In Year Two of Branching Out there are 6 major reader projects. This programme benefits all library authorities not just the ones in Branching Out. In determining which projects went ahead there were clear guidelines to follow. Project ideas were tested against the following criteria:
- Branching Out is about fundamental structural changes, not just about individual projects. The projects are a vehicle for testing and embedding changes in practice. Every project will clearly state the change process it is contributing towards and how progress will be evaluated.
- Branching Out is about involving readers. The projects start from the reader not from the writer or the book.
- Branching Out is about books and ICT not books versus ICT. Projects will demonstrate how ICT can be used to promote reading.
- Branching Out is about developing librarians' skills and experience beyond their current role. Projects will offer opportunities for librarians to gain new experience and develop their skills.
- Branching Out will purchase fiction and poetry in areas underbought by public libraries; it is the purpose of projects to promote this stock.
- Branching Out is about reaching readers aged 18-40 who are currently under-represented among library users. Projects will target this audience and will seek new ways to involve this age group.
- Branching Out is about researching reader needs and responses. Projects will include a research element where appropriate.
- Branching Out is about partnerships to create and sustain a culture for reader development. Projects will make concrete the relationships with Branching Out's structural partners in bookselling, arts funding, higher education and the National Library for the Blind. They will build on partnerships with The British Council, The British Centre for Literary Translation and publishers, and seek new partnerships as appropriate.
- Branching Out is a national initiative with a commitment to disseminate to all library authorities in England through regional networks. Major projects will be available to all authorities to purchase/participate in and training will be provided through the regional networks.
Each of the 6 major projects is being developed by a project group of librarians working with an external partner.
Open Ticket
Partner: Book Communications Ltd
The first of these national projects, Open Ticket, was funded separately by the Arts Council to promote World Literature in English. Open Ticket was launched on World Book Day, 10 March, 2000. Its aims were:
- To introduce readers to the delights of world literature and to engage them in debates about reading, identity and diversity.
- To create a model for a national reading promotion through libraries which can be adapted to use for different purposes.
- To increase library staff knowledge and confidence in selecting and promoting books in translation.
- To create and deliver a training programme which supports library staff in learning to promote (following the Oxfam maxim of 'give someone a fish and you feed them for a day, teach someone to fish and you feed them for life.')
The theme of Open Ticket was travel, real or imagined. There were two key elements to the promotion; an attractive package of display materials with high quality production values and a dedicated website offering resources, training support and project ideas.
During the lead-in to the project launch, Opening the Book devised and led five one-day training workshops. These workshops were organised by the Branching Out librarians through the ten regional networks. There was also an opportunity for Branching Out Librarians to lead parts of the training, with support from Opening the Book, thereby developing their own skills as trainers.
Open Ticket was the first national fiction promotion to directly tie a website into its delivery. The website is accessible to anyone and contains lists of project ideas to use with existing library users; projects targeting non-users; ideas for partnerships with other local authority departments; using the promotion with non-fiction readers, reading groups, housebound readers and on the mobiles. There are also downloadable templates for press releases and letters approaching local travel agents for joint-promotions.
Response to the materials was very enthusiastic. 93 library authorities took part. David Lindley of Books for Students said BfS sold five times as many of the World Literature titles included in the promotion than at any other time. Libraries reported great success in linking with local travel agents and supermarkets for joint promotions.
Open Ticket set a new standard for library promotions. The integrated approach of high-quality print, flexible bookstock, website support and regional training proved so successful that the project actually made a surplus. The Arts Council has allowed Branching Out to keep this surplus and put it towards a new promotion. Book Communications have started work with a new project group of librarians on a promotion for the autumn which will target science fiction/other worlds for the non-SF fan.
whichbook.net
Partner: Applied Psychology Research Ltd
The project group working on whichbook.net have taken responsibility for selecting and distributing the books. They have also undertaken user testing with staff and borrowers. They are now working on ideas to get the site noticed and used - results will be posted on the Branching Out website.
Loud and proud/It's a man thing
Partner: BfS
The Bookseller Partnership project team are now working on a promotion targeting male readers, It's A Man Thing. The Branching Out website will again provide support for any library staff running this promotion with training, resources, ideas for outreach projects and the opportunity for reader interactivity.
A Touch of ...
Partner: National Library for the Blind
NLB is co-ordinating an initiative to bring together the different providers of alternate formats to create a joint pack for public library authorities. The pack will consist of 10 taster compilations based on the theme of A Touch of (A Touch of Fear, Hot to the Touch etc). Each pack will contain Braille, CD, and cassette versions. The project group is working with NLB on the reader-centred aspects of the promotion and, especially, modelling how the pack is used in public libraries. Authorities will also plan events for the pack launch, in May 2001 working in partnership with their own local organisations for blind people.
Publisher partnership
Partner: HarperCollins
Book of the Month is piloting getting a new fiction title into the library in the month of publication, at the same time as it appears in the bookshops. The scheme was piloted with 6 authorities and has now been opened up to 33, before going national. This project group is also creating a new relationship between publishers and readers. HarperCollins is supplying reading groups with manuscript copies of new titles to read in advance of the publication date. The reading group discussion has an extra edge because of the feeling of being let in on a part of the literary world which usually ignores readers. Reader comments are then used to help sell the book. A further development of this is a new kind of author event. Bill Broady, first time novelist, visited a reading group in Durham where they had all read his novel in proof. The event was much more interactive than the standard author reading, and proved more satisfying for both author and readers. Broady said afterwards that he had never experienced such a quality of engagement with his writing anywhere, none of his reviewers came close.
unclassified
Partner: Opening the Book Ltd
unclassified is a new concept for promoting fiction in large libraries - a dedicated area where the books are organised on promotional not classifational principles. unclassified is up and running in 5 libraries and in the pipeline at 8 more. Commercial designers MDM Ltd are bringing an imaginative and professional approach to working within some fairly bleak libraries. At Croydon, unclassified was so successful in the first 24 hours that more books had to be bought.
