Lab A: The Readers’ Advisor is In

By Chrisynthia Casper

Doing a reader’s advisory interview was a task that I thought that I had been doing correctly all along, even before I starting working in a library. Because I have such a love for books, every time I see  someone reading or the topic of books comes up, I find myself asking about their reading preferences and discussing in great length whether they liked or disliked a book. And I always find myself recommending or even giving them one of my books. I was in fact performing a good reader’s advisory, but having taken this course I now realize some of the mistakes I had been making and how I can more effectively go about completely the task going forward. As I had a discussion with the five people I used as guinea pigs to complete this assignment, I tried to keep in mind the things I have learned about reader’s advisory.

One mistake that I was previously making that I corrected was assumption. I would ask someone the type of books that they liked or had enjoyed in the past and I would make the assumption about the types of books that they would enjoy and not allow for any other genre. For instance, my first guinea pig, we will call her Lynn for the purpose of this assignment. Upon investigation into the types of books that she had previously read and enjoyed, on the top of the list was 50 shades of Grey. She could not put the book down and ended up reading all three books. I already knew this from previous conversations with her about the books, and up to that point had assumed that she liked them because of the erotic scenes and domination aspects. When I started this assignment I thought she would be an easy pick because I just knew I could find her a book with similar ideas. I quickly found titles by Silvia Day and Maya Banks that I thought she would enjoy. And for the most part she did like the titles that I selected but I knew that it wasn’t mind blowing for her and I could do better. So I then decided to ask further questions about her likes. Why did she enjoy the 50 Shades phenomenon? Yes, the erotic stuff was great and probably why she couldn’t put it down but the underlying reason she enjoyed them was because the rich powerful man fell to love of the plain Jane character featured in the book. I probed about other titles that she really liked trying to find some correlation between a few titles so I could find her something that gave her more than the erotic element shared in 50 Shades and Maya Banks. She also liked the Hunger Games trilogy. I asked what about that series appealed to her. The sacrifice of the main character for her sister and for other people touched her. This made me think that books about unconditional love for others with a bit of drama could be perfect for her. I recommended, “War of the Wives” by Tamar Cohen. I found this book because I had recently seen it on the new book shelf and when I went looking for a book with alot of drama, yet filled with an unconditional love story, this was the first book I thought of. She has not had a chance to read all of the books that I recommended to her but she did say that all of them appear to be great titles and looks forward to reading them. I started out thinking I knew what kind of books Lynn would enjoy based on her like of erotica stories and quickly recommended other books in the same genre, which were good books but was limiting what books that I could give her by my assumptions.

My next guinea pig, named Sunshine enjoys reading but lacks time to do much of it. The little time that she does have, she wants what she is reading to be a great book. One that is exciting, and keeps her attention. I found all this out by asking about her previous reading habits. I also asked her what other books she enjoyed, what about them intrigued her and what books has she disliked. Her likes included many different types of books and authors. To include, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, the books “Orphan Train”, “Where The Heart is” and  “One Thousand White Women”.  She couldn’t think of a book that she necessarily disliked but knows that if she didn’t like a book she just doesn’t finish reading it. She’s too busy to spend time getting through a book that doesn’t hold her attention. Most books that she didn’t finish were because they just weren’t exciting enough to draw her in for very long. This leads me to another mistake I was making before taking this course, upon asking her these questions I would probably have chosen two books for her, one each from two different genres. More than likely I would of chosen a Kristian Hannah book and then I would of found someone similar to Koontz or King. I do think she would of enjoyed either of these options but I wanted to use my skills learned to try and come up with a title that emcompasses both her reading likes. I had to  go back and ask a few more questions about what she likes specifically about these books. She enjoys the history intertwined into these titles. She enjoys the suspense of the titles and she enjoyed the love story or the human emotion within the stories. I spent a lot of time searching sites that had read-a-likes. Novelist offers a great tool for read-a-likes for authors as well as for titles. I also used Goodreads to find similar works to these authors that she liked. I also did a bit of just browsing shelves and reading articles to find titles that could work for her. In the end I decided to recommend Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Nothing directly lead me to this series but a mention of the new TV series adapted by the series by a patron and why she had enjoyed it made me think that it could fit into Sunshine’s genre. The patron I spoke with loved the time travel involved and stated it creates a suspense but that she couldn’t guess how the book would end. She was surprised by what happened each time she read the series. That suspense element was similar to Sunshine’s and it also included the human emotion. I learned during this course that it easy to place a patron’s reading habits into specific genre, but you have to dig into what exactly they like about a book.  Those traits can extend into many different genres. By using the elements instead of limiting it to a certain genre, I can broaden her options and still make her happy.

