd's or children's materials as librarybob suggests. Programming, book discussions, etc.

We did move our dvd's to the back of the library to encourage patrons to walk by other materials in hopes they might find something on their way to the latest movie.

And as for displays increasing circulation, I am certain they do. The one book I display each day on our circ desk is a prime example. The book almost always goes and sometimes is restocked a few times each day. I'm seeking ideas like this to get more of we offer into the patron's hands.

What RA tools do you use in your library? for staff? for patrons? online?

Just today I read an article that was used as an example of a library newsletter. It was written by Paula Miller, Library Director of Westlake Porter Public Library in October 2004. It's entitled [url http://www.westlakelibrary.org/pdf/notes1101204web.pdf ]The Whole (Reading) Enchilada! [/url]In it she refers to a National Endowment for the Humanities study that "rocked the reading world". The study states that Reading at Risk shows a two decade decline in literary reading with the most vulnerable group being 18-34 year old. She goes on to quote other studies that paint our nation as being in a reading crisis. Ms. Miller then sheds a bit of hope on the situation outlining what's happening in her library. An overall increase in circulation of 38% over the past decade, interest in book discussions, creative writing and poetry have never been stronger. Worry about the demise of reading? Her take is to look "at the whole reading enchilada". Include it all, fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, magazines, audio, on screen reading, etc., new ways to experience the pleasure of the reading.

I believe this article and the thoughts you expressed, support exposing our patrons to non-traditional materials which in turn will bring em' in and keep em' reading!

Well Librarybob, you may be just an ol' dumb administrator but you seem to know how to hire the right people to do the job . I would agree that Fiction_l is one of the best RA tools. This discussion list of librarians and library staff can be invaluable in providing answers to stumpers, creating list of books and generating discussions on a variety of topics regarding RA and books in general. It is a resource that I use and mention almost daily.The other resources your ace mentions are right on target. Thank her for help and praise her for her expertise! Tell her I would welcome her participation on this forum and to say hello if she sees me on Fiction_l.

We Interlibrary all our materials, including dvd's. The dvd's and other audio visual materials need to be bubble wrapped. This certainly takes a lot of staff time. There are days that I feel like all I'm doing is wrapping and taping. It makes me question the feasibility of loaning this material. Then I remember the patron on the other end who will get the material and stop bellyaching and do my job - wrap and tape!

Though this is not exactly what you are talking about, it fits.

Closer to your concerns are the number of non-book items that we circulate. It's a changing library world. Good or bad, it's happening.

What do you think we can do to encourage those patrons who only borrow dvd's to borrow books? Should this bother us?

I love that you call the dvd's "loss leaders" as that is how I think of them too. Get the patron in the door and then try to sell them something else. It takes time and effort but does work. Like the old "a complaint can be a gift", a patron borrowing dvd's can be an opportunity for a future borrow. And if all they want is dvd's, who am I to say there's anything wrong with that.

In my view, a library is about conversation. It's about having inquisitive people able to talk, not just sit behind a desk and wait, spider-like, for a reference question to come to them.

That lively reputation, I think, goes a long way towards getting people past the new books, past the DVDs, and into a conversation with (first) the staff and (second) the collections.

That *is* a great idea.

I wonder if it will work here ... staff members, I think, will need to *want* to use it. It's not something that can be stuffed down the org chart!

Now to post that idea on my library's internal discussion board ...

There are some great suggetions in your posting. I just glanced at the two examples you shared but know I want to come back to them to see how they might fit in our library. The "what I'm reading" lanyard has been mildly successful. What I like about it is it gives the patron and myself the opening to talk about books. I always ask what they are reading, have read, etc. We just started a staff stars picks shelf that has been very popular. I thought a spot on our webpage for staff picks would be neat. The example you share is something to strife towards.
Another advantage of the "what I'm reading" badge is that it's an easy way for me to review what I've recently read. I'm always meaning to keep a journal but never do. So now I've got these handy slips of papers to tuck away, alphabetically, of course, and refer to when I want to suggest a title to a patron.
Keep these great ideas coming!

Conversations, in my view, is what RA is all about. All the knowledge *about* books does no good unless there's a way to get the public user's attention.

Now, of course, there are various online resources one can point the user to but a "professional" had best have some professional knowledge and be able to demonstrate it ... or be disintermediated.

Jessica,
This is my favorite tip of the week! I think there are never enough strategies for building a culture of readers and this is so simple!

Thanks,
JP

There are many online RA subscription services available today. To mention a few, Next Reads, Book Pages, and Dear Reader This prompted me to wonder what paid subscription services libraries are offering and what benefit the library and patron are receiving. Is there a correlation between the service and increased circulation?
Our library offers Dear Reader and Book News. I am unable to determine the impact these services are having on our circulation, if any. Book News is a new service at our library and I am evaluating its' usefulness. I love the look of it and how easy it is to swap out titles for the monthly newsletters.. I also like the ability to make a custom list which can be emailed to patrons. This has come in handy for our book discussions. After creating the discussion list, I change it each month, dropping the last discussion book. approx. a week before the book discussion, the list is emailed to the group; a great reminder. I also like the ability to link titles back to our circulation system where they could be reserved.