Museum Audience Insight

Library Cards Are Empowering. Museum Membership Cards Could Be Too.

Think back to that day when you got your first library card.  Do you remember it?  Were you about five or six?  Did you feel really important that day?  Almost like an adult?

In our recent study of library users, we found that there were a lot of different things that adult respondents remembered from their childhood library experiences.  But some of the most vivid memories revolved around receiving their first library card. 

Why?  Because the library card is empowering.  It opens the door to different worlds, to far-flung lands and distant planets, to tales of heartbreak and joy.  It also conveys responsibility and maturity, and makes a young library user feel important and like an adult (just like mom and dad!).  As one respondent shared with us:

“. . . the kindly Librarian  . . .  asked me to sign my name on a form--a first--and she handed me the card, shook my hand, and welcomed me to the community of the world's readers . . .  That card meant more to me than anything except maybe my bicycle and dog.”

Libraries do a pretty good job of making that first library card a special moment.  Which has us thinking.  What about museums?

A museum membership card is also empowering.  It also opens the door to different worlds, to exploration, and to adventure.  It also is a very adult thing to have in one’s wallet.  But, generally, museums don’t give membership cards to children.

Which begs the question, why not?  Imagine how important a child would feel, receiving that museum membership card.  How adult they would feel, presenting it for entry (along with mom or dad, of course!).  Picture them storing it someplace important, and fingering it from time to time.  Consider the meaning that card would have for them, and how it makes them feel about museums in general, and your museum in particular.  Look ahead 25 – 30 years in the future, and how museums might figure in their lives as adults.  

There are a few museums that do give membership cards to children.  It is easy to see how proud James’s children were a few years ago upon receiving their membership cards to the American Museum of Natural History (pictured).  We’d just love to see more of these excited, and important, children at museums across the country.

(Oh – and there is a pragmatic benefit to giving membership cards to children.  It is an easy way to find out the ages and genders of children in your member households, allowing you to target your programming even better.)

But here is another idea.  Why limit membership cards to children of members?  Why not start a program where any local child can become a museum member?  For free.  You don't have to mail them anything, you don't have to even record them in a database, and the card would only allow them into the museum for free, not their parents.  It might be a cost-effective way to encourage more visits, generate goodwill, and create a special, and impactful, memory for a child.

Does your museum give membership cards to children?  Why or why not?  To share your thoughts, simply click on “comments” below.  (If you are reading this from your e-mail subscription to the blog, please go to our blog's website to add a comment.)

Books: The Ultimate Sticky Object?

Dinosaurs are sticky.  So are dioramas.  And suits of armor, dollhouses, and majestic architecture. 

We know these are sticky, as in memorable, from the considerable research we conducted last year on what adult museum-goers remember from their childhood museum experiences. 

But what about libraries?  Are there similar patterns?

When we conducted our study of libraries last year, we asked respondents to think back to their childhood library experiences, and tell us what they remember.  Interestingly, there were some similar patterns.

What do people remember? 

Overwhelmingly, books.  Looking at books.  Reading books.  Favorite books. 

“I never felt so wonderfully excited as a child when visiting my hometown library The walls and stacks of books full of secrets, adventures and stories of children who went to magical places, heartwarming family stories and imaginary friends all tucked between the shelves. I loved to talk to the librarians about new books and offer my opinion on them.”

And if they were not remembering books, they were remembering actually checking out books.

“I was utterly amazed that I was allowed to take 6 children's books home with me. What was even more astounding was that after I read them, I could turn them in for 6 more. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. ”

The activities and programs that took place in the children’s room were also memorable, as were the tangible rewards of reading programs:

“I remember the summer reading clubs. Every summer would have a new theme, a colored sheet of paper with, say, a haunted house background, and then every week I'd give a short report on what I read and get stickers. There were some prizes/event at the end, which I can't remember, but, man, I loved the theme sheets and stickers.”

Just like in our museum work, the scale of a library could be extremely memorable.  People talked about grand buildings, miles of books, and the stories hidden away within those books.

“It smelled wonderful. Like old books and wood. There were large glass windows and high, high ceilings. The books went on forever!”

Of course, librarians were memorable as well.  While most librarians were remembered fondly,

“Very supportive children's librarian, who would ask me ‘Where are you going this week?’ I was going places in my mind and imagination. And the librarian knew it!”

some were not,

“I hated it! It was very scary place and librarians were very mean. I always felt like I was bothering them if I had a question.”

There was one other area that was hugely memorable – that first library card.  We’ll explore that more in our next post.

So what did we learn about library memories, and how do these memories help us think about museum experiences?  Overall, the memories were similar. 

• While library memories are overwhelmingly about books, museum memories are about the fantastic objects that museums care for.  Collections, whether books or rocks, are memorable.
• Grand architecture and immense scale are common themes, and do not appear to be at all forbidding to young children, but instead delight and intrigue.
• Small, tangible mementos, such as stickers and ribbons, are retained or remembered from libraries, and small items given to children visiting museums (such as that length of silk thread, given to me at an exhibition on China, that I have held onto for 25 years) are also treasured.
• The kindness of a librarian, or a museum employee, can be a wonderful thing. 

These similar themes reinforce how important these “sticky” experiences are for children, and while not every museum is going to be able to hit all four memory hot buttons, it is worth considering how your museum is maximizing your sticky opportunities to ensure that young children today grow up with positive museum experiences to remember over the decades to come.

