We love Reader’s Advisory! Heck, we’ve got a whole podcast about it: Reading With Libraries.
And this article was very cool to find, with some useful tips you can use in a school library, or any other library, to encourage people to pick up your books and take them home! That’s one of our big goals!!
Many years ago, I worked in a library where the Head of Cir HATED it when people took things out of the library. She never phrased it like that, but she was very passionate about Enforcing Every Single Stupid Little Rule to keep the books. I was a tiny, new library person; but even then, I thought it was batty. Current Me totally concurs, and adds in a side of anger at these people.
We can be better than this! Do your RA, and let’s get those books moving!
Passive Readers’ Advisory
One of my favorite parts of being a school librarian is connecting students with books they love. Providing readers’ advisory is an art that librarians are skilled at. However, sometimes you just can’t reach every student for one-on-one help finding the perfect book. Sometimes there are just too many students in the library at once. Sometimes students are just too shy to ask for or accept help. To combat this issue, I try to make my library more accessible by providing passive readers’ advisory in a variety of ways. In my four years as a school librarian, I have made a number of changes to the library collection and library space with passive readers’ advisory in mind.
- Spine Labels
- Alphabet Dividers
- Dewey Signage
- Book Displays
- Star Stickers
- Book Lists
Read the whole article here, so you can get all the good information!