Patron Attendance Soars at Redesigned Dutch Library

February 16, 2015

Redesigned Dutch Library

A library in the town of Almere in the Netherlands has figured out how to boost patron attendance to record-high levels.

Using patron surveys as a guide, library administrators at the Nieuewe Bibliotheek (New Library) redesigned their library to feel like a high-end bookstore to entice their customers. Instead of organizing books by genre, for example, the New Library uses bookseller techniques of grouping books by topic—combining genres—and displaying attention-grabbing books face-out.

The results? In its first two months, the New Library brought in over 100,000 visitors, and in 2013, over a million visitors used its facilities.

According to the early patron surveys, “Customers... found the library dull and boring,” said administrators Roy Paes and Marga Kleinenburg in an interview with Shareable. “Our survey also showed that 70-75 percent of the customers did not visit the library with a specific title in mind. They came browsing. That insight [confirmed] that we wanted to entice the customer, [h]ence the retail techniques and the many places to read, sit down, etc. Our goal was to extend their stay.”

Almere is a new town, and since the library’s opening in 2010, it has already contributed to the town’s pride, said Paes and Kleinenburg. “In general, the image of new towns in the Netherlands is a negative one. From all over the Netherlands, and from abroad, people come to visit the library in Almere [and] thus make them acquainted with the city. In this way, the impact of the new library on the community of Almere would be comparable with the impact of the Guggenheim museum in the city of Bilbao.”

The New Library is also a Seats2meet (S2M) location, which allows patrons to connect and work with others in exchange for a free and permanent space in which to co-work. Further, it has a café, reading garden, events and music program, and a gaming facility.

Library-goers: what do you think? Should libraries have the ambiance of bookstores?

 


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