My next mistake/guinea pig went a little different. He was the last person I did reader’s advisory for and I was determined to make sure I followed all the things I learned in class. I wanted to give him as many options as I could find. I asked the same questions: what have you read, what did you like/dislike about them, what authors do you like? He gave me two answers. Dean Koontz and Stephen King. He couldn’t tell me what exactly he liked about those books he had read, except that they were interesting. I also asked what kind of TV shows and movies he enjoyed. He shared that he enjoyed, “Under The Dome” and most all the shows on Showtime. I went immediately to work finding him similar authors to Koontz and King. I used many sources, such as Goodreads, Google search, Novelist, Amazon, Fantastic Fiction and What Should I Read Next. I found many authors that I thought he may enjoy and gave him a list. Peter Straub, RA Salvatore, and Ira Levin. I said they wrote stories that were similar to his favorite authors. He didn’t want any of the books I suggested. So I asked more questions, what books exactly did he enjoy. All of them! So I asked if he enjoyed the ones that were made into movies more than the others. Nope, loved them all! So I asked if the bizarre creepy characters or the pace of the book was intriguing to him. Both! So I asked (getting a little discouraged) if the plot of the story or the characters stuck out to him more. Both! I asked then if the books in a series were better or did that matter to him. Didn’t matter! At this point I didn’t know how else to proceed other than find more stories that were  similar to some of the stories that these authors wrote. I wondering if VC Andrews or Joe Hill would appeal to him. Lastly I ask him if he only wanted to read those two authors. Yep! (Face Palm). So then I proceeded a little differently. I asked the last book he had read by both authors. He had read every current book by both authors but I shared with him the books upcoming by both authors. He was happy with this. I realized that I was missing a big question in my reader’s advisory. I needed to ask if they were willing to read other authors. I have been asking what they like and they shared that information but I didn’t bother to ask what they may want in the future. I just figured he would be willing to read whatever I gave him. He only wanted what those two people had written. Period!

Guinea pig number four, Ann is an avid reader of Paranormal romance novels. She reads several books a week. She buys books as soon as they come out and is on top of upcoming books in the series that she reads and authors that she likes. When I asked the normal questions about what she wanted, had read and likes/dislikes, all that she really wanted were other authors that wrote similar to her favorites. I asked the authors she is reading now and if she wanted the same kinds of books, the paranormal romance or did she want to try out something new. And also if there were any subjects that were off limits. She only wanted authors...only paranormal romance. So I spent some time looking up authors that did paranormal romance on Goodreads, Google and Novelist. She was already aware of Christine Feehan, J.R. Ward, Jeaniene Frost and Gena Showalter. One of her favorite topics in paranormal romance is shape shifting so I wanted to find at least one other author that fell into that category. I found for her Shelly Laurenston, Marian Maddix, Suzanne Wright and Laurann Dohner. I knew that she was capable of finding other titles and shared with her not only these authors but a website that was great for her kind of reading preferences. http://paranormalromancewriters.com/. There are great search options on this site and very easy to use. She appreciated the site and the authors.

The last guinea pig was really simple, just like Ann. This person, named Sue for the assignment is really very capable of finding their own books. They search the OPAC at their library, place their own holds, frequent their library, buy books online and love to read. Sue really only wanted some recommendations for websites to find books and get reviews.  I asked the sites that she currently uses and mostly she uses amazon to find books then places them on hold at her library or buys them directly. So I recommended Novelist. She was uncertain about whether her library subscribed to the service but I showed her how to do searches and find read-a-likes for her favorite authors and titles. I also suggested Goodreads, BookRiot, LibraryThing and Shelfari. I also asked her if her library offered a newsletter for upcoming books purchased that she could sign up for. Sue was pleased to be given so many places to find books and liked the ease of use in the sites that I gave her.

