Seeking advice - How to library a book

[Hopscotch]

How do I get a book placed on a library shelf?  Ie, what's the most cost-effective production and distribution method and the best way to draw librarians' attention to the book? 

[Bill Hiatt]

Bribery.

Seriously, if your book is wide, and the library takes ebooks, maybe it will take yours from the appropriate distributor.

Librarians are very influenced by reviews in trusted publications. https://libguides.ala.org/marketing-to-libraries/reviews Many of these don't do indie books (though notice that there are instructions on how to submit material to the first two mentioned.) Kirkus Indie and Forward Reviews also take indie books (for a fairly high price).

[Vijaya]

Hopscotch, it's hard getting self-published books in libraries. I usually donate a copy to my local library. You can also ask friends to ask for your book at the library--I think if three people ask for the same book, they might consider buying it. Good reviews help but it's very costly to purchase reviews from reputable journals like Kirkus or SLJ. Darcy Pattison has talked about going to the Texas Library Association conference and many of her books get picked up by the libraries. She is a wonderful writer and teacher and will have more tips about getting books into libraries. Good luck!

[alhawke]

Tough... Books I've landed in libraries appear to be from sheer luck (I'm referring to ebook availability, not paperback). I'm thinking the librarian actually read the book or a friend/acquaintance did. I don't know of a way of purposefully landing them there.

I've read that it helps if you ask for your books in a library to show interest, but I haven't done that.

[The Bass Bagwhan]

Cutting to the chase in all the above, libraries have a budget and have to carefully curate what they have in their inventory. You certainly could donate your physical copies to a local library, but getting some kind of wider distribution isn't really possible because each library chooses its own purchases according the demand of the local demographic.
That's a kind of sweeping explanation and might not be entirely accurate for certain places, but you get the idea.

[Bill Hiatt]

Cutting to the chase in all the above, libraries have a budget and have to carefully curate what they have in their inventory. You certainly could donate your physical copies to a local library, but getting some kind of wider distribution isn't really possible because each library chooses its own purchases according the demand of the local demographic.
That's a kind of sweeping explanation and might not be entirely accurate for certain places, but you get the idea.

As far as I know, that's pretty accurate.

Another consideration is shelf space. Aside from newly opened libraries, you won't see empty shelves just waiting for new books in most libraries. They often have to cull books to make room for new acquisitions. That means even sending a copy to a library may not get you shelved. It's possible a local library might carry the works of a local author. But beyond that, I wouldn't hold my breath.