Backstage Tour!

Many academic libraries provide library orientation tours each fall. Could a library give a backstage tour instead? It seems to me that it might draw a bigger, more enthusiastic crowd and provide more exciting ways to get across the same messages. What better place to describe circulation policies than where the library breathes--"at the start of the term, the stacks exhale books in great swirling clouds; at the end of the term, the library inhales, and the books fly back." (Matthew Battles, page 6 of The Library: An Unquiet History) Perhaps students will feel more comfortable making appointments with reference librarians if they have seen their offices. Many students would be thrilled by the opportunity to learn about the oldest books in the collection and how they are cared for by special collection and preservation librarians.

The backstage tour metaphor carries over to the library's website as well. When I gave my presentation about ways libraries can use blogs, I included two entries from the St. Joseph County Public Libary blog about the latest Lemony Snicket novel. They are little gems. The first gives a teaser about the novel, while hinting at the process that happens before a book is placed on a shelf at a library. The second encourages the reader to use the catalog and pay attention to the locations of the book. Both give a humourous, human voice to the library.

This entry was inspired by number 28 on The Cluetrain Manifesto. "Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on inside the company." Libraries never had a competitive secret reason for hiding the backstage. Perhaps libraries fear that people will find it boring. Some will. Some won't. The ones who find it fascinating will be our best customers.     #

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