Reader's advisory work may appear to be simply a library staff member talking about books with a patron. However, a truly successful encounter is the result of a substantial and complicated series of variables. It may be helpful to look at reader's advisory work in terms of these variable categories:
Reasonable professionals will differ on the relative importance or weight to be given to each of these categories, but a successful reader's advisory program will need success in each. If reader's advisory work is solidly placed in the library's mission, goals, and objectives, this is a reasonable expectation.
Are there other variable categories that should be included? Which of these categories seem most important to you? If you could give your attention to but one or two of these, which ones would you select?
If reader's advisory work is to be truly successful, it should be clearly emphasized in the library's mission, goal, and objectives statements. Normally, these would relate reader's advisory work to the mission of being a popular reading center.
In some communities and among some public librarians, genre fiction or
escape reading is felt to be less important than providing factual
information or participating in educational initiatives. A persuasive
rationale for the value of popular fiction reading needs to be
developed
and widely shared with the community. It is important to persuade that
popular
fiction reading plays an important educational role. Pleasurable
reading is not only rewarding, but often leads to other opportunities
for
personal growth through a clearer understanding of the worlds that
readers live in. Genre readings also provides greater awareness of
historical, cultural, and social events and relationships. It is
important to make this presentation to the library
board at least every other year. Otherwise, some enthusiastic "tax
payer"
may be persuasive in arguing that popular reading is not an appropriate
mission for a resource limited agency. The enthusiasm of the head of
the
library plays an important role. Luke-warm support or even neglect at
the
top will make it difficult to secure the resources needed for success.
Some
missionary zeal may be needed to share the good news about reader's
advisory work and how it benefits both the community and the library.
For many public libraries, fiction accounts for more than half of all
book circulation so it is clearly important in attracting and retaining
customers.
How would you argue for the importance/benefits of popular fiction reading?
Ideally, some enthusiasm for reader's advisory work would be found among board members, the head librarian, department heads and supervisors, librarians and support staff. Infectious enthusiasm can make a world of difference. Since many are still drawn to a librarian career because of an enthusiasm for books and reading, there should be some natural support. How to develop and maintain administrative support will vary from place to place. Persuasive measures of success, testimonials from pleased patrons, and regular reporting make a difference. Remember that reader's advisory programs in the past often failed because they lacked measures of success and success. We can certainly focus on the quality of the encounter, but the number and proportion of those using these services may be more important. No one should consider developing a reader's advisory program without first creating an appropriate evaluation component. How do we know that we are doing a good job? Are potential users aware of the service? How often is it being used? Who is using it? How satisfied are they? Is there an impact on circulation?
Reader's advisory work can be no better than those who deliver the service. We need staff who are :
These staff may be support staff, professionals or a mixture of both.
The
match between the staff member and these four attributes is more
important
than the professional degree. Hiring staff members at all levels who
are enthusiastic about books and reading is an essential precondition
for success. Such people should be able to talk to patrons about books
in a comfortable, supportive manner.
Most users will not ask for help because:
The only way to dispel these notions is to provide first-rate
customer
service. The staff needs to be cheerful, outgoing, and unfailingly
pleasant. Visitors should be greeted and encouraged to ask for help.
The
way that staff act toward each other and toward customers quickly
establishes a climate that can make the facility warm and welcoming or
not. First rate service focuses on appeal elements and the ability of
the staff member to locate information about likely books. Mary K.
Chelton says that "one of the biggest myths is that a librarian must
have read a book to suggest it...." Consider what would happen if
reference librarians would only answer questions where they had
personal knowledge. Effective use of genre reference sources is much
more important than personal reading. Training should provide
familiarity with the needed tools.
Customer service standards should be adopted and implemented with care. Each staff member should know what is required. Evaluation should place considerable emphasis on how well these standards have been met. For example, one standard might be to "deliver current, popular books to any customer who requests a title within five working days."
Staff need to trained to insure that they have needed skills and experiences. Training needs to be continuing so that skills and knowledge are maintained and grow. Ideally, preparation for reader guidance would continue for the life time of the professional. We often see that in youth services librarians who read, discuss books and reading with colleagues, attend workshops and conferences and the like. Those who work with adults should do the same.
