Inside the front door: Tailoring a leisure reading collection to attract an academic population

Abstract

While some academics still maintain that an academic library is no place for leisure reading, many are in favor of maintaining at least a small distinct collection of such books. Strategically located and attractively displayed, current popular titles have the potential to generate traffic to the library and improve circulation statistics. Having taken the leap at Florida Gulf Coast University Library, a close statistical analysis of this new collection’s circulation over time has revealed not only that we all use it, but also that there are diverse but consistent patterns and preferences at play. Could the collection’s circulation rate be increased by tailoring it to an academic population? This study was designed to find out.