How long do you think borrowers actually spend in the library? Would you be surprised to learn that research conducted across 50 library authorities, as part of Opening the Book's Managing spaces and people course, revealed that the average length of visit was five minutes?
How many of any library's resources are accessible in five minutes? How easy is it to browse the shelves and sections and choose a book in five minutes? What can a visitor do in five minutes in your library? How clear are the signs and directions to allow visitors to find the area they are seeking?
Think about how you are meeting the needs of people with five minutes or less. And remember they are the majority. If you work in a library where the issues have been falling for a number of years, could it be that you haven't kept pace with this trend?
A small area near the front of the library where paperbacks are displayed face-on, with lots of stock nearby to keep it topped up can issue more books than any other area of the library. For instance in a library that normally expected 48% of shelved fiction stock to be on issue at any one time, they issued 75% from a quick pick display that we installed.