In early September 2017, I delivered two presentations to the Public Libraries Western Australia conference at the University of Western Australia in Perth. The first of the presentations was entitled ‘The Future of the Public Library: from dusty tomes to disruptive technologies’. You will find the slides of the presentation below: The Future of the…
Category: Libraries & Books
Presentation: Marketing the Library – How to Achieve Cut-Through Amid a Tsunamis of Marketing Messages
Some thoughts about how to market your library in this day-and-age – the second of two presentations that I delivered to the Public Libraries Western Australia Conference in September 2017. Marketing the Library: How to Achieve Cut-Through Amid a Tsunamis of Marketing Messages from Clayton Wehner Video Here’s the video recording…
Presentation: Social Media and Libraries
The good folks at the Public Libraries of South Australia Association asked me to deliver a presentation about social media and libraries at their training day on Monday 24 July 2017. The presentation can be accessed below. Much of the presentation draws upon the content of the recently-released Sensis Social Media Report 2017. Social Media…
An Industry Analysis of the Australian Print Bookselling Industry
The following is an assignment that I wrote for the Strategic Management unit in my MBA. We were required to produce an industry analysis incorporating strategic management frameworks and tools, such as Porter’s Five Forces and PEST analysis. I’m publishing it here because it might be of interest to booksellers or other strategic management students….
The Conversation Around Library Funding Cuts Needs to Focus on ‘Effectiveness’, not ‘Efficiency’
Library Funding Cuts Recently the State Government announced that funding will be reduced for the State Library of South Australia in the coming three years. Media reports suggest that the Library has been charged with finding $6 million in savings, which equates to the loss of 20 of its 115 full-time employees. (note that these…
A Quick Read While You Ride? Free Magazines on the Tram Initiative
The Free Magazines on the Tram Initiative Recently I helped Public Libraries of South Australia and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure with an initiative to provide a selection of free electronic magazines to commuters on Adelaide’s metropolitan tram service. The initiative was launched on 10 August 2016 with this press release from the…
Digital Strategy for Library Network – Presentation to PLSA Quarterly
Yesterday I delivered a presentation to the Public Libraries South Australia association at their Quarterly Update meeting at the Cove Civic Centre, Hallett Cove. You can see the Prezi presentation slides here… The following is a transcript of the presentation: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. No koalas behind the back today, but I promise I…
The Library’s Digital Future – Presentation to State Library of SA
This morning I delivered a quick 15 minute presentation about the future of the library to the State Library of SA staff entitled: ‘The Library’s Digital Future’. Here is the Prezi presentation… And here is a transcript of the presentation: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. How many of you guys have ever taken an Uber? What…
The Fate of the Book
Before embarking on this blog post, let me first explain a few things: I am a physical bookseller. I have a vested interest in the ongoing relevance of physical books in society. Without physical books, my bookselling business is kaput. On a personal level, I love reading physical books. I love the tactile feel of…
Gemütlichkeit as an indicator
I’m currently studying ‘systems thinking’ at university and have been reading the works of one of the most renowned systems thinkers, Donella Meadows. Meadows writes about ‘indicators’ and their importance in all facets of our life. In business, we live and die by ‘key performance indicators’ (KPIs) as a measure of success. But Meadows suggests…
A Digital Vision for the South Australian Public Library Network
As a part of my consulting engagement with Public Library Services (PLS) of South Australia, I have produced a draft ‘digital vision’ statement (published below) for the SA library network for 2019. The vision statement is written from a retrospective viewpoint with the current date being ‘July 2019’. The vision statement is my own work. It…
Mindfulness and the Chinese Librarians
Last week my organisation farewelled ‘May’ and ‘Charles’, two librarians from China’s Shandong Province who have spent the last ten weeks working here in Adelaide with the State Library of South Australia on an exchange program. I hadn’t had a lot to do with May and Charles during their stay, but before they left for home,…
Is this what the library of the future looks like?
When I was in Melbourne recently, I took the opportunity to catch up with Gil Poznanski and take a look around the ‘Library at the Dock’ – my SA public library colleagues will recall that Gil spoke recently at the PLSA quarterly meeting at the State Library. In my short time in ‘library land’, I’ve heard…
A Comparative Analysis of Two Public Library Websites
In my capacity as the digital strategist at Public Libraries South Australia (PLS), I was lucky enough to visit the Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) service when I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks back – thanks to Anita, Marcus and Felicity for spending some time with me. The YPRL service operates nine public…
The Library of the Future: Presentation to Public Libraries SA
Today I delivered a 25-minute presentation, entitled The Library of 2019, to the quarterly meeting of the association of public libraries in South Australia, PLSA. The presentation took place at the Hetzel Lecture Theatre at the State Library of South Australia. You can access the Prezi slide deck that accompanied the presentation right here… The full…
How Libraries of SA can become even more relevant in the digital age
Last week I wrote about how the SA Library Service has evolved and the great benefits that you can get by rediscovering your local library. In the second part of the series, I’ve got 10 ideas for Libraries of SA to become even more relevant in the digital age. Here we go… Libraries in the Digital Age…
Love Your Library – Rediscover the benefits of your library service
When was the last time that you visited your local library? Next time you have a spare 15 minutes, I recommend that you drop in and take a look at how the humble library service has evolved. You will be surprised. The library service here in South Australia is fantastic and I’m sure you’ll be wondering why…
The competitive forces that are laying waste to booksellers
As an online book retailer myself and a lover of books, I was disheartened to see the demise of yet another Australian bookstore chain last week. Adelaide-based specialist university textbook retailer Unibooks, which has been in business for 80 years, will close its doors in 2016, with up to 100 employees set to lose their jobs. Are…