Megan Jones

Megan completed the Merchandising the Bookshelves and the Creating Powerful Promotions course while her library was closed.  She tackled the work in both with wonderful energy and creativity.  Megan used the ideas on both courses as starting points to develop her own ideas and plan new directions for the way she will work with readers and books in her library. 

In her other role as Virtual Library Assistant, Megan also has responsibility for promoting books online and has converted ideas and themes for library displays to tempt her online newsletter readers to discover a great read. 

Megan is both eloquent and original in how she interprets themes and creates displays.  Her creativity is rooted in her sheer joy in working with readers and books. She is passionate about helping readers discover something new to them but also has very practical ways of achieving that.

She has an acute understanding of the appeal of books and reading and how important it is to exploit the range of the library collection to surprise and delight different groups of readers. More than anything, Megan sees the central importance of the role of the library in her reading community.

From our experiences with supporting Megan on these courses, the team at Opening the Book think that Megan is a joy to work with and a wonderful asset to all her readers and colleagues.

Megan says:

“Our borrowers wish to be challenged and immersed in new literature and new reading ventures. I think often we (as libraries) can be pre-occupied with showing that we have the new biggest title in but ideally those moments are only fleeting and the real experience is new and exciting displays all year round. 

Put the adventure of the reader first, that is often first and foremost why our borrowers return time and time again.

I would proffer this as the answer to all library assistants age-old worry of 'I don't know what to display'..... if your idea is strong and tangible for your readers - then it will work and there will be books that fit perfectly. You can learn to tell a story with the stories we hold upon our shelves!”

You can contact Megan about her work on the courses at megan.elias.jones@conwy.gov.uk