by Sarah Statz Cords

Last night I spent a very enjoyable evening reading Jenny LaPerriere’s and Trish Christiansen’s book Merchandising Made Simple: Using Standards and Dynamite Displays to Boost Circulation.*

I know. Reading a book on doing library displays when I’m not currently working IN a library, and enjoying it, pretty much marks me out as a total nerd. But I am now a nerd with a much better understanding of how “CPS” (Collection Presentation Standards) and attractive book displays and merchandising can truly translate into better circulation for your collection and a more pleasant facility.

The book is straightforward, can be read easily in one or two sittings, and (perhaps most importantly) includes a wealth of helpful and informative photographs. In the first few chapters, the authors do not make the mistake of leaping right into suggesting display themes, but instead build their case for understanding your patrons’ needs, adapting retail and merchandising techniques to your needs, and understanding both traffic flow in your library and what tools are available to form the base of good displays. In later chapters they do provide more nitty-gritty suggestions (how to use props, how to make signs, how to keep track of your display schedules), but they also highlight the importance of involving all staff members in the process, as well as the necessity of training shelvers and all staff of the presentation standards a true library merchandiser should try to uphold.

I spent a lot of time working in library circulation departments, where the real work of maintaining the library’s collections is often performed, and these authors’ impressive understanding of just how important EVERYONE in your library is when tasked with keeping it clean and attractive made a real impression on me. This paragraph in particular struck me:

“Keep your staff members involved at every step by asking for their input and ideas and explaining your process. You want the entire staff to be passionate about connecting the customers and the collection in more seamless and exciting ways. The benefits are high when everyone has a sense of ownership.” (p. 97.)

Passion! Ownership! Excitement! Remember when you felt all those things about working in a library, about not only being around books and readers, but helping them to find each other in meaningful ways? If nothing else, reading this excellent book might help rekindle all those feelings. When I visit my local library this afternoon I would guess I’ll find myself straightening and tidying whatever shelves I choose to browse; I won’t be able to help it.

*Full disclosure: This title is published by Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO, which also publishes the Reader’s Advisor Online and this blog.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Lit Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.