So what do you think?  What are your earliest library memories?  To share your thoughts, simply click on “comments” below.  (If you are reading this from your e-mail subscription to the blog, please go to our blog's website to add a comment.)

Libraries and Democracy

My mother was a public librarian, and in our household, the value of libraries was unquestioned.  It was positively programmed into us that libraries were important to society so that everyone could have free access to information. 

But, as we all know, just because you believe in something strongly, it doesn’t mean anyone else does. 

In our recent study of library users, we asked respondents “Why are public libraries important to you and your community?”  Respondents were only allowed to select the one option most important to them.  We were surprised by the results:

• 46% - provide public with free access to a wide variety of information
• 27% - opportunities for lifelong learning
• 11% - learning opportunities/resources for children
• 6% - immersion in stories
• 4% - resources to individuals, including research, job seeking
• 3% - place for community to come together
• 3% - other
• 0% - libraries are not that important to me

Turns out, nearly half of regular library users agree with me (and my mother) that the greatest importance of libraries is free access to information for anyone.  (Keep in mind, however, that these responses are from regular library users, and are not necessarily reflective of the general public.) 

When, in an open-ended follow-up question, respondents were asked why free public access to information was important, they tended to say things like:

 “I think public access to information, education and resources is critical to a democracy!!!” 

Other comments mentioned that procuring information would be too cost prohibitive, or even not possible, for many people otherwise. 

One respondent even thought through the tax implications of libraries, noting that libraries are a:

“No-brainer from an economic point of view -- sharing materials among citizens. Probably the most cost-effective way that our government spends our tax dollars.”

We had open-ended follow-up questions for the other responses as well. 

Respondents who chose lifelong learning tended to mention that it keeps you young or active, is good for personal growth, and that it is enjoyable.  As one person noted:

“Lifelong learning leads to lifelong improvement. I am a better mother, better wife, better me when I'm challenging my brain and learning about the world as I go.”

Parents of young children, however, were more likely than other respondents to choose learning opportunities/resources for children.  While some parents commented that going to the library was an important part of their children’s learning experience, more parents felt that instilling a love of reading or learning in their children was important, as this comment exemplifies:

“I believe that reading and books are crucial to children's development, especially in the technological world we live in. I think instilling in a child a lifelong love for books and learning is crucial and one of my most important jobs as a parent.”

I have to admit to being a little envious of these results, however.  I think of museums as the repositories of our humanity, and that, with libraries, they serve the public by sharing access to information, inspiring lifelong learning, and developing children’s minds. 

Yet museums are structured, and supported, entirely differently than libraries, with most being nonprofits that do have to charge admission fees.  Though we have never asked, I doubt that museum goers would match the fervor of library users in believing museums are crucial for democracy and an informed citizenry.  It does beg the question “why not?” 

So what do you think?  Are museums just as crucial as libraries?  Why or why not?  To share your thoughts, simply click on “comments” below.  (If you are reading this from your e-mail subscription to the blog, please go to our blog's website to add a comment.)

Hello, LibraryWorld!

Over the next few blog posts, we are going to make a bit of a digression from our usual habitation of MuseumWorld and enter one of our other favorite places:  LibraryWorld. 

Why?  For a number of reasons.  First off, we often hear museum professional ponder about the links and correlations between museum visitors and library users.  We wanted to see what we could find.  Second, we thought it might be useful to have some library data to have more clarity on library users and support the work of our museums clients, who may be considering collaborations with libraries.  And third, we were just curious.  And love libraries. 

To find out more about library users, we needed to find some.  Since Susie is on the board of her local library’s Friends group, she turned to the library director and pitched the idea.  It was embraced with enthusiasm, and five public libraries from southeastern Massachusetts ended up participating in the project.

An online survey was drafted, each library e-mailed it to those users on their e-mail list, and we had nearly 1400 respondents, a nice sample to work with and gain some initial feedback.

There are a few caveats to keep in mind, however:

• Libraries did not e-mail all of their users, as many users only allow e-mail communication for overdue notices, etc.  Instead, they e-mailed a smaller group who had given the library permission to e-mail newsletters, announcements, etc.  So, like with many of our museum samples, the respondents are likely the “Core Users” and “Library Advocates” for each library, and not necessarily representative of the general public. 
• Additionally, four of the five communities represented are generally affluent, well-educated, older, and white, and the fifth community, despite having a sizeable minority population, also skewed white.  This affected some of the responses.
• Two additional libraries, one in a large Southern city and another in a small Midwestern city, have since surveyed their users with us.  When we compared results, we found that library user segments are relatively consistent regardless of geography.  For example, moms in all three geographic areas responded more similarly than not.   Just there were generally more moms (and other younger segments) responding to the surveys outside of Massachusetts, and generally more older respondents to the Massachusetts libraries. 

We’ll be reporting primarily on the results from the Massachusetts libraries, since their survey was the most comprehensive, but we’ll be keeping in mind any differences from the two other libraries surveyed with us since then, and flag them as needed. 

So what were our big questions going into the survey?

• Why do users visit libraries? 
• What is the perceived value of libraries to their communities?
• How do childhood library experiences affect adult library visitation?
• Do childhood library experiences affect the needs, motivations, and expectations of users?
• Can research on library users better inform museums . . . and vice versa?

We’ll briefly touch on all of these questions over the next few weeks, especially those that may yield insight for museums.

What do you think?  To share, simply click on “comments” below.  (If you are reading this from your e-mail subscription to the blog, please go to our blog's website to add a comment.)