An Introduction to Readers’ Advisory

What is Readers’ Advisory Patron-centered library service for adult leisure readers. A successful readers’ advisory service is one in which knowledgeable, nonjudgmental staff help fiction and nonfiction readers with their leisure-reading needs. For books, ebooks, audiobooks, videos, games. For all library materials for all ages.

Readers’ Advisory is about.. Building relationships with customers Answering questions that matter, whether informational or leisure-related Conversations with give and take, not interviews Possibilities Reinforcing customer service skills

A Brief History of Readers’ Advisory in the US Early Flowering, 1920s to 1940s 1980s Betty Rosenberg’s Genreflecting Saricks and Brown’s Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library Annelise Mark Pejtersen’s “Fiction Retrieval” Formation of the Adult Reading Roundtable provides on-going training for library staff Catherine Sheldrick Ross’s research on how readers choose books

2014 Survey of US Public Libraries In-Person RA 85% at Adult Services desk 59% at checkout desk Indirect RA 94% offer book displays 75% create booklists Book Related Programs 89% offer book discussions 86% host author visits 79% offer tips and read-alikes on websites

RA-related Blogs Book Pulse RA for All Public Library blogs Neal Wyatt produces weekdays—new books and news Subscribe through libraryjournal.com RA for All Becky Spratford, RA library and author Raforall.blogspot.com Public Library blogs Seattle Public Library’s Shelf Talk Shelftalkblog.wordpress.com

What we don’t need to do… Read Everything

What we don’t need to do… Read Everything Remember Plots of Books

What we don’t need to do… Read Everything Remember Plots of Books Like What We Read or Suggest

What we don’t need to do… Read Everything Remember Plots of Books Like What We Read or Suggest Find the Perfect Book

Appeal: The Key to Readers’ Advisory It’s the way we and readers naturally describe and think about books Takes us beyond plot summaries Makes sharing easier Appeal allows readers to decide if they want to read a book or not.

Appeal terms are… Descriptive adjectives Positive Understandable by staff and customers Not jargon!

As I speak… Think about a book—fiction or nonfiction, adult or children’s—that you know well Listen to appeal descriptions and mark words that describe your book Later, share that book by appeal with your colleagues here

Pacing Both the speed at which a story unfolds and the speed at with we read it Most often the reason readers choose one book or another Easy check: flip through a book. More white space means faster pace Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction unfold at a more leisurely pace while readers expect to speed through Thrillers and Suspense

Fast versus Leisurely

Tone/Mood Second only to pacing in readers’ decisions to read a book or not Mood the author projects and how it affects us as readers Genre specifics Menacing atmosphere in suspense Uncertainty that drives our fears in horror Sweetness of heartfelt relationships in Romance

Scary versus heartwarming

Characterization Not who the characters are but how they’re presented and how we relate to them Often stereotypical, characters we know from the first page Many readers read for character—either series- centered genre fiction or character-centered literary fiction

Respond sympathetically to characters or simply observe

Story Line More than just plot What’s the author’s intention? Stories for the heart/emotions Stories for the mind/intellect What is more important: characters action and events?

Stories for the heart versus for the intellect

Frame/Setting Background details Geographical setting Incidental Learning with details on a topic (Faberge Eggs for me!) Geographical setting Sense of time and place Local Color

Real and imaginary people and places or Sense of place and historical details

Style/Language Conversational versus more literary Does the writing or style matter to the reader? Experimental styles, e-mails, letters, etc.

Dense and elegant versus Conversational and compelling

Books blend these 6 elements Some elements dominate, usually more than 1 Not every element is important in every book Readers unconsciously look for these elements, the ones they relate to, when they choose books Look and listen for these when we Read Read reviews Talk with readers

Jo Nesbø’s The Son Pacing: slow at first, then builds in intensity Tone: dark and gritty, nightmare Characterizations: sympathetic, involving Story Line: complex, plot twists Background: criminal underground of Oslo Style: multiple points of view; smart

How We Use Appeal Writing about books Talking about books we haven’t read Flip through for pacing Evaluate cover for tone/mood, sometimes story Pull appeal from description on book Making connections among books, authors and genres Discovering what we personally enjoy Giving readers a language to describe preferences

Why should we care about Appeal? It allows readers to see easily if this is a book they want to read, and we can see what obviously doesn’t fit together It’s a way to collect and remember books from reading, conversations about, and reading about them It helps us recognize what makes a book popular— to be nonjudgmental in comments and to talk about titles we don’t personally enjoy Focuses us on what readers enjoy and the range of books that might work for a reader, as we listen to their descriptions

Identifying Appeal Listen for appeal terms as readers describe books Watch for appeal in book jacket descriptions, reviews, publisher catalog descriptions

Instant Readers’ Advisory Read—anything and everything Keep a list of what you read Talk about books Read reviews—in magazines, newspaper, online Put up a display HAVE FUN!