The Customer-Focused Library: Re-Inventing the Public Library from the Outside-In

by Joseph R. Matthews

What is the future of the public library? How can libraries embrace the forces of change and provide the resources--and the resource-gathering environment--today's patrons want? "The Customer-Focused Library: Re-Inventing the Library From the Outside-In" answers these questions by proposing a transformative alternative, a reimagined library in which the collections, the services--even the building itself--are designed and built from the customer's perspective.

Written by one of the country's foremost library consultants, "The Customer-Focused Library" shows how perceived threats to the traditional library model are in fact exciting opportunities for change. The book lays out the steps by which professionals and patrons together can help invent a new generation of libraries, with discussions of hiring guidelines, merchandizing, the library website, even the building plan itself. It is a proactive, consumer-based approach aimed at helping librarians focus on underexamined ideas, underexploited trends, underused assets, and the as-yet unvoiced needs of library consumers.

Genres: Reference

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2009

Reviews

[William Mego · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't quite give it three stars; it contained far too much "power language", and reads as a little gimmicky.

Most of the book is spent either in useless experiments in typography (ironic, since it criticizes many libraries for poor signage) or in telling the reader about all the terrible things they're doing wrong. Most librarians or trustees are probably already aware of this. A reader who isn't either of those must be really bored to be reading this book in the first place.

The remainder of the book is spent telling us how a few of these problems could be solved. However nearly every section is solved by telling us we need more space. Oh, and FEWER books.

This is immensely frustrating as a Trustee on the board of a tiny library. I mean this is the smallest library I've ever ENTERED. More space isn't an easy fix, it's probably the hardest thing for us to attain in fact.

Now an astute reader will be thinking "fewer books? Do tell!" This is from changing how books are arranged, cataloged, and displayed. Few would disagree that customers (patrons) have an easier time seeing and becoming interested in books displayed as they often are in a bookstore: Flat, with the cover out. Of course, this takes up more room, since if you tried to display the entire collection this way instead of spine out, you'll run out of room before you run out of books. This is usually presented as a "plus" since you don't need to spend as much budget on books, since you're then not buying as many of them.

A more astute reader will immediately see the inherent problems with having fewer books in the library. Astute readers tend to want MORE books, after all.

So this book is ok, but not better than that. A single page telling me to somehow pony up a few million to build a new, larger library would have been quicker.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information, but nothing ground breaking. If you want to have a customer-focused library, make sure your policies and procedures focus on making the customer experience easier.

Thanks.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why yes, I AM using my grad school reading to add to my goodreads 2016 reading challenge.