STACKED

books

Observations Upon Weeding: What My Teens Aren’t Reading

|

The library I work at moved into its new building in 2009. When I started, I was told the YA collection hadn’t been weeded since the move (maybe even before the move). At this point, the stacks are packed since we’ve continued to acquire in that time. But more than simply being packed, the collection is in desperate need for attention in the form of weeding. 

For non-librarians, weeding is the art and science of removing books from a collection. I say art and science because it’s a little bit of both — your science comes in the form of numbers, such as dates of last check out and the number of times a book has checked out, while your art comes from thinking about those numbers in context of the book itself and its place in your collection. Do you keep all award winning books, even if they haven’t circulated in 3 or 4 years? Do you keep a book that last circulated in 2010 but you know that, if you were to display or put onto a book list, would get picked up by a new reader? Do you keep books with terrible covers knowing that the content is excellent? If you have a book that hasn’t moved in three years but another library in your system has it, can you safely pull your copy knowing another is easily available? 

You also have to consider your books in a series a little bit differently: if book two of a four book series is missing or hasn’t moved in years, do you remove just that volume or do you remove the entire series? What about if you cannot replace a book that you discover is missing because it has gone out of print?

Another consideration I like to make is whether or not to replace a book that does circulate well with a newer edition. I noted in my review of To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones, the new covers of her backlist titles are fantastically contemporary. So much so that weeding the older, still circulating titles, in order to replace them with the newer look was worth the budget costs. They’ll get new life and readership. 
Weeding is one part objective and one part subjective. It’s figuring out a fine balance between the two. 
Many people hate weeding. It’s hard to be objective because so much of reading is about the subjective experience. You know a book hasn’t moved, that the chances of it moving are slim, and yet you can’t stop thinking that maybe if that right reader found this right book, it is worth keeping on the shelf. 
I am not one of those people. I love weeding. I love putting my analytical brain to work with my more subjective brain, but more than that, I love the cleaning element of weeding. When you weed books from your shelves, you invite better browsing and discoverability. Because readers are no longer having to sort through, say, 75 books jammed on one shelf, they are looking instead at 50 or 60. There’s breathing room to sort through titles, and there’s breathing room for inviting new titles into the collection. 
When you weed, you’re also looking at every book as a singular object. For me, my familiarity with my collection is through what I have myself purchased or put onto a reader’s advisory guide. My familiarity is also in what I’ve read or what I’ve helped other people seek out. And while that’s not an insignificant number of books, with weeding, I’m revisiting older titles — older meaning books 10 years old or 3 years old — and looking at what they’re about. I take notes when I weed about themes and content. That helps me think about not only whether to weed it or not, but it gives me a sense of what may be missing in or collection or what may be simply overlooked. 
Because for the most part, as much as readers love the newest books, they also love backlist. 
I don’t need my collection to average only one or two years old. I need my collection to best reflect the interests and needs of my patrons. 
Over the course of this weeding project, I have found some really interesting trends in regards to what my YA readers are reading (and note that I continue to use “YA readers,” as opposed to teens because while teens make up the bulk of YA readers, they aren’t the only YA readers in the library). I’ve also noticed really interesting trends in terms of publishing, as well. When you begin looking at the books that published around the same time and explore their similarities and consider what the book landscape looks like today, it’s fascinating.
Here’s a look at some of the trends I’ve noticed from my weeding project. I’m talking about them fairly broadly, as well as pulling out some interesting anecdotes. This post will highlight some of the little gems I’ve found in the collection that caught my eye, too, perhaps as a means of not only put them on some reading radars, but as a means of having others think about the value of the backlist.

For what it’s worth, my observations are based on 200 titles I marked as ones I’d like to weed based on paper credentials alone, so circulation dates and numbers. It doesn’t mean they’ll be the only ones weeded and it doesn’t mean that I’ll weed them all when I get to the shelves. But 200 is the number for numerical state. 

