As promised, here is my summary of responses.
First of all, these are the bag manufacturers who were mentioned to me:
Jutexpo (the most popular by a long way – five out of ten respondents used
these)
http://www.jutexpo.co.uk/
Clever Baggers
http://www.thecleverbaggers.co.uk/
The Natural Bag Company
http://www.naturalbagcompany.co.uk/
Canby
http://www.canby.co.uk/
Eastern Polythene & Paper Ltd
http://www.epp-ltd.co.uk/
Klee Paper (Ireland)
http://www.ecoland.com/
Most libraries mentioned that they had chosen their supplier on ethical
grounds – unbleached/organic materials, no child labour, etc.
I was given lots of info on Jutexpo. It’s possible to have your bags dyed a
particular colour, but only if you order a large number. The bag of choice
is GH034 (look under Products and then Stock Items). You can also see the
Leeds bag here:
http://www.jutexpo.co.uk/productsCat.asp?id=General%20Shopping (it’s the
pink one). It also costs extra to print on two sides.
Considering Jutexpo was the most popular supplier, it comes as no surprise
that jute was the most popular material used, although cotton was also used
by several (although Aoife at University College Dublin mentioned that their
cotton bags have been found to shrink in the wash).
There was a fairly even split between those who give their bags away at
Fresher’s Fairs and those who sell them. Of the libraries who sold bags,
between 50p and £1.00 is added to the wholesale price. Kudos to Mandy and
colleagues at Edge Hill University – 50p from each of their bags sold is
given to a charity in Rwanda that helps to train midwives!
As for branding, there some opted for a simple logo / library URL combo,
whereas others preferred a catchy slogan.
Some examples:
Robert Gordon University – “…more than just books…”
http://www.rgu.ac.uk/library/aboutus/page.cfm?pge=44512
University College Creative Arts – “WARNING: contains ideas”
Oxford Brookes – “Be a star! Use your library”
University of Bradford – “develop me, support me, reuse me”
http://www.bradford.ac.uk/lss/news/bag.php
University of Leicester – “Big bag of books”
http://www.le.ac.uk/bookshop/ourbookshops_dw.html (bottom of page)
Apologies for not giving an individual mention to all who contacted me, you
were all very helpful indeed!
Kelly
Journals Librarian
St George's Library
St George's, University of London
Hunter Wing
Cranmer Terrace
London
SW17 0RE
-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kelly Lovell
Sent: 28 August 2008 13:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Library bags
Inspired by the famous Leeds University "Shhh!" bags, I would love to hear
from libraries who have opted to sell promotional bags (environmentally
friendly ones, preferably).
Those of you who do, would you be able to tell me:
* Where you get them from
* How much you sell them for, and whether you make any sort of profit
* Which material you chose and why (is jute much better than cotton, for
example?)
* What sort of branding you went for (logos, URLs, something else entirely?)
* How well received they have been by users
I'm particularly interested in hearing from academic libraries, but all
responses are very welcome. Please reply directly to me and I will
summarise for the list.
Many thanks,
Kelly
Journals Librarian
St George's, University of London
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