apple store

I have seen stuff about how libraries could be more like the Apple shops. So I wandered in to see their Soho store. The buzz of conversation was the first thing I noticed, a blast of voices. Stand up tables, each with ROM for about 10 people and each with at least one Apple staff person, easy to spot in their blue shirts and wearing a name tag that was designed to look like an iPod , worn on a lanyard. Some tables had signs 'make it yours' or 'set up'. Some had shop devices, some just had power points and folk were using their own personal gear. Upstairs was a theatre running like a conference presentation, with a schedule of demonstrations of different tools and applications.  Plus more of the group tables, all packed. To get a spot on that floor you had to take a number and wait. The normal shop retail business was going on around the sides of the store. YES! Libraries should be able to attract similar crowds. And deliver a similar high-energy experience.

Inside the Apple store - not like a shop