YA Book Length

When I began looking at titles that haven’t moved much in a few years, I found evidence of an instinct I’d had about YA books in general: books have gotten longer. There’s not a definitive average length of a YA novel that I know of, but a little research brought up a couple of interesting posts. First, agent Bree Ogden suggests the average YA novel is between 55,000 and 90,000 words, which translates to roughly 200 to 350 pages. But if you go check out list word count list by author Jessica Khory, you can see that the actual word counts of well-know YA novels average on the high end of that list and beyond. Generally, though not always, fantasy and science fiction novels tend to average a little higher.
For the titles I’ve marked as ones to weed, the average page count was 231 pages. That translates to about 65,000 words or so. That’s definitely on the lower end of average, if it’s even within average anymore. 

Page counts ranged from 93, 95, and 96 total (those were published in 2004, 2006, and 2001 respectively) to 553 and 574 (2006 and 2009 respectively). It’s worth noting that looking at my data, the average publication date of my to-weed titles in 2006, and I would maybe go as far as to argument that 2006 and 2007 were sort of turning point years for YA. It didn’t quite take off yet, but that date seems to be a tipping point not just in my collection but for YA more broadly. 

2006 is when Twilight was first published. 

Age of YA Characters
From what I can tell with my data, they’ve gotten older. Again, there’s not any standard to judge by, and it’s very possible my own reading skews my perception on the average age of a YA protagonist. But I tend to think more of them fall into the 16 or 17 year old range than younger — for many reasons. 

Looking at my own information was tougher because many books don’t outright tell you the main character’s age. I ended up going through catalog records of my titles, and I pulled ages out where I could find them. So, the average age I pulled comes from 158 titles, as opposed to the 200 I looked at. 

My average age was 14.95 — or I’ll go ahead and say 15 to make it even. It’s worth noting that we do have a juvenile section, so our teen area is for readers 12 and older; some libraries have middle grade with their YA, but we do not. To me, that 15 average seems somewhat young, though I feel like the age range I found was more telling: some of the YA novels featured characters ages 10, 11, and 12 (all published before 2006, except for two which featured 12 year olds, published in 2007 and 2010). In 2003, there was a pair of books featuring a 19-year-old that were part of a series, and the same went for a pair of books published in 2008. There were twenty books published with main characters who were 17 or older, but the bulk hovered in the 13, 14, and 15 year old range. 

Besides suggesting to me that main characters have aged a bit (again, I have no conclusive proof except in my own reading experience), it also suggests to me that books with older protagonists do better in my collection than those with younger ones. 

Trends/Popular Titles That No Longer Are Popular
This is entirely community-centric and specific, so this might not be the case in all libraries, though it’s true in mine. What used to be hot and trendy doesn’t always last, as my circulation stats seem to suggest. I go by a baseline of last circulation date in 2010, though I consider last circulation date of 2011 on a title-by-title basis, especially for books as part of a series. 

Remember when these were hot commodities?

I used to have to replace them all the time when I began working in libraries in 2009. But in 2013? These haven’t moved in two or three years. 

I’ve also found that books spun in the light of those above titles also haven’t moved a whole lot. It breaks my heart, but the books Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe series has not been checked out in a couple of years, either. The first book has a billed status in our catalog, meaning it never came back to us, but seeing that no one has asked about it and the other books haven’t moved in a couple of years, I feel okay in saying they aren’t likely to see a resurgence. 

We don’t own her second series and as far as I know, we haven’t been asked to acquire it, either. 

Beyond those, there are other books, too, that have fallen out of favor. 

We have the Pendragon series in YA, and though it used to be quite popular, it seems to not have gone out in a while. Part of me wonders if the covers are doing a disservice to the series now, as they look really young compared to the fantasy that’s been published in more recent years (book one published in 2002, for the record). 

The other book — which is part of a series — doesn’t surprise me at all in its lack of circulation. Rave New World, along with a number of other similar titles, weren’t necessarily novels for reading, but instead, they were written and marketed as books for readers to prepare for the SAT. Remember that trend a few years ago? Teens aren’t dumb. They know this is meant to be medicine for them, rather than something they pick up for enjoyment. The publication dates on the SAT novels in my library are 2004, 2005, and 2006 respectively, and there is a grand total of zero circulations combined. Those things are leaving. 

