Week 15 Prompt: Marketing Fiction Collections

Fiction titles for adults – this is an area of my library’s collection that sees HUGE circulation statistics and interest from patrons. I do feel that we do a fantastic job of marketing these titles (we actually are lucky enough to have our own PR/marketing team that work in conjunction with our reference department fiction selectors.)

One way of marketing within the library that has been very successful in the past is the physical location of our new fiction title arrivals. As soon as patrons walk in the door, they are greeted with a special area dedicated to new fiction arrivals. They know where to go to look for the newest materials, and this also seems to increase browsing in patrons, as well. Near this area, we also have a digital display from OverDrive that is actually a large LCD monitor mounted onto the wall, which displays our entire OverDrive eBook catalog, including fiction titles, which patrons can browse and read samples through. This has also been very popular, and has helped to increase knowledge of our rapidly growing eBook fiction collection.

Special programming throughout the year, such as author talks and readings, can also help to bring patrons in to the library. We usually offer handouts and bookmarks on similar fiction titles both at these special events and at the reference and RA desks to help increase awareness of fiction titles in the collection.

We use displays to highlight parts of the collection when you first enter the library in our glass cases. We’ve had everything from African American authors for Black History Month to Downton Abbey read-a-likes. We also on occasion have taken out small ads in a local newspaper for popular fiction title releases.  We also feature new fiction titles in our physical, paper copy of the library newsletter, along with our digital library newsletter. I prefer the digital newsletter because the patron can simply click the link for the fiction title in the e-mail newsletter and be directed straight the our library’s OverDrive site, where they can place the title on hold, get a sample or check it out and begin reading immediately!

We are currently investigating the idea of a ‘mobile library.’ One option would be to have an LCD screen on the exterior of the bookmobile that would rotate, featuring not only information on the bookmobile but specific titles, such as fiction items. We utilize Pinterest to promote our fiction collection heavily, and receive a TON of unique visitors to our library’s site from this social bookmarking service. We also use Animoto to create short book trailers to promote some adult fiction titles. The videos are posted to our site and our blog. We often use Twitter to promote new fiction titles, but these tweets are rarely re-tweeted. Our catalog is linked through our Facebook site, which allows patrons to access fiction titles easily, but we never really post about the collection (aside from eBook titles.)

There is a HUGE Fourth of July festival and parade in the city where my library is. We are part of the parade every year, and I would like to see a float themed around fiction titles and popular areas of the collection that somehow relate to the holiday.

Week 14 Prompt

What a tough topic this week, but one that seriously needs to be addressed. As for LGBTQ fiction, I think that it might be helpful – budget permitting – to perhaps cross-list and have multiple titles of copies to display in a special LGBTQ section. However, would this section incorporate adult and YA materials? If space, interest and budget allowed, I would also be interested in pursuing a dedicated space to highlight LGBTQ YA materials. I can see how frustrating it could be for someone to wander through the stacks or catalog looking for such materials with little information or knowledge! 

In “I Thought I’d Find Myself at the Library”: LGBTQ Services & Collections in Public and School Libraries, Alvin M. Schrader comments on the inadequate subject headings used when categorizing such fiction:

Headings that were used to reflect LGBTQ-related

Bisexuality -- Fiction

 Homosexuality -- Fiction

 Homosexuality -- Juvenile Fiction

 Lesbians -- Fiction

 Lesbians -- Juvenile Fiction

 Lesbianism -- Fiction

 Lesbianism -- Juvenile Fiction

 Gay teenagers -- Juvenile Fiction

 Gay men -- Fiction

 Gay Parents -- Fiction

 Gay youth -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction

Headings used that did not identify LGBTQ-related

Coming of Age -- Fiction

 Conduct of life -- Fiction

 Emotions -- Fiction

 Erotic Stories

 Friendship -- Fiction

 High Schools -- Fiction

 Identity -- Fiction

 Interpersonal relationships -- Fiction

 Love Stories

 Schools -- Juvenile Fiction

 Self-Realization -- Fiction

 Sex -- Fiction

 Teenage boys -- Fiction

 “It is apparent that the wide range of subject headings used in library records makes it difficult for interested persons to discover the breadth of LGBTQ-related materials available in their own library – thus impeding access for users browsing the catalogue by subject”(Schrader, 5). Perhaps highlighting this specific part of the collection for users could help to increase circulation statistics. Even having the LGBTQ heading as a search facet in the catalog could help users – particularly with eBooks. I remember an article from early last year about a library (The Bessie Chin Library) opening an LGBT section that also houses films and other resources, such as college guides, but it was aimed more for youth.(http://redwoodbark.org/2013/02/library-adds-new-gtsa-section/)

As for African American books, I would first want author and reader input before separating this genre into its own area. The author N.J. Jemisin has posted an interesting blog post on the subject titled “Don’t Put My Book in the African American Section!” (http://nkjemisin.com/2010/05/dont-put-my-book-in-the-african-american-section/)

I admire her for taking a stand and being so adamant on the issue: “I hate the “African American Fiction” section. HATE. IT. I hate that it exists. I hate that it was ever deemed necessary. I hate why it was deemed necessary, and I don’t agree that it is. I hated it as a reader, long before I ever got published. And now that I’m a writer, I don’t ever want to see my books there — unless a venue has multiple copies and they’re also in the Fantasy or General Fiction section.” She goes on to state that her book The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms shouldn’t be in the African American section ‘because it Contains No Actual Black People. Which should, IMO, at least be a prerequisite for being in that section.’

