1999 Rethinking the library brand

Putting the reader first began to influence thinking beyond book selection and promotion.  In workshops such as those Opening the Book ran in 1997 to help Leeds Libraries create the UK's first Readers' Strategy, staff considered the full range of what a reader-centred service might look like – different opening hours, ambience, furniture, counters, facilities, staff help, access, signage, display …

In Oxfordshire, working with head of service, Tom Forrest, Opening the Book got a chance to test out some of these ideas in practice.  Oxfordshire had suffered a 21% budget reduction over the previous 8 years.  Money was tight but precisely because of this lack of resources Oxfordshire was open to new ideas – they knew they had to do something different or decline was inevitable.  Circulating small collections of paperbacks had helped to revitalise the 33 smallest branches but what could be done for the 5 main town libraries, where a dumpbin collection would make no impact?  The answer was to create a dedicated space within the library, solely for contemporary fiction and aimed at adult readers under 40.  Sited in a prominent position and clearly branded, it met the needs of the browser looking for a contemporary read.  The stock was young in feel, all paperback, included some titles in multiple copies and was displayed face-on.  It was not organised by genre, author or any other classification, hence the name.

Oxfordshire created unclassified sections in 5 libraries and the concept was then rolled out, via Branching Out  to 24 libraries across the country.  The unclassified package consisted of consultancy to determine best location, customised design and installation, stock guidance and staff training.  The concept was an instant success, popular with borrowers of all ages, not just those under 40.  Croydon had to purchase new stock to keep up with demand the day after they opened unclassified. The unclassified experience helped to shape the quick choice display furniture later developed by Opening the Book Promotions.

In 2000 Opening the Book offered the first training courses in using retail market research techniques to understand more about library users, based on the work of the world's greatest retail anthropologist, Paco Underhill, whose book Why We Buy was published in the UK in 1999.  Over the next three years library staff attending these courses undertook observation exercises in their own buildings and brought the findings to the course.  By 2003, simple observations had been carried out in 130 authorities and supplied the largest evidence of user behaviour ever gathered.

Forward-looking authorities began to consider the library 'brand' and how it might be improved.  Tower Hamlets took a radical approach when surveys showed that most local residents did not relate to the traditional library concept.  It was apparent that location and image are key to attracting customers so Tower Hamlets took the decision to design the service around today's lifestyle.  The new concept of Idea Stores is far more than a name change.  It consciously moves away from the serious high architecture of the traditional 'civic statement' library to what Tower Hamlets call 'retail vernacular architecture' - a decentralised service, designed to move with the times and to refit at minimal cost.  Visitors have tripled.  See www.ideastore.co.uk