New Routes to Library Success: 100+ Ideas from Outside the Stacks

Whether in person or electronically, users come to the public library from outside the library realm. And that's exactly where genuinely transformational ideas lie. In this book Doucett mines new territory by exploring how successful organizations "outside the stacks" conduct their business. By analyzing what several private-sector organizations and their leaders are doing outstandingly well, she quickly hones in on transformational concepts that are ready for application in public libraries, offering more than a hundred innovative ideas that can be put into practice to improve customer service and day-to-day library operations. Canvassing the worlds of advertising, online commerce, fundraising, retailing, and more, Doucett profiles such successful professionals as Margaret Atwell, Kickstarter Chris Wilson, L.L. Bean Brian Kevin and Ginny Wright, Down East Magazine Kate Chaney Chappell, Tom's of Maine Walter Briggs, Briggs Advertising An exciting survey of creativity in action, Doucett's book will encourage public library directors, managers, trustees, and staff to cross-pollinate their own expertise with innovative ideas from outside the stacks.

Elisabeth Doucett is the director of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. In addition to a master's degree from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, she has an MBA in marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. She is author of the books Creating Your Library Brand and What They Don't Teach You at Library School. She speaks and teaches nationally, generally focusing on the topics of library marketing, branding, and trend tracking.