I like the idea of cross-listing multiple copies along with their genres and in a special section, but at what point does this become cost and space prohibitive?! If pressure from patrons or my library board resulted in my library pursuing an African American section, what would happen if we received a proposal for a Female Authors Section? In the end, I would honestly hope that a committee or group of staff members, along with input from the public and our patrons, would help guide us to a decision that was right for our community based on their wants and needs. 

Week 13 Prompt

This week’s prompt hit really close to home for me. I have encountered similar issues in the past where co-workers were dead set against, or not completely on board with the idea of including graphic novels for youth or adults. Street lit – and really, African American literature in general – has never been a top collection priority, and the few items that our collection contains are extremely dated with virtually no circs. I feel that the debate in libraries – and possibly school libraries in terms of graphic novels – harkens back to library days when selectors were arguing about whether or not to include ‘trashy fiction’ into their collections!

It’s really frustrating when multiple patrons ask for titles and I have to turn them away because a single selector or committee decided that a type of material or subject weren’t ‘appropriate’ for our library – based on what? If there is patron interest, I think we should include these materials. As for the common belief that adults don’t read ‘that stuff’ – I can tell you from personal experience that at my library that is not true in the least. We’ve actually separated our growing adult, middle school, and teen graphic novel sections so that they are easier to find for patrons. The number of holds on such titles are fairly high, and circ stats.

With interest in The Walking Dead TV show, we have also had to purchase additional copies of the graphic novels that the TV show is based on. Art and drawing books related to graphic novels and manga are also popular with teens and adults. Luckily, we’ve never had a challenge for a graphic novel or manga title, but the ALA’s website outlines how to deal with challenges for these books: http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/ifissues/graphicnovels

I really like their answer for the question, ‘Why do libraries have to buy graphic novels?”: 

Why do libraries have to buy graphic novels?

The library has a responsibility to serve its community-your neighbors-including those you may not agree with or who may not agree with you. Libraries purchase materials, such as graphic novels, because they have a mission statement that requires them to serve a broad range of community needs and wants. The material you find in your library was selected by librarians, who are taught as part of their professional education to determine the needs of their communities and to select materials based on library policies.

As for YA titles for adults, it has been suggested that we incorporate our YA titles into our actual fiction collection – so we would end up with a second (or third) copy in an alternate location as to encourage adult patrons to discover the world of YA literature. Currently, our YA dept. is small, and always full to the brim with high school students. One way that several of our adult patrons who don’t like to visit the YA dept. to obtain YA materials get around this is by placing on-shelf holds online for the titles they’re interested in. We’ve also found that offering these titles available as eBooks, and the anonymity involved in procuring them, has increased YA stats! 

Week 12 Prompt: RA Matrix

The Readers’ Advisory Matrix

The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation by Harold Schecter
Published February 2014

1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?

a.) Highly narrative (reads like fiction)
b.) A mix (combines highly narrative moments with periods of fact-based prose)
c.) Highly Face based (has few or no narrative moments)

2. What is the subject of the book? American – True Crime

3. What type of book is it? This is a true crime book that has been meticulously researched. It details the story of killer Robert Irwin, who committed a triple-murder in a fashionable area in Manhattan in the late 1930’s. The crime itself has been recreated and shared with the reader in gory detail.

4. Articulate appeal

a.) What is the pacing of the book? Narrative momentum

b.) Describe the characters of the book: Veronica Gedeon was a young photographer’s model whom, along with her mother, Mary Gedeon, and a boarder, Frank Byrnes, in Manhattan’s Beekman Place were all brutally murdered in a triple-homicide. Robert “The Mad Sculptor” Irwin was the murderer, and psychiatrist and forensic scientist Fredric Wertham was the man who predicted Irwin’s heinous crimes. Irwin’s defense attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, is portrayed as a manipulative lawyer.

c.) How does the story feel? There is a sense of drama and a lingering feeling of unbelievability and outrage throughout the book.

d.) What is the intent of the author? The intent of the author is to bring to the public’s eye the story of Robert Irwin from the late 1930’s, along with an exploration of the sensationalistic journalistic practices of the time period.

e.) What is the focus of the story? The focus of the story is on the life and crimes of Robert Irwin and the way in which media and journalists portrayed this story at the time.

f.) Does the language matter? Yes – the tone leads to an atmospheric sentiment of dread and uneasiness.

g.) Is the setting important and well described? Yes – Beekman Place, the scene of the triple-murder mentioned in the book in Manhattan, is described in depth, as are the actual crime scenes.

h.) Are there details and, if so, of what? Yes – there are graphic details of the crimes of Irwin, along with his life and history.

i.) Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear? Yes – although the crime scene photos are a bit graphic and might not be appropriate for younger readers.

j.) Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?

Yes - The book shares the experiences of how psychiatrists and criminologists of the day (in the 1920/1930’s) did not know how to properly handle cases such as this, and how the justice system used to handle cases of mentally incompetent criminals.

5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal)?

a.) The story is cinematic and was a popular headline at the time – the reader can imagine the story behind ripped from the headlines!

b.) The details of images of Irwin and his victims are shocking, but help the reader to visualize the scope of his crimes.

c.) The setting is detailed and gives the reader a true sense of the past at a specific time and place. It would be especially interesting for someone who grew up in Manhattan or New York.