Week 16 Prompt: The Final Prompt

Prompt: 

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically? Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing?

Response:  

I have always been a reader. It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed. We always had books in my house and the library was a popular spot. The genres I prefer haven’t changed much from childhood. I loved the Goosebumps books when I was in elementary school and I still enjoy horror and thrillers. Nonfiction has always appealed to me and I still love it. 

Along with books, we always had magazines growing up. I still like magazines, but subscriptions overwhelm me. I never have time to read an entire magazines, so they pile up. I’m hoping graduation will give me some time to read a whole magazine.

It seems like attention spans have shortened since I was little. Everything is so fast paced today that everyone wants the most information in the shortest possible format. Many people expect instant gratification. I will admit I am guilty of this as well. It can be difficult to make myself read an entire lengthy magazine article. 

eBooks are an obvious change from when I was young. I know many people don’t like eBooks, but I am a fan. I just love the fact that I can visit Amazon.com and download a book at 2:00AM. Libraries are also realizing that eBooks are here to stay and are increasing their eBook collections. My library actually has two eBook services because eBooks are so popular.

I think eBooks are going to continue to grow in popularity. Smart devices are becoming cheaper and as more people purchase them, I think people are going to be more accepting of eBooks. I also think interactive eBooks are going to gain in popularity. An author could link directly to a YouTube video within an eBook. The author could include a video introduction to the book, or interactive quiz. I think there is a lot of potential for interactive eBooks.

I don’t think physical books are going anywhere. There are always going to be people who prefer the physicality of a book. There are also certain types of books that would never work as an eBook. Many children’s books wouldn’t be the same as eBooks. Pop-up books and lift the tab books wouldn’t work as well. Also, I think children need the type of stimulation that an eBook cannot offer. Children can easily work smart devices, but can they lift open a tab? Some books help children develop skills, such as dexterity. 

For better or for worse I think self-publishing is going to increase. eBooks are so much cheaper and easier to produce than paper books. Allowing people to self-publish books results in big money for companies. While some self-published books are not too great, there are some exceptions. There have been quite a few books that have been published by large publishing houses after the author self-published.

I think the trend of movie adaptations of books will increase. I am a bit scared that books are going to be published specifically to become a movie. I’m not talking about novel adaptations of movies, I’m talking about books only written to cash in. I think if this begins to happen, the book and the movie will be subpar. Every book should not be a movie. Some books only work as books, just as some movies should not be books and only work as movies.

National Tell a Story Day Booklist and Display

The Fulton County Public Library is located in Rochester, Indiana and serves more than 16,000 people. The community is small and somewhat conservative. “The population is predominantly rural, featuring an industrial base that has had a steady but controlled growth over the past 30 years. Rochester, a fifth-class city, is the county's mercantile center, (Policies). Rochester is also the county seat.

The mission of the Fulton County Public Library is “to provide programs and materials to our community which promote education, culture, information, and entertainment,” (Policies). The vision statement of the library is: “The library serves by building a better community,” (Policies). The Fulton County Public Library is a member of Evergreen Indiana consortium, which includes over 100 libraries in Indiana. The Fulton County Public Library has three locations: the main branch in Rochester, the Aubbee Branch in Leiters Ford, and the Fulton Branch in the town of Fulton. I am the Reference/Adult Services Librarian at the Fulton County Public Library and in charge of Readers’ Advisory, so I chose to do the project for the main branch by myself.

I was interested in choosing a topic that was a bit different; I did not want to use the same old topics. I searched online for what special days occur in April. I found two I was interested in: Take a Chance Day and National Tell a Story Day. I ended up choosing National Tell a Story Day which is April 27.

Once I decided on a topic, I had to figure out how to best represent the theme. I chose to display young adult and adult fiction written in first person. I thought this fit the theme well because the characters are telling the reader the story. The Catcher in the Rye was my inspiration because it is written in first person and I had recently used it for a project in another class.

While I knew a few books I wanted to include off the top of my head, I needed to find more books written in first person. Because my topic is not focusing on one genre but on type of narration, I could not use a source like Novelist to find a list. I ended up searching online and found a few lists. The most useful list I found was on Reddit. I read through the various lists I found and wrote down the books that sounded interesting. I took that list and searched the library catalog to see what was available. I found 22 to include in the display. One of my goals was to include books of various ages. I did not want to only include newer books because a display is an excellent way to draw attention to older books that patrons might be unaware the library has.