Although I have been doing what I thought was reader’s advisory all this time, I did realize some mistakes I had been making while discussing books with patrons. Those mistakes came to light once I started this assignment and took this course. I didn’t do a terrible job the way I was doing it before and the patrons never missed a beat, but I feel more confident now that I can find ways to expand authors and books or possibly just ways for patrons to find those books themselves.

References

Amazon (nd). Retrieved May 1, 2015 from www.amazon.com

Bookriot (nd). Retrieved May 1, 2015 from www.bookriot.com

Fantasitic Fiction (nd). Retrieved April 29, 2015 from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

Goodreads (nd). Retrieved April 29, 2015 from www.goodreads.com

Library Thing (nd). Retrieved April 30, 2015 from www.librarything.com

Paranormal Romance Writers (nd). Retrieved May 1, 2015 from http://paranormalromancewriters.com/

Shelfari (nd). Retrieved April 17, 2015 from www.shelfari.com

What Should I Read Next (nd). Retrieved April 17, 2015 from www.whatshouldireadnext.com

Week 16 Prompt

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically? Second, talk a little about what you see in the future for reading, books, or publishing - say 20 years from now. Will we read more or less, will our reading become more interactive? What will happen to traditional publishing?


Reading for me as always been hit or miss. I loved books when I was a kid, but I was raised by a single father who never made it passed the 6th grade. I do not have a memory of him reading to us when we were very little, nor do I remember him really enforcing reading when I was old enough to read on my own. I do however remembering loving to read although we never had library cards or many books just laying around. What I was exposed to was from the school library. I think I loved to read but really had no access to getting things to read. I always devoured the assigned books from teachers and it sparked my love for reading again but there wasn't much to read after that. As I got into middle and Junior High Schools I didn't have friends that had a love for reading and I know that I just slowly moved away from the habit of doing it on any sort of regular basis until I was much older. Once out of high school and off to the military, I know this is when I began to become addicted to reading. I don't think reading or books themselves have changed very much since I was young, possibly the thing that has changed for me personally was the access to books. It seems that my children and my nieces/nephews are surrounded by books. Whether its a physical hard book or on smart phones and tablets. Either way I see much easier ways to get to books than I did as a kid. 

Which brings me to the second question of where do I think the future of books, reading and publishing will be in 20 years. 

This question always makes me think of the movie "Book of Eli", where in an apocalyptic world a man is trying to get a copy of the bible from one coast over to the other coast where there is a secret library set up with all the great books of the world that had be destroyed or lost. This is how I think of the future of reading and books. Yes there has been and will probably continue to be a decline in the publication and reading of books. Things have rapidly been moved to the electronic version of themselves and while I think this does help with allowing faster, easier access to materials, it will not last. As in the movie, when we rely on computers to store all the information of the world, we may find ourselves losing some of that information. I would hope that it doesn't come to the end of the world as we know it, in order for us to realize that making everything electronic is a bad idea. But I have faith that we will figure it out beforehand and the recent popularity of vinyl records may be the indicator of society realizing that just because something is newer, shinier and faster doesn't always mean its better. 

Week 15 Prompt

What do you think are the best ways to market your library's fiction collection? Name and describe three ways you do or would like to market your library or your future library's fiction. These can be tools, programs, services, displays - anything that you see as getting the word out.


I am a big fan of bookmarks and paper displays that highlight books and that can be hung on end caps or hung up around the library. I do not always have the titles at my branch to put on display nor have the room in order to display as many titles as I want patrons see. So having flyers or papers displayed with the titles is a great way to get the information to patrons. I make some of them with series that have flashy covers or with books that have a current popular subject.

Another thing I do to highlight fiction is to have display near the door. Its the first thing that patrons see when they enter. Because I have a small branch, I do not get a large selection of new titles, so when I go into bookstores and see books that I think my patrons may like I take a picture of them. I later come back and place holds from my main branch to put on the display. It usually says, "Did you read this title?", but sometimes I change it to if you like...."Patterson or Steel try these".  

