No one can deny the importance of book in the lives of mankind. Well, books are desperately maintaining their popularity in the contemporary world due to their multifaceted benefits. Books in libraries may play the role of repositories of knowledge, conduits of culture, sources of intellectual stimulation, providers of entertainment, catalysts for personal growth, facilitators of connection, agents of influence, and instruments of therapeutic value.
So, books are the eternal truth of getting knowledge and library comes to serve as a helpful arena at very minimal cost. Hence, you can implement the idea of library business in your locality as a startup by empowering the people with the power of knowledge.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Why to choose library business for startup?
Despite the advancements in technology, the enduring appeal of books persists, as they offer a unique combination of attributes that cannot be replicated by any other form of media. Starting a library business offers a fulfilling opportunity to merge your passion for books and give the chance to contribute meaningfully to your community’s well-being.
Here are some of the advantages of starting a library business:
- Literacy Promotion: Libraries play a pivotal role in promoting literacy by providing a diverse array of books, educational materials, and programs for all age groups.
- Entrepreneurial Endeavor: Starting a library business allows you to exercise your entrepreneurial spirit while making a positive impact on society. In order to make it a unique one, you can deploy unique programs, services, and partnerships that distinguish your library in the existing market.
- Revenue Diversity: Libraries can generate income through various channels, including membership dues, facility rentals, late fees, and fundraising initiatives. By diversifying revenue streams, you can ensure the financial sustainability of your library business.
- Technological Integration: Modern libraries embrace technology by offering digital resources, e-books, online databases, and tech-related services. By staying technologically motivated, you can attract a broader audience and enhance the relevance of your library business.
- Cultural Center: Libraries serve as cultural hubs, hosting events, workshops, book clubs, and author talks that bring the community together.
What are the basic requirements to start a library business?
Location: Any business model is very much dependent on the location of operation. If you start your business from a place where people like to engage with your idea, then you can expect growth of your business from the very beginning.
You may like to ask, what type of location is best for starting a library business?
Choosing the ideal location for a business hinges on several key factors. See these:
- First, understanding the demographics of your target market is crucial. You can select an area where your potential customers reside. It may be near a college, university, coursing center etc. and such other reader centric place.
- Accessibility is also vital. You must ensure easy reach for customers, suppliers, and employees. Simply, your library should not be in an extremely rural area.
- It should not be also crowd centric so that the readers need not to feel the disturbance. You can avoid starting your library business in the middle of a town or such location.
- Look for areas with a thriving business community for support and collaboration.
- Look for the locations of other nearby libraries and try to find out loopholes in them so that you can compete them with new innovative ideas.
By carefully evaluating these aspects, you can pinpoint the optimal location that aligns with your business goals and strategy.
Area and Space: The area and space must be wide and sufficient enough to provide all the modern facilities in your library. You have to design special layouts for every corner of your modern library such as for reading room, rest room, store room, technology room, recreation room, fun zone etc.
So, at least you need to occupy 1500-2000 square feet area to construct all of these facility zones.
Parking Facility: In today’s world, many students prefer to go anywhere including library as well by riding car or bike. So, you should provide parking facility within your boundary.
Infrastructure: The interim design of your library is also a key tool for attracting the readers. If you provide classic looks and design with suitable infrastructure in your multi-purpose library, your customers never hesitate to pay you for what you offering.
At the very beginning, you can consider these basic interim facilities for your modern library:
- Quality desks, bench, book shelves etc.
- 24*7 electricity supply.
- Wi-Fi Internet Connectivity.
- Pure drinking water.
- Fan, AC etc. for summer season.
- CCTV for security purpose.
- Sanitary facilities, clean toilet and bathroom.
Knowledge: To start a library business, as an owner you must have adequate knowledge about books. You need to gain all the skills to manage a library before starting it: so basic qualification of library science is necessary. Otherwise, you may hire some experienced employees and pay their salary in monthly basis.
Management: Of course, you can’t manage all the tasks by yourself. Hence, you need to employ some staffs for different operations to control it effectively. Remember, manpower is very important to set up a multi-functional library.
Mainly, you have to disburse three types of manpower in initial stage- first, the receptionist, who can help the people in registration, borrowings, fill up their forms, answer against the inquires made by the readers and so on. The second one is to be employed for managing all operations and services including financial transactions. And the third one is needed as a peon, who can simply help the readers in finding books and any other equipment in the library.
Investment: This is a type of business model, where you need to invest a sufficient amount of money and you can’t expect too much earnings initially. Your library business will grow gradually, not immediately. So, you must have sustainability for all types of expenses to start a library business.
The basic investment you should appraise for starting a modern library:
- Minimum Rs. 12-15 lakhs for Infrastructure,
- Minimum Rs. 5-6 lakhs for buying books,
- Approx. Rs. 3-4 lakhs for necessary equipment excluding books,
- Approx. Rs. 2-3 lakhs for salary,
- At least Rs. 1-2 lakhs for maintenance, repairing and others hidden expenditure.
Basically, you can start your business by investing an amount of Rs. 25 lakhs at very beginning. Remember, this is just an estimate amount which may vary according to your preferences.
How to make your library business unique?
Definitely, traditional libraries are not going to work for you in this modern world. So, to attract the readers seamlessly into your library, you need to include some extra and modern facilities in your library. First of all, you have to bifurcate traditional libraries from modern type of libraries with all possible trends.
Let’s directly discuss about a modern library. Basically, a modern library is a dynamic space that caters to the changing needs of the readers in the digital era with a diverse array of services and resources that reflect the varied interests and preferences of their communities.
