2019 Public Library Events & Book Sales Survey
Every year, public libraries across the United States produce and host thousands of readings, literary festivals, book clubs, and other experiential events that directly connect local readers to books and authors.
The Public Library Events & Book Sales Survey offers key findings and critical takeaways to help measure and analyze the impact of library marketing and events on discovery of specific titles and authors, and sales via local booksellers and beyond. In the Winter of 2019 (December 2019 – February 2020), the Panorama Project surveyed nearly 200 public librarians in 30 states to catalog and measure the types of events their libraries produce, how they market and track their performance, and how they communicate their efforts to authors and publishers.
60.5% of respondents served populations of 100,000 or less
22.5% between 100,000- 499,999
17% over 500,000
49% of respondents produced 10 or more events per year, while 51% produced 10 or less—and there were notable differences between them in several areas.
Key Findings
Multi-event libraries produce a variety of event formats, while those producing fewer events focus community book clubs and topical speaker series.
Marketing channels are similar, but multi-event libraries say their websites are far more effective than those producing fewer events for whom social platforms are the second most effective channel.
Both groups of libraries tend to feature authors of all kinds, but traditionally published nonfiction authors are the most common for multi-event libraries, while those producing fewer events are more varied due to 90% relying on local authors vs. 67% for the other.
More than 90% of libraries work directly with authors, but multi-event libraries are far more likely to also work with publishers than those producing fewer events: 60% vs. 26%.
The vast majority of libraries sell books at their events: 95% of multi-event libraries, 86% of those producing fewer events.
Authors are more likely to bring their own books to sell at library events—85% for multi-event libraries, 76% for those producing fewer events—while many will also order them through a local bookseller (61% vs. 45%). Relatively few work directly with a publisher (25% vs. 14%), suggesting most publishers, and the industry in general, are unaware of library events' direct commercial impact.
Interestingly, a bookstore partner is as likely to handle book sales for multi-event libraries (78% vs. 65%), while libraries producing fewer events are more likely to rely on the author than a bookstore (73% vs. 50%). In many cases, library staff are not allowed to handle sales so a bookstore partner or Friends of the Library volunteer are often the main alternatives to the author handling sales themselves.
Multi-event libraries are far more likely to occasionally produce paid events—and half those events include a copy of a book as part of admission—but the vast majority (77%) never require paid admission. 92% of libraries producing fewer events never charge admission to their events.
45% of multi-event libraries sell more than 25 copies/book at their events, with 23% reporting sales of > 200 copies at their best event in 2019. 50% of those producing fewer events sell more than 25 copies/book at their events, with 18% reporting sales of > 200 copies at their best event in 2019. This suggests a combination of strong curation for an audience of borrowers who are also buyers.
Among the most compelling findings is how libraries measure and report the impact of their marketing and events to authors and publishers. After an event, libraries are most likely to maintain a relationship with an author, but other actions vary significantly between multi-event libraries and those producing fewer events.
64% of multi-event libraries survey their attendees for feedback, and 55% provide feedback to the author, but only 34% provide that feedback to their publisher or publicist. When tracking their own marketing efforts, only 44% track its impact on event attendance, 29% on circulation of related books, and 6% on local sales of related books.
Only 50% of libraries producing fewer events survey their attendees for feedback, with 42% providing feedback to the author but only 17% provide it to their publisher or publicist. When tracking their own marketing efforts, only 24% track its impact on event attendance, 15% on circulation of related books, and 5% on local sales of related books.
In the conversation about libraries' impact on the publishing ecosystem, these useful data points would go a long way to communicating their value explicitly to authors and publishers.
View/Download the Full Report (PDF).
As a follow-up to the survey and report, the Panorama Project produced the Library Marketing Valuation Toolkit which identifies best practices for producing and marketing a variety of author and book-related events at public libraries, and customizable templates librarians can use to measure and communicate the monetary value of the various marketing tactics they employ to champion books and authors in their local communities.