We also place a flyer with the coming soon fiction titles right at the checkout desk. As the patrons are waiting for me to check them out, almost all of them find an author they like with an upcoming title and ask to place something on hold. 

I have always considered this a form of readers advisory and not advertisement. But after reading the lesson this week, I can see how the two of them are sort of the same thing. 

Week 14 Prompt

Consider yourself part of the collection management committee of your local library, or a library at which you would like to work. You must decide whether or not to separate GBLTQ fiction and African American Fiction from the general collection to its own special place. Some patrons have requested this, yet many staff are uncomfortable with the idea - saying it promotes segregation and disrupts serendipitous discovery of an author who might be different from the reader. Do you separate them? Do you separate one and not the other? Why or why not? You must provide at least 3 reasons for or against your decision. Feel free to use outside sources - this is a weighty question that is answered differently in a lot of different libraries.

This is a great topic for conversation and one that I haven't had to deal with working in a small branch library. Most of my collection is categorized by fiction or non fiction. Of course there is also youth and children's titles that are separated by fiction/nonfiction.  The other formats are also labeled and separated, such as Books on CD, CD's, Reference and Large Print. Within those sections, some things are labeled with stickers on the spine. Religious, Sci-Fi and Mystery are a few of the stickers that I have now. At the main branch, they do currently have these sections separated within the fiction area. I say currently because I know that this separation will soon be going away. The patrons found it to be very confusing and asked that the fiction section be mixed together once more. 

So thinking about whether GBLTQ fiction or African American Fiction should be separated from other fiction, I would say I do not agree with this decision. I do think this should be a very individual decision based on the needs of the library, but for the most part I do not think this is a good idea. Number one reason is I don't think that we should separate fiction in this manner. What someones sexual preference or color of their skin should not be a reason to have another section within fiction. At what point does allowing this kind of separation become a slippery slope. Every book has a different theme and could be separated into its own section if we so desired, but at it seems to be a waste of time and resources. Some may argue that some libraries have different inspirational sections and this is the same as having an African American section, and I think this is where each library has to make a decision on their own whether there is enough of a collection to justify having a totally different section for these types of books. 

Having a section such as GBLTQ separated from other sections of fiction could help those in search of them to more quickly find what they are looking for, but may also cause more stress for someone seeking these titles. For the most part a person should be able to browse and check out materials without judgement from staff or other patrons. I can see where a section with this topic and knowing that others know that's what they are looking at may cause some stress for the patron. 

The last reason why having a separate section is not a good idea is because sometimes less is more. Having so many sections within a library is confusing for a patron. The only reason to consider having a separate section in the first place is to make the materials easier for patrons to find. So why not use other means such as stickers to identify different types of materials. Having the stickers will help the patrons find the materials but not have a spotlight on them while they are finding them. Its a win/win situation. 

Annotation for Youth Adult

   
Title: Flowers for Algernon
Author: Daniel Keyes
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 1, 2005 (this edition), originally published in 1966 as a full novel
Number of pages: 324 pages
Geographical Setting: New York City
Time Period: No direct reference to time frame but possibly when the book was written in 1960's

Plot summary: (from Amazon)
Oscar-winning film Charly starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom-a mentally challenged man receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.

Characteristics of Youth Adult: Fast paced and dealing with issues relate able to teens

Similar Works:  H. G. Wells titles
                          Louis Lowery titles
                          
Subject Headings: Brain, Medical Experiments, Mental Disabilities

Thoughts: This book was written as a short fiction and later made a full version because of the popularity. It was not rewritten in 1966 as a youth adult book (did that even exist in 1966) but as a Science Fiction title. Even today this book rides the line whether it is an adult title or YA often being housed in both locations. I chose this title because of that reason. What makes it a popular read in high schools across the world? The book is about a mentally disabled person who "volunteers" to be used for an experiment to raise his IQ. It is written from the perspective of the main character Charlie who writes in the journal style, telling his story as it progresses. The beginning starts out with his entries showing his lack of intelligence, many words misspelled and his understanding very minimal. As the story goes along and his IQ begins to increase and his life changes we see how the people around him begin to feel uncomfortable and many rid him from their lives, while others embrace him. I think this book describes in detail the feelings that happen when life changes in such ways, such as when puberty hits a young adult. They begin to understand adult themes, the same as Charlie begins to just understand life in general. Charlie experiences many new things and begins to understand them, later they are taking away from him as his intelligence does not stay and you can almost see how this could be how it feels to be a child. You can't wait to become a teenager, but when you do you realize you still don't know everything, then you long to become an adult. When you get to that you realize you still don't know anything. This novel has factors that have appealed to teens for years, yet have also been enjoyed by adults.

