Every year, public libraries across the United States produce, market, and host thousands of readings, book clubs, literary festivals, comic cons, and other experiential events that directly connect their local patrons to books and authors—new and old. Some libraries work in partnership with publishers and/or local booksellers on full-fledged book tours, while most work directly with individual midlist authors who live in their local regions.
Ask most authors and they'll confirm that publisher-organized book tours are an increasingly rare experience, typically reserved for proven A-listers and guaranteed New York Times bestsellers. Publishers’ marketing investments today typically involve printing and distributing ARCs to prepub reviewers and securing paid advertising in traditional and digital channels—all in the hopes of building awareness and driving sales. And the level of investment of course varies by title, author, and sales estimations. It’s no secret that many new releases get no dedicated marketing budget at all, often left to rely on the author’s own platforms and marketing savvy.
As a result, library events are often one of the few opportunities for local and midlist authors to get in front of an interested audience without investing their own money. As the [2019 Public Library Events & Book Sales Survey] found, big bestselling authors aren’t the primary focus of most public library author events. Respondents reported that less than half of the authors booked at their libraries were recent bestsellers.
—Putting a Value on Author Events at the Library, Publishers Weekly
The Panorama Project has published the Library Marketing Valuation Toolkit to help librarians measure and communicate the monetary value of their marketing efforts to publishers in a context they’re familiar with.
The Toolkit includes three key components:
Directory of Best Practices For Public Library Events
Library Marketing Valuation Calculator
Library Media Kit Template
The Directory identifies best practices for producing and marketing a variety of author and book-related events at public libraries—in physical and virtual formats—while the Valuation Calculator and Media Kit Template are customizable tools librarians can use to measure and communicate the monetary value of the various marketing tactics they employ based on relevant local media options.
The development of the Toolkit was a collaborative effort with Panorama Project’s Library Events Committee members, guided by project lead, Guy LeCharles Gonzalez.
Patty Conway, Community Relations Coordinator; Henrico County Public Library, VA
Cari Dubiel, Adult Learning and Information Services Manager; Twinsburg Public Library, OH
Bill Kelly, Adult Programming Manager: Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH
Lucy Lockley, Lead Collection Development Librarian; St. Charles City-County Library, MO
Magan Szwarek, Reference Services Director; Schaumburg Township District Library, IL
To access the Toolkit, visit panoramaproject.org/library-marketing-valuation-toolkit. For more information, contact info@panoramaproject.org.