Presentation and reader development
Presentation, promotion, and marketing
Essex Libraries promotes stock to current customers and to the wider public to:
- Maximise use
- Bring a wide range of stock to the attention of customers
- Provide guidance to customers
- Encourage active library membership
- Encourage diverse reading, listening, and viewing
This will be achieved by:
- Maintaining well-presented libraries with a welcoming atmosphere
- Attractive and effective signage in libraries
- Presenting stock in an attractive and accessible way
- Stock displays
- Themed booklists
- Embedding celebrating works by diverse authors or diverse content via CollectionHQ EDI reports
- Promotional events, such as talks by authors, and the Book of the Month promotion
- Support for reading groups
- Marketing and social media campaigns
Stock in Essex Libraries is organised in categories according to the UK Standard Libraries Categories (UKSLC). Non-fiction categories used by UKSLC include Biographies, Food and Drink, Gardening, Sport, Hobbies and Games etc. Stock will be arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme within each individual category, unless it has been placed into a specialist collection such as Everyone's Literacy Areas.
Fiction categories used by UKSLC include Crime, Thrillers, Romance, Historical, Science Fiction and Adventure. Fiction stock will be arranged by alphabetical order of the author’s surname within categories.
Music CDs are shelved in broad categories, such as Rock and Pop, Classical, Easy Listening, etc. They are shelved in alphabetical order of artist / group.
DVDs are shelved in broad categories, including feature films, TV, instructional, sport and music. They are shelved in alphabetical order of title.
Reader development
This involves a mixture of core activities – which are detailed below – and project work, linked to countywide, regional, and national projects and promotions.
- Promotions and book displays
- Book Groups
- Public Library Catalogue
- Quick Reads
- Easy Read stock
- Reading Well
- Booklists and audience specific collections
- Social media content on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels
- Author events, especially Essex Book Festival events
Children’s reader development
Reader development activities for children should:
- Support developing literacy and a lifelong love of reading
- Tempt children through transitional stages of reading
Online promotions
Part of reader development is to help customers expand their reading choices through promotion via online channels.
Online stock promotional tools include:
- Book promotion through the free library e-newsletters – these include a general newsletter suitable for all readers, a newsletter targeted to members of book groups
- Book promotion on our social media channels including the YouTube channel. This channel reaches an audience who may not regularly visit the library.
Book groups
We support a large number of book groups across the county, both groups who meet in the library and groups who meet elsewhere but borrow our stock.
Public library catalogue and My Library app
The public library catalogue is intuitive to use and customers have the opportunity to search for and reserve items, manage their account, renew items and create booklists.
With the library app customers can now also search the catalogue, renew items, check opening times.
Quick Reads
All libraries have collections of Quick Reads; these are short books ideal for adults who want a short, fast read or a more straightforward read. They are also useful for emergent readers and people with English as a second language.
Everyone's Literacy
All libraries have Everyone’s Literacy areas which contain books and resources to help customers improve reading skills. They are designed to help develop a love of reading for pleasure.
The Everyone’s Literacy areas contain:
- Books for adults on how to support your child to read
- Phonics and learning-to-read books
- Books for children and adults with literacy difficulties
- Easy-read books for adults and children
- Fun resources to help children improve their vocabulary and reading skills
- Signposting to other areas of support for reading skills
All areas are clearly marked in each library. They have been developed in consultation with teachers, Adult Community Learning and other experts in literacy skills.