Chris's Blog

Making a noise about libraries

People feel strongly about libraries, and we're no different.

Google and Wikipedia have usurped many aspects of the reference library, and fiction has been made available in supermarkets for less than the price a bottle of wine, so it's hardly suprising that library usage is declining. But whether people use them or not, try and close one, and there's an outcry.

However, libraries are changing.

We've worked with Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Library Authorities  on a wide range of projects-strategies, research, income generation and new branch openings. We've even hooked them up with amazon via a white box solution (  painted in their corporate colours).

Gloucestershire has a 39 branch network, and David Paynter has done an excellent job of contemporising many of them ( as funding has allowed).

Visit Bishops Cleeve, Dursley, Longlevens or the new library soon to be opened in Cirencester, and you'll see how dusty, dowdy and quiet libraries have been brought into today, with lots of colour, noise, activity and new content and media formats.

You'll find:

- Plasma screens highlighting the latest DVD rentals, or showing sport on Sunday

- Music playing-everything from Handel to Hendrix

- Internet Cafe's with free web access for all for a couple of hours

- Wii gaming areas and Playstation games to borrow

- Baby changing facilities and childrens events

- Free wireless usage for all those with a laptop or itouch

- RFID ( so staff can help customers, not just stamp books)

- The latest best-sellers, and not an old dog eared romance novel in sight

..and consequently the number of visitors to the libraries increasing dramatically

Head First is delighted to be involved with the new Cirencester Library opening this autumn, and be working with Wiltshire on their development plans for 2009 and beyond.

 

 

The new Dursley Library, Glos.

Distinctive branding for Gloucestershire Libraries

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Head First Marketing & Public Relations, Gloucestershire.

The language of flowers

Gloucestershire Registration Services (GRS) are the local government service overseeing the registration of all births, marriages, divorces, civil partnerships and deaths in the county.

They need to promote their services, inform the public and collate feedback. The design of a homogeneous set of literature covering such contradictory life stages as births and deaths, marriages and divorces etc. was the key design challenge.

We collaborated with Creative Thing to develop literature based on floral themes.

Having researched the origins of connections between certain flowers and ceremonies, a modular system of literature, which provided and collected information, was created.

The individual parts were designed to fit together in a unique way so that each recipient would receive only the specific information required.

The literature is distributed throughout Gloucestershire.

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