No Money Exhibits: How to Get Them and Use Them in Your Library

Lynn Elam

Retailers have long known the importance of merchandising their products through the use of attention-getting exhibits and displays. An eye catching window display will draw customers into a store as will a prominent sign placed near the flow of traffic. End aisle displays—used in many type of stores from hardware to high fashion boutiques—promote impulse purchasing. While many dollars are spent on advertising and promotion in the marketplace, librarians can utilize some of the same techniques to enhance the looks of their library, promote its activities and generate more business—without spending large sums of money.

In order to merchandise well, it is important to keep in mind the basic goals associated with the mission of your library—educate, entertain and inform patrons with information they wish to have. Overall the idea is to bring in more patrons and keep them interested enough to return. The library staff person responsible for displays, exhibits, or other means of promotion, already has a wealth of materials available. Library Displays on a Shoestring: 3-Dimensional Techniques for Promoting Library Services by Wendy D. M. Barteluk and Library Displays Handbook by Mark Schaeffer, are just two of the many titles in print offering step-by-step instructions on the design and construction of exhibits. Both books focus on simple display methods which require little time, talent or money.

Developing an exhibit which informs patrons of local services, organizations or special events through the use of brochures, pamphlets and three dimensional items is a way of offering a community service as well as providing a reason for non-library users to visit the library. Once inside, artful display work can draw the new patron around the library just as exhibits in stores draw people to its products. An exhibit showcasing specific departments of the library such as youth services, readers' advisory or reference is an excellent way to educate patrons about the way the library functions. An exhibit featuring the steps taken to process new materials and place them in the collection will provide patrons with a better understanding of how the library works and promote library activities. Entertaining the patrons with exhibits designed just for fun is still another way to promote the library. Select a topic and build a display using a multimedia approach. Show off all the types of materials the library has to offer. Subject displays can range from topics currently in the news to strength areas of your collection, to little known items. How many times have library workers heard the remark, "I didn't know you had this kind of thing?" A display introduces library materials which might otherwise be missed. The choices are almost limitless. One example of a subject display can be developed around a "How-to" theme. Display all the library's materials with the words "How-to" in the title. A quick scan of the catalog will reveal many interesting and fun titles to use.

A trip to the nearest shopping mall reveals a wide variety of merchandising techniques which can be incorporated into the library setting. Store windows usually display the most enticing products a retailer is offering in order to draw more customers. A bookstore window display is filled with the newest titles and those that are on the best seller list. New and best-selling titles can easily be shown in the front of the library. Placement is all important. New book displays don't belong in the back of the adult reading room. They need to go where the patrons go. Observe traffic patterns in the library to determine the spots with the heaviest traffic. Place displays as close to these pathways as possible without causing traffic jams or obstructions.

Bookstore merchandising techniques provide good examples of the many ways books, magazines and newspapers can be displayed. Their products are artfully built using the products themselves as the building blocks of the exhibit. Libraries can use these same methods such as building a tower of books, a wall of books, a house of books—whatever

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will catch the eye. Browse through a bookstore to discover other ways to showcase materials.

End-aisle displays are successfully used in all types of stores to promote impulse purchasing. Companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola Co compete for space in the checkout lanes of food stores along with candy and gum manufacturers. In the retail world this is known as "prime real estate."¹ Libraries need to locate their own prime real estate and develop eye appealing exhibits to promote impulse circulation. Making selection convenient for the patron by placing items where they can be easily discovered will generate more library business.

Signs are an integral part of display promotion and merchandising. To be effective in the library, signs must be interesting in the same way that exhibits must be interesting. Some examples of light-hearted signs include the following:

Beside the water fountain:

"PROS AND CONS OF FLUORIDATION OF WATER AVAILABLE AT CALL NUMBER 614.5."

Beside the newspapers:

"WILL ROGERS SAID ALL HE EVER KNEW WAS WHAT HE SAW IN THE PAPERS. WE SUBSCRIBE TO TWENTY-SIX OF THEM."²

Signs which are crowded together on a bulletin board will lose their impact. Patrons will not take the time necessary to read through a jumbled mass of signage. Colored paper is one way of making signs stand out from each other as is the type of lettering used. Letter size should be large enough to be read from a distance and the message should be short and concise so that patrons walking by don't necessarily have to stop and ponder what you are trying to convey.

A wealth of materials also exist outside of the library which can be used for entertaining, informative exhibits and displays. A network of resources can be developed with a little investment in time and effort. Begin with the staff of the library itself. Draft a memo asking for loans of hobby items or other collections. Ask the staff if they know of anyone who would be interested in displaying materials at the library. Follow up the memo informally by asking for responses. Have the staff member who agrees to display items assist in creating the exhibit since he or she probably has ideas to best display the collection. Staff involvement not only provides a pool of resources but it also produces a side benefit of higher morale as staff can showcase outside interests to their co-workers and the community.

