April 06, 2007
A Day with Nora Rawlinson
Nora Rawlinson conducts a workshop on buying fiction
We certainly learned a lot from Nora Rawlinson! Currently the VP of Library Services, Hachette Book Group, Nora has an illustrious career in both publishing and libraries, and generously shared her expertise on buying fiction with our book buyers this week. In the new library, self check machines will allow our staff to spend more time as Readers Advisors, out on the floor we're calling Main Street, talking about their favorite books with our readers. Some of the familiar faces you see behind the circulation desk now, checking out books, are becoming our fiction book buyers and are honing their skills. Nora's workshop was informative, practical and extremely useful as our staff learned how to use publishers catalogs as a selection tool to help them predict an upcoming book's popularity, the strengths of various publishing houses, and how to get the most circulation per dollar spent.
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December 27, 2006
West Palm Beach is hot!
Inspired by an article in the current issue of Library Journal, I visited the West Palm Beach Public Library on the spur of the moment last week. And am I glad that I did! Pam Sandlian Smith, Director, and Peter Robinson, consultant, have created an experience worthy of James Gilmore: (The Experience Economy). Pam, who was out of town, very graciously set up a visit for me with Peter, and WPBPL librarians Nancy Coriaty and Tina Albee who guided me through their branding exercise project and renovation. Peter has developed a process he calls GASP (Graphics, Ambience, Style, Presentation) to define the identity and vision for a project, in this case the West Palm Beach Public Library. The result is a cohesive, fresh, tropical, welcoming library. I loved the way the library looked. But perhaps even more valuable for us in Darien is how Pam has taken the branding exercise to the next level, and used it to identify the customer service promise to users of the West Palm Beach Public Library. Key library staff spent a day at the Ritz-Carleton Hotel, in concierge training, and developed a "customer service card" and a new slogan, "the world's nicest library".
West Palm Beach Public Library
Posted by louise at 12:16 PM | Comments (1)
September 29, 2006
A Week of Good Ideas
slide from Chris Anderson's talk and discussion during Library Camp
I attended two thought-provoking events this week and I'm still trying to sort out what they mean for the Darien Library. On Monday, we hosted Library Camp East, a technology unconference where librarians from Connecticut and the east coast gathered to discuss topics like how to make our online catalogs more like Google and Amazon, and our online services more useful to our customers. And last night, I heard Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, lecture at the New York Public Library. I also heard Chris speak at the American Library Association meeting in June, and I am certain that the long tail has implications for library services. I am just not sure what they are yet. Certainly we are going to be thinking more about niches in our collections and services. Are we buying what you want to read, listen to, and view? Although we are delighted when you tell us what you like about the Darien Library, we are even more interested in knowing where we need to improve. As we plan for the new library building, we are thinking a lot about library services of the future, and would love to hear your thoughts. What would make this library even more amazing?
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August 28, 2006
Size DOESN'T matter
Sometimes the best ideas come from the smallest libraries. In 1956, Barbara and Raymond Holden founded an extraordinary literary award for their hometown library, the Richards Free Library in Newport, N.H. The genius of this idea was getting Robert Frost to accept the first award and to come to Newport to give an acceptance lecture. Thereafter, many, many distiguished literary figures have accepted the Sarah Josepha Hale Award, and come to Newport N.H. to give their lectures. Who wouldn't want to accept an award first received by Robert Frost? I have attended the Hale Award lectures for years, and have often thought about trying to establish a similiar award in Darien. If we do, who should be OUR first recipient?
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