This month we are sharing information on a frequently discussed topic in all library work: Reader’s Advisory!
Most of us are in the profession at least in part because we love to read. (We also like customer service and technology!) But it can be hard to keep up with all the information out there, with the recommend books, and to guess what books will be most interesting to your patrons. With so many potential formats of books these days, it can even be hard to keep up with the format people are reading! (Content is the key here; but different formats – paper, audio, or eBook – can lend themselves to better appreciating different books.)
Do you have ideas about RA work? What do you like to do to keep up? Share them in the comment box, and we will add your material here to help your colleagues across CMLE!
As with any of our topics, be sure you keep an eye on our Continuing Education calendar; there are a lot of RA classes being offered, and if you miss one you may still get the replay!
Here is a very detailed list of all the potential genres out there. No one person can know it all, so we need to work on strategies for learning enough to help our patrons!
This is a less detailed list, but has some short definitions of each genre for easy sorting
- Tools
- Reader’s Advisory programs
- Williamsburg Regional Library RA survey (only for residents; but they offer to share information on getting started tp other library people!)
- WebJunction: RA Materials “Regardless of technological changes, patrons still come to us for book recommendations and we love to give them! Find resources to help you develop your readers advisory skills so that you can help patrons find the right book for them. Also explore tools and resource that help inform the readers advisor on current, popular and notable books of every genre and for every age.”
- Wikipedia entry on Reader’s Advisory
- Book Materials
- Our blog postings