Public libraries’ focus on potential readers offers actionable marketing insights to local booksellers
The latest Panorama Picks have been announced by the Panorama Project, spotlighting notable recent fiction, nonfiction, and young adult ebooks with the highest unmet demand in United States public libraries. The nine regional lists feature 25 titles in each category—189 unique titles in total, including 77 of which are unique to a single region—reflecting the diverse interests of readers across the country not always represented in national bestsellers lists or big budget marketing initiatives.
“Public libraries’ physical and digital collections often reflect their respective community’s potential readership, so they tend to be more diverse than the average bookstore’s shelves,” said Panorama Project lead, Guy LeCharles Gonzalez. “Our primary goal with Panorama Picks remains arming regional booksellers with useful data from public libraries to help them identify recent books local readers are still interested in despite their promotional windows having passed.”
The new lists measure public library activity from January – March 2020, featuring books published from January – September 2019.
Unique regional selections from the Q1 2020 lists.
Among titles with notable unmet demand in a single region were Lauren Layne's Passion on Park Avenue; Karl Marlantes' Deep River; Yoko Ogawa's The Memory Police; J. Ryan Stradal's The Lager Queen of Minnesota; Laura Clery's Idiot; Monte Burch's The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Own Food; Barbara Morgan Gardner's The Priesthood Power of Women; Nisha Vora's The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook; Misa Sugiura's This Time Will Be Different; Melissa Grey's Rated; Holly Black's The Modern Faerie Tales; and F. C. Yee's Avatar, the Last Airbender.
Titles that were popular in multiple regions but had limited availability in public libraries to meet reader demand include Erica Bauermeister's The Scent Keeper; Alix E. Harrow's The Ten Thousand Doors of January; Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue; Simone Davies' The Montessori Toddler; Ada Calhoun's Why We Can't Sleep; Robert Iger's The Ride of a Lifetime; Mara Rutherford's Crown of Coral and Pearl; Elizabeth Lim's Spin the Dawn; and Laura Sebastian's Lady Smoke.
“The latest lists spotlight several 'older' books that are likely sitting spine out on their respective category shelves rather than being featured on a curated table of local picks. Or, more appropriately right now, in a promotional email to customers,” said Gonzalez. “With new releases finding it particularly difficult to garner attention right now, or being delayed until later in the year, serving unmet demand for books people already want to read is a good opportunity for booksellers, publishers, and even proactive authors."
NOTE: The direct impact from local or statewide “stay-at-home” orders is presumed to be minimal as most went into effect in mid-March or later. Also, the publication dates for books measured during this period do not include any that were affected by Macmillan’s recently retracted ebook lending restrictions.