Shelftalkers, Seattle Public Library

During my time as a readers' advisor at Seattle Public Library, in addition to providing readers advisory from across our collection, in literary fiction, mystery, romance, westerns, science fiction, short stories, nonfiction, and teen fiction, I also created some passive readers’ advisory tools. In order to draw attention to authors with poor circulation numbers, I created a few “shelf talkers” such as this one.
[Text reads: After a difficult day, all I want is to curl up with something by Elizabeth Goudge. Romantic, charming and lyrical, her stories are full of nostalgia for the lovely English villages of her childhood and a deep understanding of human nature. Each book is a cherished vacation to a simpler and more beautiful world. - Audrey]
One of my colleagues commented on the success of this project.
“We have 11 new shelf talkers in the stacks! Audrey [and others] whipped some up, and are keeping an eye on how these directly merchandise books. For our experiment, we’ve been selecting authors who have multiple copies of books that haven’t seen as much “movement” in recent months and authors who are living in unfortunate circumstances on lower shelves. I’m convinced that Audrey’s write up of Anita Diamant inspired people to check out her books (five checked out in a couple of days)” – SPL librarian
[Text reads: After a difficult day, all I want is to curl up with something by Elizabeth Goudge. Romantic, charming and lyrical, her stories are full of nostalgia for the lovely English villages of her childhood and a deep understanding of human nature. Each book is a cherished vacation to a simpler and more beautiful world. - Audrey]
One of my colleagues commented on the success of this project.
“We have 11 new shelf talkers in the stacks! Audrey [and others] whipped some up, and are keeping an eye on how these directly merchandise books. For our experiment, we’ve been selecting authors who have multiple copies of books that haven’t seen as much “movement” in recent months and authors who are living in unfortunate circumstances on lower shelves. I’m convinced that Audrey’s write up of Anita Diamant inspired people to check out her books (five checked out in a couple of days)” – SPL librarian