Marija Dalbello Reading Interests of Adults Reading in Institutional Contexts Publishers and the Literary Marketplace Rutgers School of Communication and Information Image credit: Victor GAD

Overview _______________________________________ Introduction - “suppliers” of reading in focus The Public Library Movement and attitudes about reading Reader Advisory Principles Tools Interview Genre constructions in publishing and the literary marketplace Conclusion

The public library movement _______________________________________ The other side of the reading revolution - managing the reading tastes of the public Role of libraries in upholding cultural authority Attitudes to fiction reading and collection development Paternalism - library as an educational institution Mass support at the center of debates The role of librarians as reformers

The objectives of the public library _______________________________________ Reformative Educational Recreational Democratic The objectives shape attitudes of the library community over time, and dominate in some periods more than others Overlap during the Progressive Era

The Progressive Era ( ) _______________________________________ Pivotal years Pre-1890 PATERNALISM Apostles of Culture pastoral tendencies conventional conservative librarian as arbiter of taste and cultural authority Post-1890 LIBERALISM peaks in tied to activities of maverick librarians John Cotton Dana, Melvil Dewey - to uphold democratic principle in librarianship recognition of recreational reading emphasis on management and “library science” rather than social control (access)

Practices for regulating reading _______________________________________ Paternalist - Liberal tensions and associated practices Paternalist lists and bibliographical aids for recommended reading two-book system of lending testing periods for fiction Progressive open shelves common in most public libraries in 1900

Reformers’ voices upholding the “democratic principle” _______________________________________ “Is a free public library justified in supplying to its readers books which are neither for instruction nor for the cultivation of taste; which are not … good literature; which are books for entertainment only – such, for example, as the ruck of common novels?” (J.C. Dana?) “the librarian should not carry his head so high in the clouds as to forget that the vast majority of people are bowed down by their cares and burdens, and care more for mental relaxation than instruction” (G. Cole) “Look at your position as a high-grade business one, look after the working details, have things go smoothly, know the whereabouts and classification of books, and let people get their own meat or poison.” (M. Dewey)

The Progressive Era ( ) _______________________________________ Democratization The “fiction problem” fizzles out in years prior to WWI Widespread acceptance of mass reading But, the fiction debate persists and continues

Objectionable fiction PAUSE HERE Find examples that still point to the unresolved tension about the role of libraries and reading materials

The therapeutic ethos ( ) _______________________________________ Surge in reader advisory services and increase in the number of professionals Reading at the center of life-enhancing activities counter the disillusionment of the Great Depression era The democratization of reading and accessible classics J. Haldemann’s Little Blue Books The Book of the Month Club public evening schools correspondence courses

The scientific librarianship (post-WW2) _______________________________________ Focus on information and documentation Emphasis on technical aspects of librarianship Idea of guidance into certain forms of literature discredited Affirmation of free access but not directed educational service Agnostic librarianship - facilitating rather than evaluative Reading constructed within the context of information behavior Reader advisory not relevant in that context of practice - reading constructed within utilitarian framework

Readers’ advisory today _______________________________________ The renaissance of reader advisory in the 1980s And still growing and developing as noted by the development of reader advisory tools and increased knowledge about the readers’ advisory interview publication of genre guides development of online resources library school offering of adult reading advisory courses RA under-resourced, awareness of skills needed to advise low Librarians not properly trained Need to increase training opportunities for reader advisors (especially for work with adult readers) in library schools

Readers’ advisory history in brief _______________________________________ Historically, scorn for pleasure reading and even today not advertised From didactic activity aimed at moral transformation, to fiction guidance with no attempt to improve reader’s reading tastes Periodization of readers’ advisory services Public Library Movement and associated programs Pre-WW2: adult education program Post-WW2 disappeared Recent years: renaissance

