Wellington County Libraries have partnered with Whitehots Inc. to bring the best of the company’s marketing and merchandising techniques to our Rockwood Branch with the intention of increasing circulation and raising the profile of our Rockwood branch in the community. Using the Librarys existing budget and staffing complement Whitehots is bringing their knowledge of the book trade and main stream marketing techniques to increase the business of the library. The ground rules for the partnership are that any tips, tricks and successes learned from the six month pilot project must be easily adapted to other libraries with little or no increase in related budgets. The findings of this pilot project will be of interest to any public library trying to increase circulation at a community branch library.
Rockwood is a 5,800 sq ft facility serving a population of approximately 8,000 people with 4500 registered patrons and a collection budget of $48,400.
Learning Outcomes
Outcome 1: Attendees will be able to see first hand how focused merchandising works in creating interest and increasing circulation for designated collections.
Outcome 2: Attendees will come to understand that staff buy-in is critical to project success.
Outcome 3: Attendees will learn the benefits of partnering with a library vendor on projects to help increase awareness and circulation for the library.