Although it’s not a trend, I found that in our collection, books which are Biblical retellings or stories based on any Bible elements don’t circulate.  I plan on keeping a few of them by well-known authors, but the majority are not paying their rent on our shelf space. 

Very Dated Covers
This is the “art” part of weeding being an art and a science, quite literally. There are times when you look at the cover of a book and just know that it is time for the book to go. Either it’s one you can replace easily with new and updated work or it’s a book that hasn’t moved in a while and you have a pretty good reason to suspect it’s because the cover simply dates the book. It’s unfair, but in YA especially, it does matter. Particularly as cover art has gotten to be a huge aspect of the selling of YA books. 

Then there are times when the cover doesn’t make sense, as is the case in this one:

Pretty innocuous all things considered. But the book features a male main character who takes a job at an advertising agency. It seems like a little bit of a disconnect from the jacket copy — though I haven’t read it to see where the girl might play in. The book circulated really well when it was in its heyday, but it hasn’t moved since 2010 in my collection. I have no idea if the cover has anything to do with that but it was one that made me stop. 

Here’s a look at a handful of the covers that made me pause and give a lot of consideration to whether they’re worth holding on to or they should be let go.

All of these look really dated and really juvenile. While The Exchange Student fits the story, it’s still bizarre. 

These are a few more of the “too dated” or “too young” covers in our collection. I think, too, Visiting Miss Caples looks like it’s not a YA book at all. 

I could post a lot more of the covers, but for me, the cover consideration aspect of weeding happens less when I’m working on paper with numbers and much more when I’m in the stacks physically looking at the books. If anything, though, it’s clear that cover design in YA has not only become a means of really selling a book to readers, but it also has gotten much, much better. I’d even argue that many YA cover models now look like they’re 20-somethings, rather than teens. I think that might be an appeal factor, too. 

Backlist Gems

I’ve stumbled upon some real gems in my weeding, too, which is one of the biggest reasons I love this part of collection development in libraries. Sure, many of these books haven’t circulated in a few years, and sure, many may end up off my shelf, but sometimes you find books in your collection that you know you can sell on a display or in a reader’s guide or in a book talk. They have themes or topics that are still timely and relevant and would make excellent read alikes to well-known and popular titles. 

My biggest and favorite find so far was this one, with what might be one of my favorite covers in a long time because it fits the content so perfectly:

Wait. Wait. Wait. I know you’re thinking that the cover looks really young. And it does. But the description of this book is what sells the cover. 

Sixteen-year-old Kayla, a ballet dancer with very large breasts, and her sister Paterson, an artist, are both helped and hindered by classmates as they confront sexism, conformity, and censorship at their high school for the arts while still managing to maintain their sense of humor. (via Worldcat).

This sounds awesome.

The weeding process is a lengthy one, without any hard-and-fast rules, but it’s one that is so satisfying not only from the collection-level standpoint, but from the reader’s advisory standpoint, as well. With shelves that aren’t filled with books that aren’t moving, it’s easier for readers to discover books they want to read, and it’s easier for people who are reader’s advisors to know their collections well. In some cases, what should be weeded and doesn’t get weeded gives an opportunity to get those under-read gems to shine on shelf and in reader’s advisory tools. 

Guest Post: Sarah Andersen on Reader’s Advisory in the Classroom

|





Sarah Andersen is a high school teacher in Michigan who has done so many great reading-related projects with her students. She blogs at YA Love and stopped by to talk about the different methods she’s tried to grow her own reader’s advisory techniques. Be ready to be inspired.