Once I narrowed the list down to 22, I had to decide which books to annotate. It is somewhat difficult annotating a book one has not read. I used a combination of sources to learn more about the books. Some of these sources I used to understand the books include the Fulton County Public Library catalog (Evergreen Indiana has Novelist built into the catalog) and book review sites (New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and Library Journal). A few of the books sounded very complex and I knew writing a short annotation would not get the story across. I ended up annotating 12 books and listing the remaining books. I thought about annotating more books, but I wanted the list to fit on one double-sided sheet of paper.

Writing the annotations was the most challenging aspect of the project. Mary K. Chelton’s “How to Write a Readers Annotation" was invaluable for this project. I think my annotations are okay but not perfect. I tried to keep them as short as possible, yet interestingly describe the book. One of my coworkers told me the list was very informative, so I took that as a good sign.

I decided to use various book formats in my display, including regular print, large print, books on CD, and Playaways (audiobooks that are preloaded onto a small player). I added each book’s call to the list so patrons could find these books after the display was dismantled.

After I had the list completed, I used Publisher to create a sign for the display. It was a bit difficult finding images of storytelling since Microsoft no longer supplies clipart. Many images were copyrighted, but I was able to find one that I could use and that I thought perfectly fit the topic. I went with a blue and dark red theme on the sign. I also thought it was important to create a second sign that explained what first person narration is.

One thing I would have changed about my display is how I displayed the booklist. I set them on the bookcase. I wish I had found a plastic display to place the lists in. Other than that misstep, I think the display turned out pretty well.

I found this assignment very useful. When it comes to displays, I sometimes do not put as much time into the process as I should. This project forced me to really think about the books I use as part of a display. Writing an annotated booklist made me learn more about the books I might not personally read. I became familiar with unfamiliar books, which will help with readers’ advisory. This project will also help me design future displays and additional passive readers’ advisory materials.

Here is a photo of my display.

Work Cited

"Policies." Fulton County Public Library. Web. 1 May 2015. <http://www.fulco.lib.in.us/about-fcpl/policies/>.

Week 15 Prompt: Marketing the Fiction Collection

Prompt:

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out.

Response:

Marketing a library’s fiction collection is not always simple and must be planned. A bunch of books thrown together as a display might not be the most effective way to market the collection. Marketing must be thought through and planned ahead of time. The following are a few marketing ideas.

Displays are a good way to highlight books in the fiction collection. As I mentioned, placing random books together doesn’t make for a useful display. Taking the time and finding a topic of interest and books that fit this topic are important. I also think a nice sign or banner is important because it tells patrons why the books are even separately displayed, it also draws attention to the display. A booklist in conjunction with a display helps patrons find other books that cover the topic. Displays during programming also help market the fiction collection. Patrons who attend a program are probably already interested in the topic, so a display would be a good way for them to easily find books on the topic without having to scour the stacks. 

Social media is another great marketing tool. Social media gives the library a chance to interact with patrons online. Social media also allows libraries an opportunity to not only market programming and the fiction collection, but also connect patrons with books. “I believe that libraries are missing the social aspect of social media.  The interesting and addictive part of Facebook and Twitter is the connection. Tweets have to be more than “we have a program tomorrow” to hold patrons’ interest, and too many of that variety will make people tune out—missing that one program that might have brought them through the library’s doors,” (Hilyard). Libraries can post reviews written by the staff and patrons, readers’ advisory booklists, new books lists, and start conversations about books, which could lead to RA opportunities. Social media is a good way to highlight certain books in the collection. 

The library’s newsletter and the local newspaper are also good ways to market the fiction collection. A newsletter would be a good spot to feature patron book reviews. It would also be a great place to highlight some of the new books purchased for the fiction collection. Answering readers’ advisory questions would also indirectly market the collection. The local newspaper might be willing to publish a list of the new books available in the library. Collaborating with the paper might result in marketing opportunities for not only the fiction collection, but the library as a whole.  

I think marketing involves being open to new ideas and listening to what works for others. Marketing ideas don’t have to be specific to a certain genre. A marketing idea that worked for Amish romances just might work for supernatural thrillers. Trying something is better than not marketing at all. If it doesn’t work, there is always something out there that will work. It’s just a matter of taking the time and thinking about the community and what they might find intriguing. 

Work Cited

Hilyard, Nann Blaine. "The Expanding Scope of Readers’ Advisory." Public Libraries 49.1 (2010): 10-25. Print.