{"id":71404,"date":"2014-05-12T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=71404"},"modified":"2014-05-11T19:10:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T00:10:06","slug":"a-few-thoughts-on-readers-advisory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=71404","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCan I help you find anything?\u201d A Few Thoughts On Reader\u2019s Advisory"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Emma Pinault, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Delaware<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCan I help you find anything?\u201d\u00a0 A Few Thoughts On Reader\u2019s Advisory<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Emma<\/a>You\u2019re walking through the stacks, offering a friendly, helpful smile to every guest you see. Perhaps\u00a0pausing, beside a particularly perplexed-looking patron with a question: \u201cCan I help you find anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for a good book!\u201d<\/p>\n

Recommending books to patrons can be one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of working in a\u00a0library.<\/strong> Making a connection through shared love of an old favorite, introducing someone new to a\u00a0beloved story \u2013 these are always wonderful moments. However, there are other times when your\u00a0reading interests and a patron\u2019s don\u2019t align.<\/p>\n

You love romances, and your patron is looking for a good mystery. You\u2019re a devoted science fiction fan,\u00a0and your patron only reads westerns. Or, worse, you have been so busy working and keeping up with the\u00a0professional literature in your field that you haven\u2019t had time to read an actual book for pleasure in\u00a0months. What do you say then?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, there are some time-tested strategies for providing successful reader\u2019s advisory services\u00a0even when you haven\u2019t had time to catch the latest thriller or you can\u2019t stand graphic novels or your\u00a0patron is looking for something in a genre you know nothing about. Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n

First, get to know your coworkers\u2019 reading tastes.<\/strong><\/em> If you love fantasy and paranormal romance, you can\u00a0help out your coworker who only reads mysteries when he\u2019s assisting a patron who reads in that genre.\u00a0If your boss loves science fiction, you can ask her for recommendations to give your scifi-loving patrons.<\/p>\n

Second, be familiar with your library\u2019s collection.<\/strong><\/em> Take time to look at the new books as they come in.\u00a0You might not want to read all of them, but a glance at the inside cover and the blurbs on the back can\u00a0give you an idea of what\u2019s available so you\u2019ll know what you can recommend.<\/p>\n

Third, be aware of the reader\u2019s advisory resources at your library.<\/strong><\/em> These could include reference books\u00a0listing classics of each genre, or electronic databases offering readalikes for popular authors. If you know\u00a0what your library has, you can use these resources to recommend titles outside your interest area \u2013 or\u00a0teach your patrons to consult these resources themselves.<\/p>\n

Fourth, know your community and what kinds of titles are popular with your patrons.<\/strong><\/em> Know which\u00a0authors circulate most frequently at your branch. Then consult your reference sources or your\u00a0coworkers and come up with lists of authors whose work is similar to those popular writers. If time and\u00a0budgets allow, print up bookmarks or flyers with recommendations in each genre, or with read-a-likes\u00a0for each popular author; these can give you a place to start when faced with a patron looking for books\u00a0outside your area of interest.<\/p>\n

Everyone loves bonding with other people, whether patrons or coworkers, over stories they love. But as\u00a0library professionals our priority is finding what our patrons will enjoy, and that requires being aware of\u00a0books outside our own group of favorites. It\u2019s important to know how to find good books in genres you\u00a0are not as familiar with. It\u2019s good customer service \u2013 and you might just discover your own new favorite\u00a0book where you least expect to find it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Emma Pinault, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Delaware \u201cCan I help you find anything?\u201d\u00a0 A Few Thoughts On Reader\u2019s Advisory You\u2019re walking through the stacks, offering a friendly, helpful smile to every guest you see. Perhaps\u00a0pausing, beside a particularly perplexed-looking patron with a question: \u201cCan I help you find anything?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m looking for a good book!\u201d Recommending…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,5538,3598,5944,5125,6218],"class_list":["post-71404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-emma-pinault","tag-inalj-delaware","tag-reader-advisory","tag-readers-advisory","tag-recommending-books"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Emma-Pinault.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-izG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}