How can we as librarians, work to ensure that we are able to serve adults who enjoy YA literature or graphic novels? Or should we?

Starting my new book club at my branch this year started off with talk about what kind of book club it should be. One suggestion was that we could read all YA books. I quickly turned my nose up at this idea, because I knew the people I had in mind that would most likely attend would not be interested in reading a YA book. As a rule I don't have adults that come to my branch to read/check out any YA titles or graphic novels. After having to think about this concept, how can we as librarians ensure those who do enjoy these genres are being served, I started thinking about what do I even have to offer patrons in this genre.

I have a fairly small YA section that rotates with other branches about every six weeks and it does have many popular and current reads available. Still no adults look at this section, so I considered where it was located. The branch is very small so I don't have a separate room for YA materials but these books and my games are tucked into a separate little space that allows for teens to have an area to themselves. Makes me wonder though if adults just avoid this section all together! Especially because I have many older patrons who browse my shelves, so why would they enter the dreaded "TEEN" zone to hear all that noise!!!  I may have to consider for a long term solution possibly moving around some of my sections to allow for adult browsers to find YA materials without having to navigate through the teens. For the immediate future I am going to try to make a display featuring some YA reads that I believe could appeal to my adult readers. Honestly if the spine of the book didn't say YA they would never know the difference.

As for graphic novels, the main branch features many graphic novels and manga's that many of my readers both young and old ask for. I do not have the space to have my own section. Now that I am writing this I wonder though if I could find a way to make some space. Its the old saying, "Build it and they will come". I think there has always been an interest at my branch for these materials but there has always been a lack of materials. This could be because of space or because the person preceding me did not quite embrace these materials as actual reading. Either way I now that it has been brought to my mind I think I will try a few things to see if I can generate some circulation on these types of materials.

Week 12 Prompt Non-Fiction Matrix

The Verbally Abusive Man by Patricia Evans

1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?
Highly fact based

2. What is the subject of the book?
The book is about how to recognize, deal with and leave an abusive partner

3. What type book is it?
Social Science or Guide

4. Articulate Appeal

What is the pacing of the book? The book is pretty fast paced even though it is filled with facts. The paragraphs and chapters are short and to the point

Describe the characters of the book-the characters portrayed in this book do not have names. They are general statements about types of people instead of a particular person.

How does the story feel? the story brings to mind questions which is what it is meant to do. It makes the reader wonder whether they find themselves in the situation described in the book.

What is the intent of the Author? The author does a great job in making the reading question whether or not the things described in an abusive relationship is what is occurring in your relationship.She gives exactly examples of what they may look like and a through guide of how to fix the problem.


What is the focus of the story? The story is told as a guide line. Here is what abuse looks like and here is how you can fix it.

Does the language matter? I believe that the quick short and easy context of the language makes a huge difference for the reader. Someone who may be in this situation may not have the education to comprehend too much technical jargon and the author doesn't make it complicated to understand. I think that is a good idea because there are enough problems in this readers life, easy language while reading this guide could be life or death.

Is the setting important? The setting is not as important throughout this book as the actions of the people in the book.

Are there details? There are many details about situations and examples of what the author is trying to get across to the reader.

Are their charts/graphs? There are no charts or graphs as well there shouldn't be based on the content of the book. There are however lists and dialog that help the reader understand the point of the book.

Does the book stress learning, understanding or experience? The whole book is basically meant to do each one of these things. Its meant as a guide book for people who may in a relationship that could be abusive. They can recognize the signs, figure out the best solution to the problem then use the techniques given in the text to either make it better or get out.

Why would a reader enjoy this title:
1. Learning
2. Detail
3. Pacing