The Second Edition of Our Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities is Now Available

We’re delighted to announce that the second edition of the Project’s Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities is now available—online and as a downloadable PDF. This revised version of the Directory includes a new appendix on Listeners' Advisory as well as a significant update of the Librarian Networking and Training appendix.

The Directory is the work of the Project’s Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee (RAIC)—a group of over 40 librarians and industry professional convened in fall 2018 by the Panorama Project to research and document the wide variety of Readers’ Advisory services, activities, and title recommendations provided by public libraries and librarians. The committee invites readers to share their feedback on the Directory and submit additional activities, examples and useful links.

The committee is currently analyzing the 400-plus responses it received from its recent survey of public libraries on their Readers’ Advisory activities and will issue a report later this summer.

Learn more about the Panorama Project Reader’s Advisory Impact Committee.

Join Us at ALA Annual for an Update on Current Challenges for Library Digital Lending and a First Look at the Findings from our Readers Advisory Survey

The Panorama Project is hosting a session at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 23, from 1:00 - 2:00 PM (Room 152A at the Washington Conference Center). 

• Sari Feldman (Executive Director, Cuyahoga County Library and former ALA President) will provide an update on issues regarding digital library lending.

• Sharon Bruni (Associate Director of Public Services, Mt. Lebanon Public Library) will present the initial findings from the Project’s recent survey of Readers’ Advisory activities.

• Becky Spratford (librarian and founder of RA for All) will present tips on how libraries can address the online and social media promotion opportunities surfaced in the initial survey results.

• Alexis Petric-Black (Senior Manager, Publisher Relations, Rakuten OverDrive) will present Panorama Picks, our recently launched program that uses library demand data to reveal opportunities for booksellers, publishers, authors and libraries.

It’s a packed session that will engage, inform and delight. We hope to see you there!

Community Reading Event Report Update

Last November we published our Community Reading Event Impact Report which presented our findings on the impact of the April 2018 Big Library Reads event on the sales of first-time author Jennifer McGaha’s Flat Broke with Two Goats (Sourcebooks, 2018). The report tracked sales of the book from its publication in January through May 2018. This post provides additional insight on the impact of the campaign over the remainder of 2018. The update is based on sales and marketing data generously provided by Sourcebooks.

While print and ebook sales declined following the community reading event in early April and Sourcebooks’ social media campaign in late April/early May, the publisher reported that the rate of decline was slower than usual for similar titles. Sales in June, July, and early August remained close to the pre-campaign sales levels the title established in March.

In addition, the strong sales that the title enjoyed during the community reading event generated enough sustained interest to warrant two special ebook promotions--one in July and one in November. These promotions clearly impacted ebook sales (as seen below), but also correspond to increases in print sales during the same time periods.

The July promotion drove sales volumes close to the peak volumes established during the community reading event. The November promotion drove another substantial lift. (Note that December ebook sales numbers were not available for this update.) Post-campaign ebook sales (May through November) stayed above pre-campaign levels.

We will be conducting additional community reading event studies throughout 2019.

Panorama Project “Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities” Now Available

The Panorama Project Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee (RAIC) has published its first work product. The committee’s Directory of Readers’ Advisory Activities catalogs the many services, programs, and marketing campaigns that 16,000-plus U.S. public libraries and over 45,000 public 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 RAIC introduced the directory at the Panorama Project’s open meeting at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference. 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.

The directory provides descriptions and examples for 16 book/author recommendation services and activities. They include librarian-to-patron activities such as in-person conversations and recommendations, and library-to-community activities such as reading groups and book clubs, newsletters, author events, and a wide range of social media activities and virtual displays. The committee will continue cataloging Readers’ Advisory activities and reference examples. Updates will be published on a regular basis. Next, the committee will be surveying the country’s public libraries to determine which advisory activities are most prevalent and measure the effectiveness of the most widely adopted activities.

The Panorama Project convened the RAIC to research and document the wide variety of Readers’ Advisory services, activities, and title recommendations provided by public libraries and librarians. The committee is co-chaired by Bill Kelly (Adult Programming Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library), Cindy Orr (Digital Collection Advisor, OverDrive), and Magan Swarek (Director of Reference Services, Schaumburg Township District Library).

Learn more about the Panorama Project Reader’s Advisory Impact Committee.