Readers’ advisory programming methods _______________________________________ Passive Eliciting reader tastes (circulation, surveys) Book recommendations Consultation with colleagues New fiction racks, book displays Book reviews, patron popularity Posting best sellers lists Genre shelving Book displays Bookmarks Booklists Annotated bibliographies Newsletters Sponsored book clubs Active Readers’ advisory interview (in-depth process, follow-up, use of tools)

Readers’ advisory _______________________________________ Tools Collection development and current awareness, history Library Journal, Publishers’ Weekly Genre guides follow list from syllabus page Databases (by subscription) Reader’s Advisor Online, NoveList Library portals and enthusiast sites Reader’s Robot And beyond social networking, bookmarking sites Interview Neutral questioning technique and reader advisory probing Closing the interview with invitation for feedback, longitudinal (reader histories), librarian’s knowledge of fiction genres and titles essential

Reading in applied contexts - implications _______________________________________ Role of libraries in promoting reading improve reader advisory services Programming for readers Understanding readers and their uses and gratifications from reading Role of LIS programs in teaching about reading Information allows to avoic complexities involving matters of race, class, sexual orientation, age and gender distinctions Content of information vs. access to information (library as reading institution) Role of research in understanding the process of reading a form of behavior operating as a complex intervention in the ongoing social life of actual social subjects

Library Journal PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with the latest issue of the Library Journal online; access Wikipedia article.

Publishers’ Weekly PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with the latest issue of the Publishers’ Weekly online; access Wikipedia article.

Genre Guides PAUSE HERE Access guide list from course syllabus page …

Genre Guides PAUSE HERE and, familiarize yourself with organization of Genreflecting.

NoveList PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with NoveList online

The Reader’s Advisor Online PAUSE HERE Explore The Reader’s Advisor Online

Neutral Questioning _______________________________________ Sense-Making (B. Dervin) SITUATIONS - GAPS - USES users resolve uncertainty information-seeking situation methods of questioning neutral questioning technique Closed questions Is this for a project? Do you want American or Canadian author? Open questions Tell me more about X. Neutral questions subset of open questions that guide conversation along dimensions relevant for information seeking situations - uncover expected and unexpected uses

Neutral Questioning _______________________________________ Examples of neutral questions Use neutral questioning early in the interview TO ASSESS SITUATIONS Tell me more how this problem arose? What are you trying to do in this situation? What happened that got you stopped? TO ASSESS GAPS What would you like to know about X? What seems to be missing in your understanding of X? What are you trying to understand? TO ASSES USES How are you planning to use this information? If you could have exactly the help you wanted, what would it be? How will this help you? What will it help you do?

Questions related to reading _______________________________________ Examples of neutral questions regarding FRAME (with the following elements: setting, atmosphere, background, tone, special interests) TO ASSES tone Tell me about the mood of the book you would like to read. (to elicit suspenseful, light, romantic, humorous, upbeat, dark bleak tone) TO ASSESS setting Do you like novels in specific time or place? TO ASSESS atmosphere Tell me more about a memorable character or setting you have enjoyed in a previous book. TO ASSES special interests Do you like books with incidental information? (to elicit whether they are interested in medieval life, gardening, cooking, …)

Other techniques in readers’ advisory _______________________________________ Librarians may ask questions related to genre dimensions (guided, not closed) Consult Genreflecting (Ch. 3 - Catherine Sheldrick Ross) for further guidance on specific questions: To dentify previous reading patterns To determine current To probe using standard reference techniques in a reference interview Map your knowledge structure and tools to what you learn from readers to search in reader advisory tools

Genre in the Marketplace _______________________________________ How genre is negotiated in the making of literature Materiality of the book Branding Imprints Bookstores Literary Prizes

Conclusion _______________________________________ Debates about fiction reflect institutional history (of the American public library) Evolution of reader advisory from moral guide, to reader guide, to provision of reader access to books they wish to read (from paternalism to democratic approach to literacy) Reader advisory work (tools, guides, interviewing techniques) The taxonomies of genre shaped and articulated through negotiation of meaning between the providers of reading (libraries, publishing industry), readers, and authors