Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal August 2006 Volume 4(4)

Skills sharing

Speed dating & chat shows

It’s a date
We met in London and were paired up using “speed dating”. In just five-minute slots with each publisher, we explored potential ways of working together. In the end, my partnership was more of an arranged marriage as Penguin had specifically asked to work with the Scottish representative and I was happy to partner Louisa Symington. Our project was to create links between Penguin and Scotland, gathering feedback from reading groups and setting up events.

Louisa visited Glasgow and met the librarians who facilitate our reading groups, followed by a visit to the lunchtime group at Library at GoMA. A tour of the Mitchell Library allowed Louisa to see the rooms available for events, including the splendid Burns and Jeffrey Rooms.

Louisa was interested in finding out from our reading groups:
>>Who chooses the books and how
>>Which books have been successful recently – these included Penguin titles A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Any Human Heart
>>Members’ book-buying habits – she particularly liked the pitch we use in libraries: “Try before you buy.”
>>How the groups were involved with Aye Write: Glasgow’s Book Festival

Next, I visited Penguin and met marketing and publicity people and learned about the process of marketing books – from buying at auction to getting copies into retailers. We discussed various issues around reading groups, author events and promotions. Penguin supplied us with jacket images for our “Books They Tried To Ban” promotion.
Louisa introduced me to Judy Moir of Penguin Scotland and, as we were planning an author event at Glasgow’s West End Festival with Penguin author Alison Miller, Louisa advertised it on their Readers’ Group web page, a new advertising medium for us.

Our link with Penguin continues: we are in touch about new books and authors. I am sent proofs and gather feedback from staff and book groups; and we are planning more author visits. In July Whiteinch Book Group was Group of the Month on the Readers’ Group website, reading copies of In the Country of Men supplied by Louisa.

From Reading Partners I have learnt that there is huge scope for libraries and publishers to work together to promote the joys of reading. I learnt how to pitch to a publisher for an author and also the value of networking – deliver on one project and more offers will come your way. I also learned that libraries have as much to offer publishers as the other way round; they have the books and the authors, we have readers and reading groups. This knowledge has hugely boosted my confidence in approaching publishers.

These new skills were put to good use in a successful project with Faber. Keen to work with reading groups in Scotland during the publication of The Observations by Jane Harris, they supplied proof copies for our book groups with a view to bringing the author to Scotland for a reading. I successfully pitched to host the reading in the Mitchell Library. By the time of publication the book had received such extensive coverage and been so well reviewed that we found ourselves in the vanguard of something of a publishing sensation and extremely fortunate to be hosting Jane’s only Glasgow reading. This event sums up what Reading Partners is all about.

Chat show
May saw me back at Penguin, this time in the impressive boardroom on the tenth floor, for the grand finale of the project. Tom Palmer had devised a chat show format and I was one of the guest interviewees.

The day also saw the launch of More Readers Reading More, a handbook of ideas for library-publisher collaboration. It covers how to pitch to publishers and access the Reading Partners databases. Every local authority received two copies of the book.

The project delivered beyond my expectations in terms of personal development, benefits to the service and to our readers.

Mary Greenshields is Adult Services Coordinator, Cultural and Leisure Services, the Mitchell Library
t: 0141 287 2865.

Information Scotland Vol. 4(4) August 2006

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