This is a first: this is a rant. I had pretty much vowed not to use this forum to rant, and it will be a rant on topic, but it’s still a rant.
I’m a member of another group which includes a subgroup for people involved in marketing for nonprofits. The site lists everyone’s avatars, so I clicked one at random. Got a lady who specializes in helping nonprofits market themselves.
I clicked on her blog. A couple of posts down, she’s just loving a service called Bookswim – it’s Netflix for books, with plans that will set your patron taxpayers back between $220 and $360 per person per year to get a fraction (just books, none of the other great stuff we all offer) of what they’re already paying taxes for. Add a moderate Netflix subscription to this, and our taxpayers could be paying $450 or more in usage fees just because they don’t use their library.
(Okay, maybe they subscribe to Netflix and Bookswim and use their public library, but I doubt it.
Let me be clear: I’m not mad at my fellow group member. I guess Bookswim seems like a good deal, although as someone intimately involved with libraries, it doesn’t to me.
I’m just…discouraged. And jealous. How the hell does Bookswim manage to reach the people I can’t reach? The people who, in this day and age and economic times, shouldn’t be paying for the same service twice?
Grrrr.
August 11, 2008 at 2:31 am
Hi Alexandria,
I think that you ask a really important question in this post, namely – “how the hell does Bookswim manage to reach the people I can’t reach?”
Well, I don’t know who you want to reach and I’m not sure Bookswim is reaching them either, but let’s assume that they are “cannibalizing” your efforts. I think the challenge you face is that Bookswim is attempting to meet people on their schedule and on their turf rather than making us come to them.
This is a challenge that all “bricks and mortar” businesses, including libraries, face in our “Connected Age.” In order to access your great services I have to come to you. Bookswim comes to me.
I don’t know much about the resources or politics of libraries, but I do know that you are “competing” in an era where virtual stores makes it easier than ever for busy consumers to satisfy their wants. If you’re frustrated, be frustrated. But why not also come up with an outreach strategy that will enable you to reach your goals?
Sincerely appreciate the debate. Jocelyn
P.S. Rants are OK. Your passion is what made me respond.
August 11, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I understand and empathize with your rant but it likely boils down to that the people who can afford to pay for the same service twice value the convenience factor over anything else.
- Don’t have to drive to the library
- Don’t have to remember when it’s due
- Don’t have to worry about late fees (yes, you’re paying more overall, but you’re in control of it)
- Access to immediate reviews on the same site (don’t have to ask the librarian)
- Don’t have to worry about if the branch has it
- Don’t have to call in to reserve it from another branch if they don’t
- Don’t have to go back and pick it up before they send it back
(I go through the last three steps a lot.)
If my closest library was 20 minutes away instead of 5 minutes away I would seriously consider this because I read a LOT of books.
But then they lose out on the experience factor of being able to browse the aisles and… You know better how to finish that argument than I do.
August 11, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I think both your observations about the convenience issue are spot on. Some libraries are experimenting with “books by mail” programs, which address this but are terribly expensive. My own fantasy is coming up with a new patron class that is severely limited in number of total items which can be borrowed, but which have (theoretically) no due date.
I respect the right of patrons to look at my services and my competitor and “buy” from him, rather than me. But as a person involved in a “helping profession,” I am disturbed by the idea that people who don’t have spare dollars to spend are choosing these services over the library simply for lack of knowledge of what we have to offer. That’s where we’re falling down vis-a-vis marketing.
August 11, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I’m not in the library world, so this is likely a nonsequitur, but the first thing that came to mind when I read this post was … “Man, I miss the Bookmobile.”
Did you have those when you were a kid? It was the highlight to our school day — the bus filled with books would pull up outside the school every so often (2 weeks?) and we’d all go check out a book.
As an outsider, I have to believe that the Bookmobile created a generation of library patrons, plus added visibility in the community. It addressed the convenience factor, got kids excited about books …
August 12, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I haven’t really thought about the Bookmobile – we have one in the community where I live, but that’s because we’re a huge rural county. The bookmobile, though, is an incredibly tangible presence as it makes its way down streets. Again, I know it’s a money issue, but I’m starting to develop the idea that another consequence of the fact that most libraries don’t have plans (either strategic or marketing) is that we don’t necessarily put our money where it will do the most good….