The Book of the Month promotion gives libraries the chance to stock and promote multiples of brand new paperback titles at the same time as the high street bookshops.

In collaboration with HarperCollins, this approach was trialed with six library authorities and was then rolled out to others, proving to be a great success.  Nearly 30 authorities are now involved. 

Participating authorities buy multiples of the designated HarperCollins Books of the Month from their regular book suppliers and HarperCollins provide free dumpbins and promotional materials including posters, sample chapters, proof copies and bookmarks.  (Click on the link below to see the titles selected for Jan-June 2003.)

Monitoring of the promotion showed that shelved copies of the same titles often didn't issue, whereas all 18 copies in the dumpbin went out on loan, sometimes within 48 hours.

Due to the success of the promotion, HarperCollins is keen to extend it to authorities in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland.  Contact Toby Watson at HarperCollins if you would like more information.