FRIENDS BOOKSHOP: SURVEY OF CUSTOMERS
November 10-11 & December 1-2, 2007
Respondents: A majority of the November respondents represent “hard core” customers who visit the shop on a
weekly or monthly basis. The December survey was conducted during the Holiday Sale which
attracts a more diverse group of customers. Total respondents = 435.
Approximately 95% of customers filled out the survey. Many commented that they were “happy to
help the Bookshop.”
Folks who are familiar with the shop will find no surprises here. However, several items are notable:
1) There is a close connection between Bookshop customers and Library patrons.
 When people visit the Bookshop, 75% also use other areas of the Library (question #10). This
response may indicate that the original destination was the Library and that the Bookshop itself was a
“discovery”.

Answering question #1 (How did you learn about the Bookshop?), 50% of respondents selected “Other”.
Many of these respondents added specific information; most learned about the shop while in the library,
either from a librarian or a sign. (For a much smaller number, “other” meant that they could not
remember how they learned about the shop.)
2) Convenient parking is important (question #3). All respondents answered this question, and a significant
number listed 2 or more means of transportation. 92% of all respondents use a car at least part of the time.
3) The response to question #8 (Would you visit the shop if it is open during the summer?) was very clear 90% answered “yes”.
4) The most appealing characteristic of the shop is the nature of the inventory. 49% of respondents listed “book
selection” as the feature they most like; a majority defined “selection” as the breadth and variety of the
inventory while a smaller group mentioned “quality.” The second most popular characteristic is low prices
(37% of respondents).
RGH
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In the tabulation below, the top response to each question is listed in bold; percentages are based on the total number of
survey respondents. In some cases, respondents selected more than one answer.
1. How did you learn about the shop?
Friend
126
Newspaper
45
Flier
24
Website
26
few times/yr
78
Other
8
Bus
35
Walk
95
Other (50%)
216
2. How often do you visit the shop?
Weekly (40%) Monthly (31%)
175
135
3. How did you travel to the shop?
Car (92%)
404
Bicycle
28
4. What items are of most interest to you?
Books (95%) CDs
413
103
Records
39
Audio books
37
Videotapes
34
DVDs
77
Puzzles
24
Sheet Music
2
5. Book categories of most interest to you?
Approximately 30 people did not answer this question at all. Most of those who did listed more than one category.
Generally speaking,
461 respondents indicated the most interest in nonfiction,
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202 respondents most interested in fiction, and
102 respondents most interested in the children/teen category.
The following lists the most popular categories in order of preference:
Non-fiction in general
History
Art/photography
Cook books
Travel
Science
Religion
Foreign language
Politics/Political science
Fiction in general
Literature/criticism
Mystery
Science fiction
Children/teen
*6. Would you like the shop to be open more often?
Yes - 253 (58%)
No - 159
7. If yes, what are convenient times?
Weekdays - 113
Evenings - 171 (39%)
*8. Would you visit the shop during the summer months?*
Yes - 392 (90%)
No - 14
9. Do you buy books from the kiosks downtown or at branches?
Yes - 57
No - 226(52%)
10. When you visit the shop, do you also use other areas of the lib? Yes - 325 (75%) No - 81
11. Are you a member of FAADL?
Yes - 59 (9%)
12. Are you interested in volunteering in the shop?
Yes - 56 (12%)
*Questions 6 & 8. There is a noticeable discrepancy between the answers to #6 and #8. This obviously results from the
way the questions were listed: #6 & #7 were answered together; question #8 was answered independently of #6 and #7.
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Responses and Suggestions about Shop Operations
Note:
Responses about opening the shop more during the week or the summer are not included here. Quite a few
respondents listed lack of summer or evening hours as the “least liked” aspect of shop. Since ustomer
opinion on this topic is clearly stated in the responses to questions #6-8, they are not repeated here.
Suggestions are not necessarily correlated to what people liked best or least For example, a respondent did not list
“too crowded” in the “like least” section but made a suggestion about needing more space. In other cases,
“increase in price” was listed in the “like least” section and lowering prices was a suggestion.
Approximately 20% of respondents did not offer specific suggestions but occasionally included comments like
“No change needed,” “Thank you for a job well done,” or “Book shop is great - keep it up!”
Passion Factor: Based on the use of exclamation points, stars and capital letters, the most passionate responses
were elicited by a) a desire for the shop to open during the summer, and b) dislike of book dealer behavior.
13. What do you like best about the shop?
`
14. What do you like least about the shop?
13a. SELECTION of Books : 213 (49%)
Selection of books (undefined) - 57
Breadth & variety of selection - 129
Quality of books (includes condition) - 27
14a. SELECTION of Books: 9
Not enough foreign language - 2
Low quality at branches/carts - 3
Not enough CD’s - 3
13b. Low PRICES: 137
14b. PRICE Issues: 78
New prices too high - 68
Specially priced books too high - 10
Prices unclear/ hard to find - 7
Too many price changes - 6
Suggestions: PRICE
Lower Prices
Trade pbs should not be the same price as hbs
Post easy-to-see signs or pass out price sheet
Bring back specially-priced case
Have a “sale table”
Keep cashiers up to date on pricing
13c. ORGANIZATION of books - 35
Turnover/restocking -7
Suggestions: ORGANIZATION of Books
Organize nonfiction into categories
Put nonfiction trade pbs on appropriate shelves w/ hbs
Alphabetize paperbacks
Stop holding books back
Better restocking - fill in empty spaces on shelves
Enlarge/improve quality of books for sale in Branches
13d. PEOPLE - 30
Friendly/helpful staff
14c. ORGANIZATION of books - 35
Too many books in nonfiction category - 28
Paperbacks jammed into boxes - 2
Disorganized tapes & videos - 2
Classics placed in fiction, not literature - 3
Infrequent restocking - 6
14d. PEOPLE - 63
Book dealers - 41 (manic, pushy, depriving
others of chance to select)
Hoarders leaving piles in aisles - 3
Favoritism - 10
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Suggestions: PEOPLE
Ban bar code scanners
Limit # of books that can be purchased in one day
Do not allow stockpiling of books for review
Put new books out later in the day
Admit general public on weekends - dealers on Monday
Stop special treatment of some individuals
13e. FACILITY - 19
Appealing ambience/atmosphere - 13
Location/accessibility -6
14e. FACILITY - 58
Too small, too crowded - 48
Too hot - 2
Unattractive, not appealing -3
No place to sit down - 8
Suggestions: FACILITY
Get a larger space
Open more often - would make it less crowded
Open another store in a branch
Provide chairs
Provide more or free parking
Start a coffee shop
13f. OTHER “Liked Best”
Donating Books/Recycling - 12
Support Library - 4
Holiday Sale - 2
14f. OTHER “Liked Least”
eBay Sales - 2
Controversy over nonprofit status - 5
Unfriendly library administration - 1
Board restrictions on volunteers - 2
13g. MORE SUGGESTIONS:
Offer books to public before eBay sales
Solicit/encourage/provide more information
on book donations
Advertise more
Put a suggestion box by the door
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