A very simple way of finding people interested in displaying their collections in the library is to place a sign-up sheet at the circulation desk or near an existing display. Children who visit the library are enthusiastic about sharing their hobbies and having their special things included in a display. Posters or flyers asking for display items may be placed in other areas of the library.

Librarians who are responsible for public relations work at neighboring libraries are also a group to draw upon. They may be willing to share exhibit ideas as well as exhibitors who would be willing to place their collection in the library. Visiting other libraries is beneficial to gain more ways of creating exhibits and displays. Don't hesitate to incorporate a good display idea from another library into one of your own. Ask questions about how the display was constructed, how much time was spent, how long the exhibit will last and what kind of response it received. All of this information is useful in designing exhibits for your own building.

Local chambers of commerce will provide a list of businesses active in its organization. Contact them by letter or telephone to ask if they have something that can be displayed in the library. Business owners recognize this as free advertisement and are generally willing to loan materials for this purpose. The Learning Resources Center at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove has worked with several local businesses in this way. One exhibit was put together with the help of a quilting shop which loaned materials used to make quilts as well as finished quilts themselves. Books which were already owned by the LRC on the history of quilt design and construction were added to the exhibit. The shop's business cards were placed in the exhibit for patrons to take.

Service organizations or non-profit associations also may loan materials for an exhibit. The American Cancer Society can provide items on the dangers of sun-tanning which can be used in conjunction with a display on travel guides to warm climates. The local historical society can be a resource of interesting exhibit items. By establishing a relationship with these types of organizations you are receiving an exhibit while giving another group the opportunity to promote itself. These kinds of friendly endeavors enhance a spirit of community and encourage people who might not use the library to visit. And again you are meeting the informational needs of your patrons in an interesting way.

The listserv LIBEX-L—Exhibits and Academic Libraries discussion list—on the Internet provides additional ideas about displays such as techniques for

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mounting exhibits, preservation concerns, exhibit policies, procedures and others. The list is open to anyone interested in discussing any aspect of exhibits used in libraries. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERVC" MAINE.MAINE.EDU with the instructions SUBSCRIBE LIBEX-L first name last name. Example: SUBSCRIBE Jane Smith.

Scheduling is important to the success of the exhibit. Develop an annual calendar keeping in mind seasonal and library-related events such as Banned Books Week or National Library Week. Schedule exhibits ahead to provide time to gather the materials and do the design work, but not so far that you or the person loaning materials forgets about it. Place a note on your calendar to phone a reminder to the person a few weeks before the exhibit is due to arrive at the library.

A written letter confirming the arrangements you have made provides both parties with clear expectations of who will be responsible for which activities concerning set-up, maintenance and take down of the materials. Security arrangements should be discussed and agreed upon as well. Some people prefer their items to be displayed in locked cases only. Others will allow their collection to be used as part of a hands-on exhibit. In all instances, make sure that the person understands what type of security you are able to provide. You may want to develop more formal policies and procedures to govern the protection of display items gained from outside sources.

Schedule the arrival of the exhibit materials when you can be available to greet the donor and assist in setting up the display. Giving this time is good public relations practice and will go a long way in making people feel comfortable about leaving their collections with you. You will also be able to make last minute adjustments to the display or answer any questions that have not been clarified.

Intangible payments to the people who are contributing items for displays and exhibits are an important part of the exhibit process. A press release issued to the local newspapers telling about the exhibit, and who is loaning the materials will nearly always be printed. Business owners, clubs and service organizations relish the exposure. Individual collectors will enjoy seeing their name in print. Working with the library portrays these groups in a positive manner and gives them incentive to repeat loaning materials. Make copies of any printed articles and send them to your donor along with a thank you letter expressing your appreciation of their community spirit and support of the library.

Libraries can merchandise themselves and be as visually appealing as any store. Most of the materials used to develop attention-drawing exhibits can be found within the walls of the library itself. Develop an eye for display work by visiting other libraries, bookstores and retailers to view what is being done. Incorporate some of those ideas into your own scheme. Build a network of resources within your community that allow the library to exhibit other kinds of materials which can be loaned or donated. By drawing patrons through the use of interesting window displays, three dimensional and hands-on exhibits, the library—like a retailer—can increase its own base of business through new and repeat customers.

End Notes

1. Patricia Winters, "Pepsi, Coke Battle at Express Checkout Lanes," Advertising Age, 19 October 1992, 20.

2. Steve Sherman, ABC's of Library Promotion, 3d ed., (Metuchen, J. J., & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1992), 154.

*Lynn Elam, Librarian, Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove.

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