Here are some defining characteristics of a modern library:
- Digital Resources: Modern libraries offer access to an extensive range of digital resources, including e-books, audiobooks, online databases, digital magazines, and streaming media. Also, anyone can access the resources of a modern library by taking a digital subscription of the website owned by the librarian.
- Collaborative Spaces: Contemporary libraries feature collaborative spaces where patrons can work, study, and collaborate on projects. These areas may include group study rooms, maker spaces, coworking zones, and multimedia production studios, fostering creativity, innovation, and community engagement. Moreover, you can offer recreation facilities as well to relax the readers.
- Programming and Events: Modern libraries curate a diverse range of programming and events aimed at engaging and educating patrons of all ages. These may include author talks, book clubs, workshops, lectures, film screenings, concerts, art exhibitions, and community forums, enriching the cultural fabric of the community.
So, to create a unique and modern library business model, you can reflect the following extra features in your business model.
Stay and Read Service: This means you can provide space for your readers to stay and read books there in your library. This service allows the readers to study and prepare their projects, journals etc. by not borrowing books, but reading books right therein.
For this, you have to provide lodge facilities within your library yard. This can attract the long-distance readers, even from foreign countries. Ultimately, you are turning your library into a multi-functional home stay for book lovers.
Online Book Lending Service: Book lending service is the main source of income in a library business. In traditional way, the readers can borrow books from your library by taking a minimum monthly/yearly subscription. But you can offer more accessible lending service by providing online subscription model with the idea of home delivery of the books by you to their homes.
In this way, the readers can borrow books from their mobile phones and also get the books in their homes without going to the library. You can charge some extra money from them for home delivery service of lending books. This can turn your library business fully into a digital form and can attract a greater number of readers from various locations.
Audio-Visual Study Service: Some readers get bored after reading physical books for more than two or three hours. So, you can provide facilities of audio books to listen their favorite books without boredom. You may also provide visuals such as projector, television, computer screen etc. only to show educational content. This will be also another attraction for many. You can also run educational news in visuals if you wish to do so.
But you have to separate this yard from the rest within your library arena so that others don’t get disturbed.
Computer Facility Service: If you provide computer facilities in your modern library, then it will be highly beneficial for students who are in technology fields. You can also target those students who can’t afford to buy a laptop or desktop due to lack of money, so that they come to your library and practice computer operations with a minimum cost. You can also offer computer learning facilities in your library by offering mentorship.
Recreation Zone: Don’t let your readers to experience fatigue while reading books. You can offer an extra space in your library for recreational activities such as mind games, strategy games, board games, puzzles etc. so that the readers can enjoy when they feel boringness after reading a couple of hours.
What are the income sources of modern library business?
Modern libraries can diversify its income sources beyond traditional library models by including various services. Here are the active revenue models you may consider:
Membership Fees and Subscriptions: You can charge monthly fee from anyone who want to join your library as a member. Also, online subscription is also a brilliant option to reach customers from worldwide.
You can also offer membership programs for accessing to premium resources, such as specialized databases, e-books, or multimedia content etc.
The greater is the number of subscribers, greater is the income you will generate. For instance, if you charge Rs. 1000 monthly subscription fees for accessing all the resources in your library and 100 readers join, then your monthly income will be Rs. 1 lakh per month.
Retail Services: You may operate retail services such as cafes, printing services, stay and read services (mentioned earlier), multimedia etc. within their premises to generate additional income by charging extra fee for using these facilities.
In this regard, you should follow this bite- ‘Pay extra to get extra’.
Event Rentals: You may generate income by renting out your library zones for organizing events such as conferences, meetings, workshops etc. You may organize fundraising events like book sales, auctions, or benefit concerts to raise money for specific initiatives.
Fine Collection: Libraries may charge fines for overdue items, fees for lost or damaged materials. Though, this is not a true revenue model, but it is necessary to collect fines from the readers for doing something wrong, otherwise it will hamper the disciplinary manner within your library.
Sponsorships and Advertising: You may seek sponsorships from businesses or organizations to support programs, events, services etc. They may also generate income through advertising opportunities within your library spaces or on website. You may promote especially educational courses by showing banners or something in your library.
How to promote a library business?
Promoting a library business involves various strategies aimed at increasing awareness of its services, resources, and programs to attract and engage patrons. Below are effective ways to promote a library business:
Create Brand Identity: Develop a unique brand that reflects the library’s mission, values, and offerings. This includes creating an attractive logo, banner, and crafting a compelling brand message.
Utilize Diverse Marketing Channels: Reach the target audience through a mix of marketing channels, such as social media platforms, email newsletters, the library’s website, print materials like pamphlets and posters, magazine, community bulletin boards etc. Moreover, you can use AI marketing tools to simplify digital promotion.
Participate in Community Events: You have to engage yourself in the community by participating in local events, festivals, fairs, and gatherings, where you can hype an awareness regarding your library. Collaborate with local organizations, schools, and businesses to broaden the library’s reach.
Offer Incentives and Promotions: You may provide incentives such as discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to resources for new sign-ups or program participation. Promotional offers can incentivize patronage and encourage engagement.
In summary, the contemporary library industry represents a dynamic and continuously evolving sector with significant societal importance. Through a commitment to innovation, community involvement, and the promotion of equity and inclusivity, libraries persistently adapt and flourish in the digital era while staying true to their fundamental mission of facilitating unrestricted access to knowledge for everyone.
Thereby, we are concluding by saying that modern library business will be highly beneficial with digital collaboration. This is a great small business idea to start with some innovative mindset to gain more income. That’s all.