Current awareness activities need to be developed to insure that staff
are
current in their skills and have the opportunity to learn from each
other
on a continuing basis. Staff need to be evaluated on a regular basis to
insure that standards are met. Staff who do well should be rewarded.
Those
who need improvement should be given development opportunities. Those
who are clearly unsuited for the work should be give other
responsibilities. The librarian responsible for reader's advisory work
may
wish to consider if it would be helpful to adopt performance standards
or
benchmarks.
How would you select and train reader's advisory staff? Would you adopt standards? If yes, which ones? How would you measure performance?
While some sort of reader's advisory work can be done within a limited budget, resources are certainly needed. It is likely that the largest budget allocation needed will be for popular reading materials and reference material like NoveList and What Do I Read Next? If dedicated staff are used, the personnel budget needs to be adequate to allow that. Depending upon the initiatives taken, small to moderate amounts of money may be needed to improve physical and intellectual access or to implement a marketing program. The allocation of resources is a clear reflection of institutional priorities. Without dedicated financial resources, the reader's advisory program is not likely to be successful.
If you were preparing a budget for reader's advisory work, what would be your major budget categories?
The library needs to be an attractive, pleasant place. It should be inviting and comfortable. The library should be easy to find with good physical access and at least adequate parking. Hours should match times when users are likely to visit. Furniture, lighting, and other interior details should encourage people to visit and stay.
The highly visible success of the chain super book stores provides a good indication of the type of facility that is attractive to readers. The Chicago Public Library opened CPL Express with a collection of 10,000 popular fiction and nonfiction books published within the last 12 to 18 months. CPL Express uses reader interest classification and includes a coffee shop.
"The atmospheric characteristics for a popular materials library are much like a bookstore. There should be plenty of displays with out-facing shelving like a bookstore and logical arrangement of the collection with good signage so that customers can effectively browse the collection. The area should have comfortable seating and nooks where readers can examine books, and bright colors and lighting to create interest and excitement as well as display spaces for communicating with users and promoting the collection."
"What should the library feel like on the inside?"
Does the entrance greet customers and invite them inside? Do display
windows merchandise collections and services? Is comfortable seating
available near the new book shelves? Are genre reference materials
visible and housed near the books?
Shelving books face out with the jacket on has an
immediate impact on circulation. Similarly, well-done displays also
increase circulation. The library needs to have available shelf space
for face-out displays, especially in the new book area, as well as end
cap display space. Any vacant shelf space can be used for face-out
displays. High demand "fast reads" need to be labeled and have a
limited circulation period.
Tables and chairs should be located near the shelving so
that it is easy to browse in books. Lighting also needs to be good in
these areas.
Reader's advisory work can be done without local collections, but is intended to link users to the wide variety of material in the local collection so that the collection will be more heavily used. The better the collection, the more opportunities for successful linkages. Since many readers are interested in newer works, especially by popular authors, current selections are important. Popular materials may create enough demand to warrant multiple copies or change in the circulation period. As older high demand items wear out or are no longer available for use, a thoughtful replacement program needs to be in place.
Ideally, reader's advisory staff who interact with users on a daily
basis
would be substantially involved in collection development. This means
that
selection decisions can be made with particular audiences in view.
There is
no substitute for a steady stream of attractive new books into the
collection. Enthusiastic readers will soon tire of a library that never
seems to have the hot new books mentioned in reviews, on the WWW, and
in
discussions on the Internet.
Audience and potential audience is important. It can be relatively
easy to stereotype readers and readers of particular genres. For
example, I still encounter librarians who think of SF appealing to
younger techie males when many authors are female and the genre appeals
to many women. Some audiences are simply not considered. For example,
few libraries consider collections and services aimed at adults who
have reading ages of nine to fourteen years. These adults want to read
"real" books, but books that are readable for them. Usually, they don't
want to read books for younger readers although that is worth
consideration. Another example would be the provision of RA service for
various racial and ethnic groups who have special needs and wants.
Hispanic readers are likely to be especially important in the near
future so there will be a need for multi-cultural fiction in a variety
of genres.
How would you organize collection development for the popular fiction collection? How would you decide to allocate resources to one genre versus another?
