I recently read a Facebook post that said: “Do not mess with librarians. The inner strength required to meticulously care for history’s greatest works of literature and then just let total strangers borrow them willy-nilly is Jedi level stuff.” I think they are even more amazing than that!
I’m not sure where the stereotype of a buttoned-up old librarian came from because today those who work in libraries are some of the most innovative people around. Every time I go into our main library there is a different display around a new theme (this month: A Decade of New York Times best sellers) and books are also arranged to correspond to current events or holidays.
In addition, our librarians seem to go the extra effort to make it easy for people to utilize materials. They have created several series of bookmarks that help readers narrow down the available choices and direct them to resources or books of similar themes. One series is themed around New Year/New You and provides bookmarks for Building Habits, Cleaning, Starting a Business, Travel, Learning a Language, and more. Another series highlights Recommended Reads in multiple categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, etc. All these free bookmarks are handy ways to encourage additional library use.
Instead of letting your customers fend for themselves or become overwhelmed with all that you offer, follow the lead of the librarians and continuously help others narrow down your services to what is most helpful to them. Creativity and curation go a long way in making something useful.
Facebook Post by Jonathan Edward Durham @thisoneOverhere
