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!

Ban noisy people (especially those old enough to know better)

To pick up on something another poster said, the children's section in my library is quite poor. It's kind of chucked together and again the tween demographic seems to lose out. A massive chunk of the books are for under 5s, and then it's a bit of a mishmash until you get to more teen/YA books. The kids graphic novel section is very small. But overall the books seem to be quite old, and the queue for newer or more popular books can be 5-6 months. I think libraries are admirably trying to attract everyone but then spreading resources really thinly. I think another pp is possibly right about focusing in more on a core purpose. The Mills & Boon section never seems to have any gaps on the very heavily stocked dedicated shelves, but the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have a queue as long as your arm for them.

Ours closes two days a week to cut costs, which I think is better than a big close down.
It has hot drinks available.
We go there for Lego club, drawing sessions and used to use the toddler play sessions and craft sessions. They also host a knitting group, and a few other groups.
They do summer reading challenges for the kids.
The library van goes round the local schools so the kids enjoy taking out a book and it means they have to have a library membership.
It has a designated and gated children's area.

It lacks toilets. Or at least they've blocked them off so you can only use them if you ask very nicely or look like your kid might pee on the floor. That's the biggest draw back.

My local one is always busy. It has some nice comfortable reading areas. Dedicated quiet rooms, and a small cafe area so you can stay all day and not worry about drinks and getting hungry.

Our library has started opening Sunday mornings for 3 hours from 9.30-12.30. They have story time at 10 on that day and get about 25 families. It’s a great thing for parents who work full time and want to do free activities with the DC.

They are also about to trial 24 hour access. I don’t know the full details but members will need to apply and attend a training sesssion before being accepted. They will then get a swipe card to access after hours. Not sure about time limits wtc.

They offer a variety of activities that have already been mentioned.

I also think it’s important to have after hours returns. They have recently installed this and it works by scanning the books then it opens. This stops people just putting random stuff through.

They also have free charging stations for phones.

If it helps @herbalteabag , at the library I used to work at and all in the same county, money from book fines went directly into buying new books - I know libraries have big costs besides the books but this fact was always popular with our customers, and since I've not been staff so also often pay fines because I'm not in super regularly any more, I feel happier paying mine knowing it's helping fund new books!

Toilets. Comfortable seating. Places to work or study quietly. Plug sockets.
Being clear on website you can come in and use facilities with no library card.

Having systems that allow you to check out/in books without your physical library card may help.

I never did impromptu visits to ours as I don't carry my card all the time but they recently changed the machines which means you can manually log in or scan your barcode via the app so I've been doing lots of unplanned visits since then.

I think a barrier to me is joining the local library.

I don't see why you can't sign up online and get an online card/QR code.

Instead atm I have to go in person, with proof of address, and physically sign up. I never seem to have the time to be bothered to do that and seems a faff.

It doesn't seem with our library, signing up is encouraged. Also you can only use the libraries that come under your council, where others near where you work, or better ones in the county next to the boundary etc, you can't use.

I think you've answered your own issue: you have to provide physical proof of living in the LA as they are the ones who fund the library, and online could be open to abuse. It comes out of your rates, if that helps.

I don't see why you can't sign up online and get an online card/QR code.

You can sign up online to my local library and they used to post you the card (don’t know if they still do) - although I’m not sure what’s happened to mine!

I’d like to see reciprocal agreements between libraries. I live and work in two different cities. It’s more convenient to go to a library nearer my work place.

Thank you @echt yes I realise that but I don't know why they can't check the electoral roll/council tax number, or whatever.

It's a shame because in my old county there are some libraries I would rather use, but I don't live there. I don't think this lack of flexibility is helping the popularity of libraries.

@LaserPumpkin just looked on our council website, where as you can sign up online, you still have to attend with proof of address etc and to get a physical card.

No wonder some people can't be bothered they're not doing much to help their longevity, where I am in any case.

Our library is always full of people.
Mon- fri opening hours are 9am-9pm and on the weekends 9am-5pm.
they have once or twice weekly story time for little kids and organise different things once per week for other kids age groups (eg coding for older kids, arts and crafts for in between kids etc).
for adults they run different classes too- eg for people who want to immigrate/ apply for Pr or passport- language practice classes, etc
there are few seating areas with comfortable chairs, you can also borrow some board games and puzzles apart from books.

I began full time work as a library assistant and became a qualified librarian running my own branch.

We had a quiet reading room and a separate childrens room so kids talking and laughing did not disturb thse trying to read or study. One a week we had a children's hour with activities like craft, quizzes, games and stories. That was usually early evening between 5 and 6 pm. Every few weeks there was some kind of outreach activity such as a guest speaker, poetry or folk evenings. Once we had a barber shop recital which 200 people attended. We also provided an outreach service to housebound readers. The library was open 6 days a week from 9 am -9 pm (2 staff shifts) and 5-9 on a saturday.