First Panorama Project Research Report Released

Today the project is releasing its first research report. The project’s Community Reading Event Impact Report presents findings on the impact of a recent OverDrive Big Library Read (BLR) community reading campaign. First-time author Jennifer McGaha’s Flat Broke With Two Goats (Sourcebooks, 2018) was selected for the April 2018 public library ebook club event. The data analyzed by the project shows that the selection and promotion of the title for the April 2–16, 2018 event aligns with significant increases in associated social media activity and retail print/ebook sales.

Discovery Impact from the Campaign

• 5.6 million page views globally of the ebook title details page in public library digital catalogs.

• An increase in title’s Amazon Kindle sales rank—from below 200,000 prior to the library ebook club campaign to 7,833 at the close of the event.

Brand Development Impact from the Campaign

• Over 13,000 Goodreads members added the title to their shelves during the campaign.

• 400+ comments from readers, librarians, the author, and OverDrive forum moderator on the OverDrive moderated title discussion board.

• 500+ mentions from libraries and readers across social media using #BigLibraryRead.

Retail Sales Impact from the Campaign

• 818% growth in ebook sales from March to April, 2018.

• 201% growth in print sales from March to April, 2018.

• Sustained retail sales above pre-campaign (January–March 2018) volumes:

  • April–June 2018 ebook sales continued at 720% above pre-campaign volumes.

  • April–June 2018 print sales continued at 38% percent above pre-campaign volumes.

Data was aggregated from a number of sources to obtain the most holistic view possible of all library and retail sales activity (print and ebook) across multiple channels. The data sources include U.S. retail data from The NPD Group’s DecisionKey® retail book sales tracking service (formerly Bookscan™), U.S. public library ebook circulation data provided by OverDrive, and U.S. sales and marketing data from the publisher. In addition to sales data we have aggregated and incorporated promotional activities known to have been undertaken independently by OverDrive and Sourcebooks.

This is the first of several library impact research projects that we are working on. The report demonstrates how we are using library and retail data to develop a better understanding of the impact of the country’s public libraries on book discovery, author/brand development, and retail sales. We believe that the publication of this first report will serve as a catalyst for others in the publishing community to engage with the project. We are grateful for the contributions and support of Sourcebooks and the members of our Advisory Council—all of whom have provided insightful and helpful feedback.

View/Download the Report

View/Download the Media Alert

Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee Now Forming

The Panorama Project is organizing a Readers’ Advisory Impact Committee to research and document the wide variety of Reader’s Advisory services, activities, and title recommendations  provided by public libraries and librarians. The committee is open to interested libraries and librarians, as well as other industry professionals.

The committee will be investigating all forms of book, genre, series, and author recommendations and merchandising services/activities. These will include programs and activities inside public libraries, public meeting spaces, and community buildings. It will also include a growing list of online channels that readers encounter via library catalogs, reading apps, reading clubs, and social media platforms.

The committee will document and research both direct (one-to-one recommendations) and indirect (one-to-many) Readers' Advisory activities. These include in-library table and shelf displays, library catalog and website displays, reading lists (distributed in print and electronically), newsletters, podcasts, blog posts, author events and visits, and more.

Once compiled, the committee will measure and analyze the impact library Readers’ Advisory activities have on title/author discovery, brand development, and book sales.

The Readers' Advisory Impact Committee will be facilitated by Bill Kelly, Cindy Orr, and Magan Szwarek. The committee will begin holding regular teleconference calls in October.

Click here to learn more about the committee and facilitators

Click here to join the Reader’s Advisory Impact Committee

September Pilot Project Update

This post provides an update on the pilot projects we introduced last month.

• Mid-List Authors Study - We are redesigning and refocusing this study. The updated research plan will include mid-list titles from several publishers, but will not include less well known titles from commercially successful authors. We believe that this more diverse, but more tightly focused test title group will yield more broadly applicable insights.

• Genre Study - We are gathering data for this study and fine-tuning our research methodology. We expect to begin our formal research in a few weeks.

• Library Reading Events Study - Our research and analysis for this study is done; we are writing our report. We will be sharing our findings later this fall.

• Library Author Events Study - We are in the final stages of our data gathering and cleaning for this study. We will be exploring and analyzing the data this fall, with the goal of issuing a report by the end of the year.

• Library/Book Seller Partnership Study - We are working with our current partners to refine our processes for collecting, organizing, and sharing library data. We are also recruiting additional library and retail partners for this study.

The project team is also researching the viability of several new studies, including a project focused on understanding the impact of library Readers’ Advisory activities.

We will share more on these new initiatives in upcoming posts.