In reader's advisory work, there are two important aspects to intellectual access:
Most fiction readers do not use the catalog, but find material by browsing. This means that signage and proper arrangement on the shelf is crucial. Signs need to be clear, attractive, and visible. There need to be enough signs to guide patrons to the proper location. If some material--new books, books to be reshelved, mass market paper, too tall books--is shelved out of sequence, signage needs to make that clear. If genre fiction is segregated, signs need to clearly indicate what is shelved where. See also references may be needed to encourage patrons to go to appropriate alternative locations, e.g. the Fiction Collection or the Young Adult collection.
Since genre fiction may easily be placed in more than one category,
particular care needs to be given to where it is placed, especially if
there is only one copy. A SF novel placed in the Fiction Collection may
be
lost for those who only browse the SF section of the shelves. Spine
labels for genres may create similar problems. Given the rapid
proliferation of sub-genres, classification is a major problem. Does
the SF romance get a SF or a romance spine sticker. Does the
inspirational [Christian] western go with the inspirational or the
western fiction? Do often [I think] somewhat in technical services
classifies on cover art that may be misleading so that SF without the
spaceship goes into general fiction. Too, authors complicate things
when they write novels or short stories in more than one genre. For
example, Sandra Brown's earlier works were romances while her more
recent work is in the mystery genre.
The literature certainly discusses the inadequacies of the catalog for
the
reader of popular fiction. Author and title may be straight-forward
unless
the author writes under various names and the library does not bring
them
together (see also would be OK) . Access by series is often a problem.
Subject access is improving, but still remains problematic. In most
cases,
a secondary source will be needed for the user who wants fiction by
date,
place, occupation or some such. If fiction is arranged alphabetically
by
author surname on the shelf, it is better to ignore the
catalog and
encourage patrons to use alternative sources with good indexes (NoveList
and What Do I Read Next?). Still, the reader's advisory staff
needs to
review intellectual access in the catalog and suggest appropriate
changes.
This will be difficult in many environments where quick, inexpensive
adaptive cataloging and classification is the norm. Too, mass market
paper editions are rarely cataloged and that is a considerable problem
for genre fiction where there is considerable original publication in
mass market paper editions.
Intellectual access to the best may be accomplished in several ways:
Each of these may be done in the library with hard copy products or
done as
digital products and placed on a server. Server-based materials and
displays are likely to be less expensive, easier to update, easier to
preserve, and may be easier to use. Be familiar with the degree to
which local users/readers use the web. Given energy, enthusiasm, and
IT, 24/7 reader's advisory service is certainly possible just as 24/7
reference is now available in some libraries.
The annotation database may take different forms. It could be a leased commercial product or it could be developed in-house or shared with other libraries. With inexpensive hardware/software, it should be relatively easy to develop an annotation database if one is needed. Periodic evaluation is needed to insure that such a database is used and useful. The major advantage of a well-constructed database is that it allows searching likely to be more effective than list browsing.
Annotated reading lists have long been the key element in providing intellectual access to good stuff. Again, they be locally produced, leased or purchased, or borrowed from others with permission (link to a web site is really borrowing). They may be printed or mounted on a server. Often, annotated reading lists are topical or reflect frequently asked questions. They are especially good for bringing together works that would be scattered or difficult to find in the catalog. Since they are relatively short, they are easier to use than a database. It would be reasonable to establish a similar site for annotated reading lists within a metropolitan area to eliminate duplication of effort. Since annotated reading lists can create considerable demand for a small number of copies, some thought needs to be given to controlled circulation or multiple copies BEFORE distributing lists.
In the days when librarians seemed to have more time, reference books were annotated with local call numbers to indicate which items were held and where. The same action could be taken with popular reading reference works. For example, an annotated copy of Genreflecting would be a wonderful resource on the reader advisor's desk.
Book stores have had substantial success with staff picks where individual staff members select a recent title that they have particularly enjoyed and provide a rationale. These "picks" generally sell much better than other new books.
Ideally, a library should be a place where thoughtful, serious
[serious about reading not that they need to read "serious" books]
readers are employed. Staff should be encouraged to read both new and
older items and "pick" those that they find especially enjoyable. Staff
pick "reviews" need to be short and clearly written with an emphasis on
appeal elements. These are not book reviews, but book suggestions.
Picks could be made visible in a display or placed in the book or a
reading list. In either case, the location of the item and how to
"reserve" it should be made clear. This is one way to encourage all
staff members to participate in a readers' advisory program. It is
inexpensive and easy to implement.
