Adults

Oakwood Recommends Display

Jul 30, 2015

Free

🆓

Byline

Elizabeth Schmidt, Reference Lib., Wright Memorial Public Library, Oakwood, Ohio

The library highlights different community groups, businesses and individuals with a display that showcases their favorite books, movies, music, magazines and video games from our collection. This zero-cost outreach program helps us to make new community connections and facilitates reader-to-reader recommendations that our patrons appreciate.

Advanced Planning

The goal of the Oakwood Recommends Display is to increase the library’s engagement with our community. One reference librarian coordinates the program, which involves identifying and inviting community groups/businesses/individuals to participate, compiling the materials they suggest, and creating the display.

We schedule one group/business/person at a time, usually contacting them about four weeks before we’d like to set up the display. Group members can email a list of their top picks or stop by the library during a specific time period to browse and make their selections. If we are highlighting a group, we do not indicate which individuals selected each item. We usually disregard recommendations on material we don’t own, and the library maintains the final say on what is displayed.

Marketing

We promote the Oakwood Recommends Display on social media and in our community newspaper. The in-library display is prominently located near the front door, which helps make the selected items quick to circulate. We also place a sign on the display asking interesting individuals or groups to contact the reference department.

Budgeting

This is a no-cost program.

Program Execution

Since we started doing this display last year, we've partnered with six outside groups and have plans to work with three more this fall. Past participants have included Oakwood’s elected officials, the MOMS group, teachers and staff at a local school, two local entrepreneurs, the Rotary Club and the hometown grocery store. We also recently highlighted participants in our summer reading club. Most groups we contact are happy to be profiled and have fun providing us with their recommendations.

Advice

Be creative. The concept is inherently flexible. Displays can be occasional, tied to special community events or an ongoing rotating series. For example, you could do a “patron of the month” display.