MSL Fall Workshops
September 24, 2010
Great Falls, Montana
How to create a satisfying customer
experience
How to connect customers with library
products
 Market research & bookstore practices
 Adapting to changing patron behavior,
evolving patron needs
 Customer service response as it relates
to library building layout, signage,
collections & services
2
 Envirosell
http://www.envirosell.com/
• Best Practices for the Customer-Focused Library
(Metropolitan Library System 2009)
• Why We Borrow! Redesigning Libraries using
Retail Touchpoints (CLA 2007)
 Most
shoppers/library patrons are
women
 2nd - Moms with kids
 3rd - Groups of friends, like teens using
the Internet
 How do these trends compare with your
observations at the library?
 What’s happening for men at your
library?
 Most
of them visit frequently, most of
them visit alone
 Most of the them are familiar with the
library, know where they are going, and
visit for a specific reason, but they don’t
necessarily know what they are looking
for
 Most patrons spend less than 30 minutes
in the library and a large proportion of
those stay less than 10 minutes
Where do they go? What do they look at?
 Circulation desk or other desk
 Computers
 New Books
 Children’s area
 Café
 What are your library hotspots?
 More
than half of patrons receive
assistance
• Finding items or sections
• Using the catalog or other library technology
• Guiding research or answering questions
• Explaining services
• Recommending items
• Check out items
• Information about programs/events
 People
need information at the point of a
decision – where to go next?
(wayfinding)
 Many people prefer to consult signs to
find the way rather than ask for help
 Make it easier for your patrons and free
staff from repeatedly having to answer
the same questions
 Make
the library self-navigating
 Use space creatively
 Redesign your staff
 Market your resources effectively
 Design
library layout based on patron
behavior
 Provide wayfinding tools
• Effective signage, you are here maps, branded
areas
 Reduce
Information overload
 Provide self-service points
 Teach people to use the library
Entrance
 Primary display area is 5-20 steps inside
and to the right of the front door
 Customers can stand 10 steps inside of
the front door and read hundreds of titles
 Place
displays directly in front of or close
to the front door
 Place circulation desk to the right of the
front door to make returning books
convenient
 Major
aisles lead customers to all parts of
a store
 Use observation to map patron pathways
(this observation will also reveal which
parts of the library collection are not
being used and could be redesigned for
different use)
 Place major book displays along major
pathways
 Make
signs easy to read while moving
 Fewer words, better placement,
creatively designed
 Hierarchical signage and branded areas
 Position in-depth signage in wait areas
 Don’t use jargon, for example use
popular subjects on endcap signs
 Don’t forget – Book covers and spine
labels are signage too!
 Shelving
by genre
 Present books in limited numbers
 Display books covers front whenever
possible
 Create book lists – staff
recommendations, top 100 lists, award
winners, best sellers, read-alikes
 Group
computers, lounge seating, and
periodicals in “waiting area”
 Allow loud and quiet spaces with buffer
zone between them
 Repurpose little used areas to add room
to high traffic areas
 Use new fixtures for circulating (not
storing) materials
 Create
a designated computer space for
teens so they can socialize
 Provide areas for group study, quiet
study, a teen center
 Express computers near the library
entrance are very popular
 Staff
must be able to help patrons from
wherever they are
 Get them out from behind the desk –
roving service, encourage outgoing
behavior
 Zoning – assign staff by zones (in larger
libraries)
 Cross-train everyone
 Provide
information about services upon
entry
 Periodically offer classes on “How to use
the library”
 Encourage library staff to proactively
approach patrons – ask questions, offer
informal introduction to library
 Offer new patrons a take-home
manual/welcome booklet
 Create
visually stimulating environments
 Display books cover out to increase
capture power
 Offer more ways to pair patrons with
materials
 Create an AV “store within a store”
 Change displays often
 Identify
waiting points for placement of
displays for impulse buy – for example
AV materials
 More Americans over 65 (products
stocked too high or low are off limits to
them)
 Kid’s section is the most inviting part of
the store – expand the atmosphere to
other parts of the store
 Effective
method of recommending
books
 Place displays in high traffic areas
 End panels of stacks are very effective
for sales
 Try eye-catching displays based on color
rather than topic
 Try illuminated displays
 Create
displays around themes, holidays,
local events, special topics
 Have recommended books on display
 Utilize patron recommendations
 Internet
usage, media perusal, socializing in
groups are popular patron activities
 Provide opportunity for group interaction at
computers
 Self service/self navigation is important, but
help must be available when patrons need it
 Some users need help and you must teach
them
 Teens need their own space
 Libraries need more and more versatile
computers
 Don’t
try to change people’s behavior –
design for it
 Think outside of the box
 Prepare staff for change
 Train circ staff to be ambassadors for other
services
 Analyze service at your first point of contact
(often the desk closest to the door)
 Involve new eyes – enlist people outside the
library who are not bound by traditional
views of library services
Envirosell Reports & Presentations:
Best Practices for the Customer-Focused
Library: Metropolitan Library System (2008)
http://www.webjunction.org/c/document_li
brary/get_file?folderId=8052623&name=DL
FE-1830002.pdf
Why We Borrow! Redesigning Libraries Using
Retail Touchpoints. Presentation at CLA
2007
http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/sjpl/sjway/
Envirosell_presentation_CLA07.ppt
Infopeople Workshop (archived) - Show It Off:
Techniques for Increasing Circulation
through Merchandising Your Collection and
Services
http://infopeople.org/training/past/2008/sh
ow/
WebJunction Webinar (2009, archived) The
Customer Focused Library
http://www.webjunction.org/events/webina
rs/webinar-archives//articles/content/49775033
 San
Jose Public Library Signage
Guidelines
http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/sjpl/sjwa
y/signage_guidelines.pdf
 What Libraries Can Learn from
Bookstores: Applying Bookstore Design
to Public Libraries (Chris Rippel, Central
Kansas Library System 2003)
http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/marketing
/bookstore.html
Learn more about your users:
 American Factfinder
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/
main.html?_lang=en
 Market Research Focus on the User (Ohio
Library Council Marketing the Library
http://www.olc.org/marketing/2research
.htm
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Photo Credits:
Slide 16: http://www.franklinfixtures.com/images/medium/006.jpg
Slide 19: http://www.adamsahern.com/pix/portfolio/library1.jpg
Slide 20: http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/images/hubhelpdeskstour.JPG
http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/images/LJ/20050915/LBDpicks_Signage_Circulat_.jpg
Slide 21: http://www.brad.ac.uk/lss/images/signage.jpg
http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_ite
mId=4070&g2_serialNumber=4
http://www.friendsofcpl.org/img/signage_web.jpg
Slide 22:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/images/LJ/20050915/LBDpicks_Signage_Stack_.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2063/2179832032_8973672cbf.jpg?v=0
Slide 23: http://www.openingthebook.com/uploads/interiors/signage/ashford-panels.jpg
http://dclstrategicplan.pbworks.com/f/1176993684/PDEW%20026-sm.jpg
http://deweyfree.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/picture-124.jpg
Slide 26: unknown source
Slide 27: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mysapl/2634909326/
Slide 30:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/articles/images/LJ/20080915/ljx080902lbdMobileIslandBook.j
pg
Slide 42: http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/images/011807_bookstore1_1.jpg
Slide 43: http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/marketing/display4.jpg
Thank you!
Lauren McMullen
lmcmullen@mtlib.org