Working With WordThink, Brand Power & Merchandising

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The 21st Century Library

• Branding: establishing our identity

Library as the third place:

-Distinct from home or work-Liberating environment

-Encourages people to stay and to return

-Playful atmosphere

-A place of discovery and

transformational experiences

Finding Our Identity

• Establish the personality of the 21st Century library

• Evolve from institutional to organic

• Focus on customer serviceand transformativeexperiences

What is Anythink?

• Our Mission Statement: we open doors for curious minds

• Descriptive words:Imaginative, progressive, creative, distinctive, intuitive, adaptable

• Why the name?

Anythink is the experience that anything is possible.

• Why the doodle?

A doodle is the start

of any idea.

Identity Dictates Action

Customer-centered identity means:

• designing architecture and furnishings

• for comfort and easy traffic flow

• Mapping the space and the collection

• For ease of use: Wordthink, signage, merchandising

• Providing exciting programs, products and

personalized services

Customer-Centered

• Staff guided by shared values

• Understand and empower our customers

• Collaborate with customers to meet their needs

These Are Our People

Welcome to Anythink!

• Brand rollout: a process

Getting staff and community comfortable with the brand through subtle use of brand colors and fonts in pre-rollout print materials

Jam sessions and elevator statements prime staff for brand buy-in

Brand: Consistent & Comprehensive

• Visual Consistency

Fonts

color palette

logo

Brand Consistency

• In Print

Brand Consistency

• In Display

Comprehensive Application

• Brand style and attitude pervades

all customer touchpoints:

Customer Greetings Event Signage

Nametags Website Design

Phone Messages Press Releases

E-mail signatures Flyers & Notices

Interior & Exterior Signs All print materials

Comprehensive Application

advertising

promotion

name tags exterior signageexterior

signage

Mapping the Space

• Floor plan

• Wordthink

• Signage

• Merchandising

Ease of Use

• Traffic flow-open

floor plan

• Clearly identified

neighborhoods

• Autonomy: self-check, digital catalog, website

• Choices: quiet spaces, sociable spaces

You are here.Welcome; make yourself at home.

Working With WordThink

From Conversion to the Frontlines

Design Wordthink• Collection Development team visitedMaricopa County

• Used BISAC as a model

• Created grids that better classified our collections

WordThink Conversion

WordThink Grid

Music MUSIC

MUSIC How-to HOW TO

MUSIC Songbooks SONGS

Nature NATURE

NATURE Animals ANIMALS

NATURE Animals ANIMALS Birds BIRDS

NATURE Animals ANIMALS Insects INSECTS

NATURE Animals ANIMALS Land LAND

NATURE Animals ANIMALS Ocean OCEAN

NATURE Dinosaurs DINOS

NATURE Plants PLANTS

Parenting PARENT

PARENT Baby Names NAMES

PARENT Pregnancy PREGNANC

Working with Vendors• Communication and Timeline for the project

• Plan for collecting –Branch closures timeline–Continuing to order Dewey while ordering WordThink

• Translation grid – BISAC to WordThink• Ongoing feedback• Yearly updates and retro-fitting

MARC Display

WordThink Translation

PSY009000 PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Compulsive Behavior MEDICAL MENTAL

PSY010000 PSYCHOLOGY / Psychotherapy / Counseling SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY011000 PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Eating Disorders MEDICAL EAT DIS

PSY012000 PSYCHOLOGY / Education & Training SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY013000 PSYCHOLOGY / Emotions SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY014000 PSYCHOLOGY / Forensic Psychology SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY015000 PSYCHOLOGY / History SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY016000 PSYCHOLOGY / Human Sexuality RELATION SEX

PSY017000 PSYCHOLOGY / Interpersonal Relations SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY018000 PSYCHOLOGY / Mental Illness MEDICAL MENTAL

PSY020000 PSYCHOLOGY / Neuropsychology SOC SCI PSYCH

PSY021000 PSYCHOLOGY / Industrial & Organizational Psychology SOC SCI PSYCH

Physical Transformation

• Spine Label examples:

DVD

HOME

DIY

BIOGRAPH

FAMOUS

TRUMP

HISTORY

MILITARY

WW2

MEDICAL

HRT DIS

COOKING

INTNTL

J

PLACES

US

TEEN

RELATION

TEEN

GRAPHIC

SPIDER-M

Converting the Catalog

• Split up collection – 4 staff members change item records for Dewey ranges

Example: 636.7 = PETS DOGS

– go through item by item

• Every NF collection converted

LP, Books on CD,

J & E, Teen

• Change catalog display

Converting the Branch

• Group “like” materials

– Map out new locations of materials using collection statistics

• Close the branch – fastest, easiest, cleanest

– 35,000 item collection = 1 week closure

– 12 FTE complete the project

• New signs, maps of location

• Orienting all staff

Changes to Shelving

• Broken down into smaller

groups of shelving

– Collection is not linear,

no beginning or end

– Emphasizes subject-

specific groupings

– Varying height and sizes

– Freedom to reconfigure sections

– Empty shelves and endcap displays

Customer Experience

• Many are indifferent– Come in looking for a book, leave with a book

– Come in to browse, go to section

• Some come in ready to challenge Wordthink

• Different from Bookstores– Catalog gives specific location of every book.

