{"id":15621,"date":"2017-05-08T00:01:21","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T04:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=15621"},"modified":"2017-05-04T14:42:57","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T18:42:57","slug":"10-merchandising-tips-get-ready-summer-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/10-merchandising-tips-get-ready-summer-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Merchandising Tips to Get Ready for Summer Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many schools near me, there are less than 6 weeks left of classes before the summer break.\u00a0 At my library, we started pre-registering for the summer reading program on May 1st<\/sup>.\u00a0 With just a few weeks to go, now is a great time to kick your collection merchandising up a notch.<\/p>\n

Here are some surefire tips that not only will have your library looking great but you\u2019ll\u00a0also be demonstrating one of the\u00a0ALSC Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries<\/a> found in Section II \u2013 Reference and User Services.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Do a Quick and Dirty Weed<\/strong> \u2013 Nothing makes your collection look dated and tired more than torn pages, broken spines, and water damage. Do a quick sweep of your shelves and scoop out the worst offenders.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Replace the Hottest Titles<\/strong> \u2013 If your budget allows, surprise your kids by having fresh copies of their favorite books \u2013 Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Big Nate, I Survived, anything by Rania Telgemeier \u2013 you get the idea.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Tidy Up Your Shelves<\/strong> \u2013 Bring all the spines of the materials to the edge of the shelf and shift materials so the rows are even top to bottom. This helps the overall appearance of your shelves and makes it easier for kids to browse your collection.<\/p>\n

\"Tidy<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Don\u2019t Have Display Fixtures?<\/strong> \u2013 Not to worry just about any flat surface (table tops, top of shelves, in shelf) can make a great display.<\/p>\n

\"Table<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0Props or No Props?<\/strong> \u2013 Stay away from props! A professional looking sign can help explain a theme but it’s best to let the books and other library materials sell themselves. If the display is too perfect it may deter kids from touching and, more importantly, taking.<\/p>\n

\"No<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0Get Out of the Children\u2019s Room<\/strong> \u2013 Move a display to the front of your library so families see it when they come in the door. Put one by the circulation desk or meeting room to catch people before they check out or as they leave a fun program.<\/p>\n

\"Front<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0Go Interactive<\/strong> \u2013 Create a display of kid recommendations. This is a great way for kids to recommend to each other and for staff to learn what the current \u201cit\u201d books are.<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0Are We There Yet?<\/strong> \u2013 Long road or plane trips can be more enjoyable with an audiobook for listening to help the time pass. Pull out your favorite books to listen to and parents are sure to thank you!<\/p>\n

\"Audiobook<\/p>\n

9. \u00a0Include Diversity in Every Display<\/strong> \u2013 Make sure your diverse books aren\u2019t hibernating on your shelves. A great way to do this is with the Reading Without Walls Challenge.<\/p>\n

\"Diverse<\/p>\n

10. \u00a0Think Outside the Library Walls<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t forget your e-customers. Create collection \u201cdisplays\u201d on your e-platform if you can. Make sure you highlight your e-resources (Overdrive, Hoopla, Axis 360, Flipster, etc) on your website and at library programs.
\n\"eBook<\/p>\n

\"Merchandising<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What else do you do to get your collection ready for Summer Reading?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Mary's<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mary Schreiber<\/strong>, Youth Collection Development Specialist at Cuyahoga County Public Library, is writing this post for the ALSC Public Awareness Committee.\u00a0 She can be reached at: \u00a0mschreiber@cuyahogalibrary.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many schools near me, there are less than 6 weeks left of classes before the summer break.\u00a0 At my library, we started pre-registering for the summer reading program on May 1st.\u00a0 With just a few weeks to go, now is a great time to kick your collection merchandising up a notch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":15612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[418],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-15621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogger-public-awareness-committee","tag-summer-reading-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}