Six Years of Transformation: Trading Spaces in Mount Laurel

Six Years of Transformation: Trading Spaces in Mount Laurel

Kathy Schalk-GreeneDirector, Mount Laurel Library

kathy@mtlaurel.lib.nj.us

SWAT Team of Library Transformers

NJLA Conference 2010

Once upon a time…

Preconference:Merchant LibrarianApril 2003

Dave Genesy

Trading Spaces Project

BrainchildKaren Hyman,

South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative

Norma Blake, New Jersey State LibraryGondola

Project Goals

Show affordable retail merchandising techniques

Show policy, cultural and physical changes

Demonstrate increased circulation and customer satisfaction

Project timelineProject start:

July 2003Project budget:

$45,000Unveiled:

March 23, 2004

The adventure continues…

Slat wall

Fun

Before: August 2003

AFTER: March 2004

Slat wall

RetailArea Rug

…and they lived happily ever after

The library is a growing organism

Special Weapons And Tactics

More solutions than you first think

Weeding creates space

Less is more

Create comfort

Use creative signage

Buy everything you can on wheels

Live in the NOW

Remember Raganathan

Books are for use Every reader his or her book Every book its reader Save the time of the reader

The library is a growing organism

Mess equals success

Simple things you can start today

Remember:

Willingness is more valuable than money

Two Good Books to Read

Underhill, Paco. Why we buy: the science of shopping. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1999.

Brand, Stewart. How buildings learn: what happens after they’re built. New York : Viking, 1994.

Leap the chasm!

“You can’t leap the chasm taking baby steps.Baby steps will kill you.”

--Dave Genesy

www.sjrlc.org/tradingspaces