Challenges with Wordthink

• Difficult for larger sections

–Medical

– Business

• Shelved by title

– Title on spine can differ from title in catalog

– Books on same subject not right

next to each other

• Smaller NF collections

Visual Merchandising

• Systemwide promotional

merchandising

• Branch-specific

promotional

merchandising

• Everyday merchandise

highlighting

Library Display Types

• Tabletop displays

• In-shelf display areas

• End cap displays

• Range-top displays

• Power wall and case displays

Display Standards

Display PrinciplesDisplay PrinciplesDisplay PrinciplesDisplay Principles

• Balance

• Emphasis

• Proportion and scale

• Rhythm

• Harmony

• Rule of 3

Rules of ThumbRules of ThumbRules of ThumbRules of Thumb

• Activate key visual zones

• Front up rows

• Face out books

• Fill gaps

• Fluff

Enhancing

• Use accessories sparingly: let the books

be your décor

• Stack multiples on tabletops and in-shelf

• Add media and live demos

• Incorporate staff picks

Display Do’s

A well-balanced, open, attractively layered Power wall display. This one highlights new arrivals and items of seasonal interest.The table displays in front of the power wall draw customers in to browse the wall displays.

Display Do’s

Examples of well-placed displays on lower rangetops. Books on easels atop another copy of the book alternate with books on easels alone. Note varied Placement of in-shelf displays.

When kids see the library’s habit ofarranging board books neatly by size in baskets, they can find what they want more easily. Who knows—perhaps some will take the lesson home.

Display Don’ts

Too many books (above) poorly spaced on too many levels, plus a mismatched mix of wrinkled surface coverings make for a discon-nected, scattered-looking display unattractive to customers.

A good idea poorly designed (above).

Don’t let displayed books (right)block Wordthink signage! Use displayed books to illustratewhat the Wordthink neighbor-hood contains.

Display Don’ts

(Top left) Issues with heightand spacing leave this dis-play less than compelling.

(Bottom left) Bulletin boards and decorating of any kinddetract from the clean,professional look of the 21st

Century library, where thebeauty in the setting is inthe books themselves.

(Right) Books removed fromdisplay easels must be re-placed promptly. Books onshelves must be fronted,and shifted to maintain abalanced look from shelf to shelf. Large gaps should befilled in with display books.

Just Don’t

No, really: don’t.

Signage No-nos

No day-glo. No tape. No dirty, dog-eared signs.

No handmade signs. No tape.

No day-glo. No clipart.

No signage overkill. No sloppy placement. No tape.

No unreadable, non-brand fonts.No daycare-bulletin-board styling.

NO TAPE!

CAUTION:Use of tapes sets a very bad example!

Staff Merchandising Responsibilities

• Designer

create systemwide programs and promotional displays

• Guides

implement systemwide programs and displays

create branch-specific promotional displays

manage everyday merchandise highlighting

• Concierges

keep displays “fluffed”

maintain inventory of display equipment

• Wranglers

shelve materials & keep shelved stock fronted, faced-out, filled up

and dusted

• All Staff

keep oriented to displays daily

help keep shelves “fluffed” when you’re on the floor

Maintenance

• Daily orientation to displayed materials: one-minute walkthrough

• Fluff display areas and fill gaps: libraries that merchandise their materials see circ spike 30-40% immediately

• Change out displays: if display does not draw interest in first day, be ready with back-up ideas

Equipment & Resources

• Use approved display equipment• Provide sign templates and holders• List thematic idea-starters• List resource links and books• Keep examples of display dos and don’ts• Observe prohibited practices:

avoid visual clutterdo not use tapedo not use handmade signs

Plan Your Merchandising Schedule

• Schedule a training session at each branch

-presentation of merchandising plan

-dos and don’ts

-provide handbook

-provide merchandising equipment and

hands-on demos

-plan quarterly walkthroughs with branch

managers

Merchandising: The Bottom Line

• Welcome• Inspire• Engage• Make Comfortable

The WOW! Factor

• Keeps ’em coming back

• Always something new

& exciting to explore

• Community connections

& transformative

experiences

Merchandising Expresses Your Mission

Current Remodeling Projects

Music

History

Biography

Art

Crafts

Gardening

Cooking

True Crime

Languages

Sports

Travel

Mary ThelenVisual Arts ManagerAnythink Librariesmthelen@anythinklibraries.org

Rachel FewellCollection Development ManagerAnythink Librariesrfewell@anythinklibraries.org