To ask you how to encourage more people to use the library?

[LibraryLibrary]

My local library wants and needs to attract more users. It's set up a group of volunteers to brainstorm ideas. Predictably, the volunteers are mostly drawn from the people who already use and value the library, which I think is limiting our ideas. Can you help with any suggestions, based on what the library you go to does well? Or based on what you'd like your local library to do? And what do you think puts people off from using the library?
A bit of info on our library: It's in a small to medium-sized town which is socially quite mixed. It's close to several schools (primary and secondary) and to a supermarket. It has parking, but the car park is sometimes full. It has a large open space, plus a couple of meeting rooms.
Among other things, it would be good to hear what you think about opening hours. When would you like your local library to be open? And if the library has to have an annual 2 week shut-down period, to save on costs, when would you prefer that period to be?
Thanks!

I'd use our local library if itvwas open after school/evenings rather than 9am-1pm. However I do appreciate it is run mainly by volunteers who don't want to work 4-8pm.

Open in the evenings.
Comfortable sofas you can just sit in and read.
Toilets.
No cafe (especially one with a smelly noisy coffee machine).

All of this.

Plus being a quiet space like libraries used to be.

Oh I love this. Our local Council are absolutely desperate to close down all the local
libraries and they’re succeeding bit by bit, it’s awful.

I love to see toys and a designated kids area, including colouring and puzzles. Our local one also has a little Wendy house that the kids love playing in.

also things like Baby Boogie, Rhyme Time etc. at various, regular times I.e. not just one Friday twice a year or something.

I suppose the most logical time to close it would be over Christmas and new year.

And in terms of the annual shutdown, possibly in June or September. Outside school holidays but also outside the colder months, where people may be using it as a warm space.

Open later in the evenings- open later to make up the staff costs if needed. Generally the library closes at 5 and I finish work at 5.

As a kid our local one used to close at 7- plenty of time to visit.

Our library has a meeting room that is opened to kids on a Saturday morning and has Lego out for them to play with-always popular and great for a rainy morning.

I use my local library a lot with my children. They run some child friendly activities like a Lego club, games club, story and craft activity after school plus rhythm and rhyme time. They also have toys and jigsaws and a separate area for the kids. We don’t get told off for a bit of noise in our area.

For adults there are craft sessions, scrabble club, bridge and I think canasta. Plus a jigsaws on the go.

Not open every day but 3 days in the week morning and afternoon and Saturday mornings.

See, most other people’s suggestions are my idea of hell.

I’d just like a quiet, warm space to read.

But libraries these days are all noisy 😔

Ours had a dress up section and toys for small children. They offer group story telling sessions, reading challenges, activities over half term. You could also advertise them as a warm space over winter. Providing yours is actually heated well.

Offering board games, warhammer, DnD events would prob attract a different audience too

A deposit box for returning books out of hours.

My DD works in a library. Some things they do that are popular:

• Craft activities in the school holidays – pebble painting was astoundingly popular for example
• Tutoring sessions run in a small room
• Club for older people to come for a cuppa and a chat
• Book clubs for various ages
• LEGO club
• Jigsaws – they put one out on a table and visitors come in and do a bit of it until it is done
• Summer reading challenge - get the local schools involved
• Displays of books on themes

All the above plugged on social media.

Time wise I personally think it's a great idea to have an evening when the library is open till 7pm tho DD says they have tried that at hers and it's not popular. Saturday opening is a must even if it's every other week for example.

Yes, it really has to be open after school for an hour or two, a couple of days a week. Ours shuts at 1pm on a Saturday when there are other things on in the morning for DC, so staying open a bit longer would be good.
Ours invites local authors to give talks, so eg there has been a guy writing a historical novel set locally during the English Civil War, and he's been I think three times, and is very popular. Or you could get children's authors in to read to DC from their books, and have them on sale.
I love my local library. Having a fancy of reading a particular book and then finding it on the library shelf is such a joy. But failing that, I order books through them probably once or twice a month - costs me £1 and normally takes less than a week to arrive. Brilliant.

Things my library does

Book clubs, particularly ones aimed at varying groups, they have one for retired folk, ones for various kids ages, one for teens with autism etc.

They offer their meeting rooms to local groups for very little cost. These include things like computer courses for beginners, help to read for adults, they have someone who helps with CVs and job applications.

They run summer reading schemes.

They are very engaged with the schools and often ask the schools about what they can do to help support the learning. They also run after school clubs alongside the schools where they use the outside area to play a game and then read a book along the same theme.

