Our open meeting at ALA Midwinter in Seattle drew quite a crowd—75 people joined us for an update on the project and a preview of our 2019 research plans. The session began with Steve Potash (Founder & CEO, Rakuten OverDrive) speaking about the ongoing need for objective data that can help educate the publishing community on the valuable work libraries do to connect readers with books and authors. Cliff Guren (Panorama Project lead) then recapped the project’s accomplishments over the past 10 months and gave an update (posted here) on the 2018 sales of Flat Broke with Two Goats, the title highlighted in the project‘s recently published Community Reading Event Impact Report.

Cliff then introduced a new initiative called Panorama Picks. This project uses aggregated, anonymized library ebook demand data to surface titles beyond the current bestseller list in high demand at public libraries. The project will compile lists of in demand adult and young-adult fiction and non-fiction titles on a quarterly basis. The lists will be shared with booksellers at no cost to help raise the visibility of the titles and promote sales. More information on Panorama Picks will be posted closer to the target launch date in late March.

The focus then turned to Readers’ Advisory. Magan Szwarek (Director of Reference Services at the Schaumburg, Illinois Township District Library and Readers‘ Advisory Impact Committee co-chair) introduced the committee’s first work product. The Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities catalogs the many services, programs, and marketing campaigns that public libraries and librarians, use to connect readers with books and authors. This first of its kind publication is the work of a committee of over 40 librarians and industry professional convened in fall 2018 by the Panorama Project. The full directory and a quick guide to Readers’ Advisory are available for download. You can also browse an online version of the full directory. The committee invites readers to share their feedback and submit additional activities, examples and useful links.

We were delighted to see that our open meeting was one of the sessions highlighted in Publishers Weekly’s show summary.

Learn more about the Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee and the Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities

View/download our media alert on the publication of the directory (PDF)

View/download the session presentation (PDF)

The Panorama Project is holding an open meeting at ALA Midwinter—the project’s first gathering at an ALA event!

Date: Saturday, January 26, 2019

Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Location: Washington State Convention Center (705 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98101), Conference Room 3B

The agenda for the meeting will include:

An introduction to the project by Cliff Guren, Project Lead, including a review of the project’s progress to date and an update on its research plans for 2019.
Magan Szwarek, Reference Services Director for Schaumberg Township District Library, and co-chair for the Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee, introducing the committee’s newly compiled Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities.
A review of the data and findings in the project’s recently published community reading event report which examined the impact of nationwide library reading campaign on the discovery, social media mentions, and sales of first time author Jennifer McGaha’s Flat Broke with Two Goats.

All interested publishing community stakeholders—librarians, publishers, booksellers, authors, industry service providers, industry organizations, and others—are invited to join us for this unique opportunity to learn about and discuss the project’s research on the many ways that libraries connect readers with books and authors.

Refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP if you plan on attending the meeting.

If you can’t attend the meeting, but would like to arrange a time at ALA Midwinter to learn about the project please email us.

Panorama Project Open Meeting Draws a Crowd at ALA Midwinter

Panorama Project to Hold Open Meeting at ALA Midwinter