Recently I was asked, “What’s the
secret to get kids reading?” My first reaction was, well, there is
no secret. It’s all about enthusiasm and engagement. If a teacher
is excited about reading and is actively reading what her students
are reading—and sharing that excitement with her students—then
that passion will be contagious. The students will want to read. At
least that’s been my experience. I’m naturally an energetic and
enthusiastic person and that really shines through when I’m in
front of my students talking about books. However, I take it beyond
just talking about books with my students.
One of my favorite ways to hook
students is by showing them book trailers. I know I’ve shown them a
good book trailer when students ask, “Is this going to be a
movie?!” The book trailers that get that reaction almost always
result in the book being borrowed. I start every school year by
showing a number of book trailers since they’re so quick and
effective. A few book trailers that really hooked my readers this
school year are for I
Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Please
Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, The
5th Wave by Rick Yancey, and The
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. I also have a
blog feature called Book Trailer Thursday and I show the selected
book trailer in class each week. It’s become such a habit that if I
forget, my students don’t fail to remind me what day it is.
Another effective way to get kids
reading is by telling them what they’re banned from reading. I wish
there wasn’t a need for Banned Books Week, but it sure does pique
my students’ interest when I start telling them about censorship
and book talking banned books. Every year I put together a Banned
Books Week display in my classroom. Sometimes I’ll put books face
out with a note card explaining why they were banned, but I always
make time to book talk them. Once I tell them about the books and the
reason for censoring them, along with my opinion on the matter, many
of my students are itching to get out of their seats and check the
books out. Once I’m done there is usually a line by the display so
they can sample them, peruse them, and borrow them to read during
SSR. Reading these books and knowing the reasons why they’re
censored promotes rich discussion between me and my students.
This school year I started my seventh
year of teaching in a brand new district, so I really wanted to make
a strong first impression with my students not only as a teacher, but
as a reader as well. Usually on the second day of school I’ll set
up a book pass for my students. This involves me pulling a variety of
books from my shelves for my students to sample during the pass. My
students are usually given three or four minutes with a book and once
time is up they pass it to the right and start all over again. This
is a fast way for my students to sample books they may never usually
pick up on their own. This year I made sure to include student
favorites, “oldies but goodies,” a variety of genres, etc. I
always keep this in mind when preparing a book pass, but this year I
paid extra attention to the books I included. Apparently I did a
really good job picking books this year because almost half of every
class borrowed a book that day! I love book pass day because it gives
me an opportunity to see which books might be popular during the
school year since there are usually a few books wanted by more
students than I have copies available. I’ll hold another book pass
when I get back from NCTE/ALAN this November (to share my book haul)
and probably another in the spring. My students often request a book
pass later in the school year to help them find more books to read.
Whenever my students are reading during
SSR, I’m reading with them. This not only models the behavior I’m
expecting from them, but it also gives them the opportunity to see
what I’m currently reading. I took this one step further when my
friend Jillian pinned a picture of her reading
life display. I jumped on this idea and created my own reading
life display on my classroom door. I made sure to start this school
year with a reading life display on my classroom door. I’ve already
heard students talking to each other about the amount of books I’ve
read. One student is apparently trying to compete with me! Last
school year I took my reading life display one step further and asked
my students if they’d like to create their own, but on their
lockers. More students than I expected were thrilled by this idea,
which I ended up calling “literacy
lockers.” My students gave me a list of books they had read so
I could print out the book covers for them to tape to their lockers.
The English hallway looked really cool with so many decorated
lockers. It also sparked a lot of discussion among the students
because they wanted to know about the different books they were
seeing, especially the ones they saw on multiple lockers. A couple
students, who weren’t in my class, took it upon themselves to
create their own literacy lockers. I’m really hoping my new
principal will allow me to do this since I’m confident my students
will want to create their own literacy lockers.
Here’s a list of a few other ways
I’ve created a reading community in my classroom:
  • Read alouds. I’ve been reading
    aloud to my high school students since my student teaching
    experience. Some of the most positive read aloud experiences have
    come from reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Boy21
    by Matthew Quick, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and Dairy
    Queen     by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. I’m currently reading
    Wonder by R.J. Palacio to my seniors and one class of sophomores.
  • Author visits. This isn’t always
    easy to accomplish, but if you can find a way to connect your
    students with an author you’re sure to have positive results. I’ve
    been really fortunate in this area because of Twitter and my blog.
    I’ve brought Lisa McMann and Ellen Hopkins to my school to speak
    with students. I’ve also Skyped with authors like Laurie Halse
    Anderson, Charles Benoit, Gae Polisner, and Geoff Herbach. After
    each Skype session quite a few students wanted to read books by the
    author. They’ve learned about writing, reading, and what it’s
    like being an author.
  • Seating charts. A while back
    Donalyn Miller tweeted about arranging her seating chart based on
    students’ reading interests. I’ve started doing the same thing
    (without telling them this) and have seen more book exchanges and
    heard more book discussions than before.
  • Class library. I guess I’ve
    assumed that teachers reading this have a classroom library, but I
    know what they say about making assumptions…. A class library is
    so important if you’re trying to create a community of readers.
  