With a review process established, reader picks may also be useful.
This can be captured in a variety of ways.
This is discussed elsewhere, but each interaction with a user is an opportunity to help them find materials via intellectual and physical access. Ideally, this is an opportunity to informally and comfortable show people how to use the library effectively.
Displays and exhibits, especially when accompanied by a reading list
or bibliography are good ways to introduce potential readers to sub
genres and resources useful for finding good books or read-alikes.
Topical displays work well, i.e. mysteries featuring librarians or
gardening or cats.
Book talks and discussions identify and make particular works and authors more visible and more attractive. These may be presented in the library or where groups meet. The latter are a good opportunity to "show the flag."
Which intellectual access activities seem most important to you?
Physical access begins with hours and parking as well as ease of finding the library and its collections and services. It will be difficult to be successful with reader's advisory work if the library is difficult to find, parking is expensive, hours are limited and the like. Physical access to popular fiction in the library has already been mentioned above. Signage is important. Visibility and arrangement of the stacks also make a difference. Popular fiction stacks should be easy to find. Particular genres should be easy to find. Since discharged books are often the popular ones, recently discharged books on trucks and sorting shelves need to be identified and easy to approach. Books should be placed on shelves that ordinary people can reach without difficulty.
Signage at or near the circulation desk as well as library handouts
should
emphasize that help is readily available, especially if the reader has
difficulty in finding the right book. The holds or reserves service
should
also receive attention. If there is web access to the catalog, it
should
contain a similar messages. Patrons should be able to place a hold via
the
web or phone or email and be notified by email or phone when the book
is available for use.
Websites with a "shopping cart" feature that allow users to select
and have books held for pickup simplify physical access problems as
does the library with a pick up and return drive-up window.
Reader's advisory service should be highly visible in the circulation and the reference areas of the library. Reader services questions are more likely to appear at circulation than at reference.
Which physical access activities seem most important to you?
While some library patrons may be aware of reference service, few will expect reader's advisory service. There is a tension between promoting the program and the ability to provide quality service. It is always important not to promise more than you can deliver.
Marketing may be in-house: exhibits, displays, announcement on the
library web
site, posters, and book discussion groups that meet in the library.
Marketing should
be aimed at the community as a whole through media mention--newspaper,
radio, TV (usually via public service announcements), and through book
talks for various community groups. Using book talks to spread the good
news about reader's advisory work works well and allows the librarian
to
deliver particular messages to particular audiences. Book talks reach a
smaller audience and are thus less likely to overwhelm the library or
the
collections.
Websites devoted to books and readers are popular and work well. The Public Library of Charlotte
and Mecklenburg County provides good examples. Recently, a small number
of libraries have created blogs to provide summaries of new books and
other media as well as news about the world of authors and books. Staff
picks are also included. The St.
Joseph County Public Library provides a good example although the
blog contains much non-book content.
It is important to partner with community organizations to increase the visibility of the library to the community and bring new customers to the library. Many community groups and organizations will be interested in book talks or programs on subjects of interest.
A few public libraries have had excellent success with author programs where the author's books are sold to the audience. The Phoenix Public Library reports that 25 to 55 percent of the audience purchased books. A one day SF festival drew 3000 people and book sales, mostly paperbacks, were about $3000. Obviously, this is what book stores do and competition with the local book store might be a problem. Still, this is a good example of what might be done.
Seasons are important when considering events and programs. Typically,
book
sales increase from May through August and summer is a time when many
will
do more reading. An overwhelming majority of the books sold in July are
novels. Genre fiction reading in particular soars in July and August.
Book clubs may also be an effective part of marketing RA services
since they promote both reading and the notion that the library is a
place with thoughtful, interesting interaction between people with
common interests.
The most recent major marketing initiative for several libraries,
especially those in metro areas, is the "one community, one book"
initiative where an organized effort is made to get a large number of
people to read and discuss a particularly notable and appropriate book.
This can be expensive and fund-raising is usually needed. Still, it
makes books, reading, and the library highly visible.
How would you market the reader's advisory program to
make it more visible to the community, especially library users? Which
community organizations might partner with the library in book oriented
programs?
Last major revision: August 2004.