They support local authors and artists by displaying and advertising their work and getting authors in to speak.

They get people in for work experience which always keeps fresh ideas coming in and many have benefitted.

My library has 2 late nights per week until 8pm and does shut down over Christmas.

What counts as a library being 'used'? Do books have to be borrowed? Do you count people coming through the door? Does it have to prove it's reaching certain groups of people?

One thing my library is missing is somewhere to genuinely sit and read. It's all been refurbished with various rooms now and I've been so looking forward to using it but the last couple of times I've been in, it's been noisy in the main area - the staff and volunteers chat at a ridiculous volume, way more noisy than even the kids area - and the 'reading room' has had a sign saying the room in unavailable. I love going to library but these two things really put me off. So a truly quiet dedicated space to spend some time rather than going in and having to navigate all the same annoyances as everywhere else that makes you either avoid it or get in and out as quickly as possible.

Dedicated 'special' shelves if it's a small library. Mine is, and they currently have a few dedicated shelves for dystopian books taken out of the fiction, sci-fi and fantasy sections from various libraries and put together for a while, which I think is a great idea.

And clubs/groups for tween children who are often just that bit too old or too young for most library groups or classes. Some libraries are running a coding club and it includes that age group which is great, if only anyone would bother responding to queries about how to join it. It would help to make sure events are actually visible and advertised with ALL the relevant info in a user-friendly way!

I would say if you have the resources or connections, link in with the local schools and nurseries, bring them to you or visit them.

Libraries are always easy pickings when councils have to make savings, as there's no minimum standard of service that they have to adhere to. They're competing for funding against adult social care which is demand driven, and schools, where spending is (iirc) funded under a formula.

It's particularly bad in rural counties. Only two libraries in my county are open 6 days a week, in the smaller towns, c 20k population, they're only open 28 hours a week.

When my dc was a baby we used to go to Bounce and Rhyme at the library. Loved it. And we have both always loved just browsing and finding something to read. Things I like in a library include or would include:

-Quiet atmosphere (ironic given I enjoyed Bounce and Rhyme, but maybe a second room would be useful? It could also be used for other activities and groups like social clubs for lonely people or something.
-good range of books by different authors
-printing that isn’t madly expensice
-help to access information, if necessary
-book groups for different genres or interests
-open when I am free, so not midweek in the middle of the day
-meditation group or other quiet, mindful or philosophical activity
-discussion groups

My local library seems to be very well used. It has resources for people who want to start a small business, a place to donate and take nappies, groups for refugees, dads, adult literacy, knitting and so on, exhibitions of local art and a big communal jigsaw on the go. There are noisy bits and quiet bits, tables where you are welcome to eat snacks and tables where you aren't, comfy chairs and hard chairs, something for everyone.

The word "footfall" has been mentioned. I think the general aim is to be a good community resource for as many people as possible. Some good ideas already - please keep them coming!

Our library draws on its strengths-
free ordering of books from all libraries in the county
app
free WiFi
printing
baby session
lego/toys out Saturday morning
book club
reading challenge
holiday lego sessions
printing
free computers

Ours is super popular now they have changed what it offers. Its the main library in a town with 85,000 people.

It has a very busy & popular cafe on the ground floor alongside adult fiction, lots of child friendly activities on the 1st floor with the kids books (baby rhyme time twice a week, story time for pre achoolers, family actitivites every saturday inc. Lego, colouring board games etc), non fiction on 2nd floor & computers & large desks for working on 3rd floor.

I absolutely love our library. It has several meetings rooms for community use & offers evening meetings ups etc.

The cafe is the thing that really attracts new customers in as its home cooked food at a reasonable price. People use it to meet up with friends etc & then see the other activities on offer.

Also, doing enough activities for babies & pre schoolers during the day also gets a lot of people through the door. They are all free & a lot of parents use them week after week.

I don’t normally use the library but did go a few times in summer with DD(8).

She didn’t get into it as the selection of books was no good. Most of the series she would be interested in, they had one or two random volumes (like parts 3 and 5 of 6). So I’d say- buy more copies of volume 1 of series.

i also sat and worked there while she was at a club but there was no loo which wasn’t good for me.

sorry for the negativity!

Not my local library, but a slightly smaller one near me has kids come regularly on school trips to have a story read to them. It rounds off the day after visiting the museum down the road.

Our library counts books in and out, computer use and group attendance as ‘using ‘ the library.
So someone mooching around doesn’t count but if a child goes and plays with the Lego they can be classed as attending a group.