Book shop experience

This book shop in a well-known chain had a right old clutter at the entrance - large unattractive tables of mixed specials - books, cards, pens etc, small stands of nick-nacks, a table of all sorts for children's Father's Day presents, posters on the sides of stands, and behind all this, some books.

Getting past all this into the main book displays it was very different. Lots of books were displayed face-out with ends of stands looking very attractive. Often they used multiple copies of a single title, a simple colour theme and clear signage.

I had very limited time, but learnt something important about what not to do with an entrance, and confirmed again that face-out displays using simple colour schemes and effective signage draw people to look twice.

Reading experience

On Google, one thing always leads to another and after browsing a number of larger American sites I eventually came to the whatshouldIreadnext.com website. A search on this site can be as simple as entering the title of one book you have enjoyed, which will result in a list of ten recommendations. You can register to add more books you have enjoyed to your list, which helps refine the selection. This could be a useful tool for a patron in a hurry.

I also really liked the Manukau Libraries Next Reads section, where recent fiction and non-fiction titles are grouped into categories and one click takes the reader to a short selection of reviewed books. www.manukau-libraries.govt.nz.