In all honesty, all of these ideas will
help you get books in the hands of readers, but nothing trumps
reading the books your students are reading. Knowing my students and
their interests, plus having read the books in my classroom library,
results in a strong student/teacher rapport. There’s nothing quite
like reading a book and knowing exactly which student(s) I should
recommend it to when I finish. Even though I’m in a new district,
I’m still thinking about my former students while I’m reading.
Thank goodness for Twitter, otherwise it would be much more difficult
to share titles with those students.

Baby Got Backlist and Don’t Ever Forget It

|

One of the questions I got earlier this year on my panel at Book Blogger Con at BEA was what I thought one of the trends in blogging was. That’s a tough question, partially because my view of the blogging world is skewed by what blogs I read, and the blogs I read tend to be written by librarians or educators (though not all — I read a number of reader blogs, too). But the answer I had didn’t take a whole lot of thought: I think backlist blogging is one of the trends that continues to pop up in discussion of blogging trends, but also in the actual content I’ve read in the blogs I frequent.

At Kid Lit Con in 2011, one of the panels was all about backlist and defining what made a book backlist. According to the publishing representative, it’s any book older than six months.

You read that right: six months.

Books published prior to April this year are what could be considered “backlist” titles. They’re no longer getting the push from publishers or the sort of marketing and publicity bucks that books out this season or in the coming season will be getting. It’s not that they’re forgotten; it’s that they’re no longer the focus of dollars — there are caveats to that, of course.

I think six months is a pretty short period of time to consider a book backlist. But I say that from the librarian perspective. As much as I may be familiar with a book or series prior to its publication and during the initial six months it’s out for purchase, most general readers are not. Even if they’ve seen a review in The New York Times or they’ve seen advertisements in any magazines, they aren’t necessarily thinking in terms of the book being brand new or the book being old. The general reading population isn’t as caught up in the newest or the latest as many of us who blog or write or work in classrooms and libraries are. For most readers, a book is a book. Even those who want the latest book from a favorite author (think Nora Roberts, James Patterson, and so forth) don’t necessarily know the titles or plot lines of the newest book or even when it came out. They just know there’s a book they haven’t yet read and they want it.

Many readers, in my experience, find an author early on and discover they really enjoy the work. Many times it IS a new book that gets them hooked — in the library setting, this might be because they pick up the book on the new shelves which are way less intimidating to browse than the general fiction area. And once they find those great new books, the next thing those readers want to know is what else that author has written and where to find it.

Books that were published 6 months ago or longer aren’t old to those readers. They’re brand new.

For teens especially, backlist titles aren’t old news. New teen readers discover YA as an entirely new world to them when they’re ready to read them — and because they discover new authors and series and stories they love, they aren’t concerned about those books being the latest and the greatest. In fact, aside from some of the huge titles (think the Divergent or Legend series or anything by Cassie Clare), many brand new books end up on the new books shelf in my library when they come out. They don’t always stick around long, but teens aren’t clamoring to get their hands on those books as soon as they possibly can.