Things began to go wrong in the 1970s when local authorities were cutting costs and places like art galleries, museums and libraries were the victims. Hours were cut and so were staff numbers. I went through several re-organizations (each a cost cutting exercise) before I saw the light. I left in my early 40s and went to uni as a mature student. I never returned to librarianship as I became an academic.

It makes me so sad when I see what happened to libraries where I used to work. One is now derelict and waiting to be demolished. One (a beautiful old building) is closed for lack of volunteers. One was recently damaged in the Liverpool riots. Those that are left seem to have morphed into commercial hubs with no quiet spaces for people to read or study. When I was a young woman and studying for exams the library was my refuge. All that has now gone and librarianship as a profession has changed out of all recognition.

I'm amazed you can't renew your books online or by phone.

I miss libraries being peaceful places where you could read or study
I tried to work in one the other day because I was in a different town for a few hours. But it was filled with small toddlers having a noisy sing along. Surely the singing should be in a village hall or similar

There's nowhere no to go and find peace and quiet . That would feel like a rare luxury

Oh. And opening hours that actually work. Not 10-2 on a Tuesday

I got put off borrowing books when I was homeless for a bit and lost some books and the library wouldn't waive the fines. S

Our old library had this, it was also open Sundays which was the most convenient day for me to go.

Better resources for blind/visually impaired children..

Look up oodi in Helsinki. That is a library for the modern day.

Lots of great examples here so I won’t repeat them but my major recommendation is to employ full-time staff. Our library has absolutely great resources but no one in it works more than 8 hours a week. It’s entirely to save money, even part-time people want more than 4-8 hours a week. Upshot is, no one really knows their job or the library itself and if you have a query, it often goes unanswered. People leave when they get more hours somewhere else, it’s pretty much a constant merry-go-round of staff.

I recently re-joined my library for one reason. I can read the papers online without paying a subscription. Not many people know about this, maybe publicise it?

A book exchange, or exchanges. If someone has a chaotic life or certain medical needs they may not be able to get a borrowed book back but a book exchange where you leave a book and take a book. This could also work well for children's books.

Could you set up some form or reading club for children. I'm thinking maybe a teen doing D of E could listen to smaller children read. I know parents should be doing this but not all can and it's quite exciting for a small child to have a teen listening to them.

Offer work experience if you can, lots of schools want work experience placements. OK this doesn't bring in people directly but might encourage other teens.

A lot of schools don't have text books maybe have some GCSE / A Level / BTEC text books.

Definitely a quiet place to read / study.

Have a 'warm space' in winter. If you have AC a 'cool space' in summer.

A 'how to use the library' session, maybe in the library or maybe in local schools.

A monthly prize draw for members? Lots of businesses will give things that can be raffled / used as prizes, you could even have a business sponsor the draw.

You said it is socially mixed, is it culturally mixed? Do you want to highlight eg books written by POC? Or people with disabilities?

Could you have foreign or bilingual (if you don't already) books.

Who are you trying to attract? Families with young children need very different things at different times than teens or retired people or adults trying to get employment or ….

You cannot be all things to all people with services and opening hours dependent on volunteers. However well-meaning.

Start by working out who you want to target, then get information directly from non-users who are in that group about what stops them from using the library and what would attract them, then carefully plan and cost services that will be attractive to them, ensuring they are sustainable and can be reliably provided every week/day/month, then get someone with marketing expertise to plan a marketing campaign to attract the new users.

It is great you are trying to do something, but if it were quick and easy all libraries would have done it already!

Also - contact CILIP (the professional body for libraries and librarians) for help and support. They have lots of ideas from successful public libraries you can be inspired by.

Our library is brilliant. They do so much.
They’re open til 8pm 3 times a week, have a separate children’s library and a separate Young Adult section.
They have lots of volunteers via teens doing Duke of Edinburgh.
some of the things they do is
Kids coding club
lego club
toddlers rhyme and story time
Homework and reading help on Saturdays
Adult wellness club
Adult knitting club

There are lots of places to study and good access to computers.

A friend lives in the US and they do some interesting seasonal things and one that she says is popular is a Blind Date with a book for valentines. A selection of books are covered in brown paper with a little note on the genre and you just pick one and take it home.

I think we are lucky with libraries in our area.

They all have good kids area and story times I used to go to when mine were younger.

instead of closing libraries to save costs the council has gone self service for some of the time. So in my area they are open 8am-9pm and staffed for core hours in the middle of the day. So they are open more than before and it’s great for students that don’t have anywhere to study at home - coming up to exam season it can be impossible to find a desk there are so many people here.

in a couple of places they have moved them from
standalone building to within a leisure centre - gets more people visiting I think.

The main library often has art exhibitions. It also has a well baby clinic in it now I think. My library has an upstairs room and I think they often have meetings in it or recitals in the evening.