Backlist is crucial for reader’s advisory. It’s not only enough to know what’s come out this week or last. You have to always be aware of the books that came out six months ago and maybe even six years ago. No, you don’t need to know them all, but you should have a solid idea of big name authors and series, as well as keep up with the standalone titles published more than six months or a year ago in order to offer strong next reads to those who want them. For many readers who have been with YA for a while, it’s really not that difficult. In fact, it can be advantageous because the titles you read a few years ago can become handy when faced with the need to offer a read alike to someone. Need to offer ideas for a reader who loves books about teen pregnancy? Though a handful have published this year, you’d have to work through backlist titles in order to give that reader a strong list of ideas. This extends further when your reader wants something very specific in their teen pregnancy fiction. You can’t find many books that explore abortion in the last six months, but broaden your range to the last 8 or 10 years, and you can offer quite a few options.

Books don’t expire. And while there can be challenges to acquiring some backlist titles — books do go out of print — there’s a real value in not just reading, but in also talking about backlist titles. Even publishers are finding some backlist titles strong enough to repackage and republish. Look at what Lizzie Skurnick is doing with her imprint at IG Books.

Finding older titles featured in blog reviews or other blog spotlights excites me not only as a reader (I get to find new-to-me stuff to read) but it excites me because it means I have more titles to think about and make connections to and among when I’m faced with RA opportunities. After I wrote about female sexuality in YA books that featured very new titles, for example, I got a lot of recommendations for backlist titles to look at. My reading interests don’t change because the book is 10 years old. Instead, my reading pile grows.

Who is blogging about backlist? Technically, any blogger who talks about books older than six months is covering backlist, but there are plenty of bloggers who intentionally cover backlist titles. Many book bloggers write about older titles through the “Throwback Thursday” meme, which you can Google blog search and catch up on, since there appear to be a few different takes on it.

Some other excellent sources for backlist reading:

  • Leila at Bookshelves of Doom. I am sure you’re already reading her blog, but she offers such a great mix of newest books and older books you shouldn’t overlook. Aside from when she posts newer reviews of older titles, she’s got years and years worth of archives of older reviews and book lists — earlier this year, she did a bunch of runs of booklists that were entirely backlist titles about a niche topic that are excellent. Not to mention her book list guest posts are also great. I’d go as far to say as her blog is one of the best resources for backlist in YA. 
  • Liz does a good job of reviewing a mix of newer and older titles over at Tea Cozy, but her real gem when it comes to backlist blogging is her “flashback reviews” feature. 
  • Tessa and Rebecca over at Crunchings and Munchings write some of the most creative book lists in the blogosphere, and they do so by including a real mix of new and backlist titles. I love how they pair things up. 
  • The ladies over at The Readventurer blog have done a few “Wall of Books” features that are mega lists of books on a given topic. Of course, those mega lists include both newer books and plenty of backlist titles. Check these out if you haven’t. 
  • YA Reading List is Jennie Rothschild’s project for the year, and it is awesome. If you’re looking for a YA book list, this is a go-to, and it is primarily backlist. 
Whether you’re a blogger or a reader, the backlist shouldn’t feel off-limits to you. Explore. Engage. And then most importantly, talk about what you’re reading — sometimes the perfect book for the next reader isn’t the one that came out last week or the one that’ll be out next month. It’s the one that came out in 2006. There is no timeframe for the act of discovery. List those older books on your book lists. Write a review of a book that came out years ago. 
If you know of other great YA backlist blogs or resources, I’d love to know. I’d also be curious to know your take on the definition of backlist. How long ago does a book need to have been published to be considered backlist?  If you’re a reviewer, do you share your backlist reviews with publishers, if you are one to share your reviews? And if you’re someone who does reader’s advisory, do you share publication date information when you book talk, make displays, or write book lists? 
Let’s make this a huge backlist resource post.

“Beyond the Bestsellers” at Book Riot

|

I get annoyed when big sites do posts about YA Lit — particularly as it pertains to getting adults into reading it — and I’ve talked regularly about how often, the suggestions given don’t try too hard. They’re usually titles pulled from the bestsellers list or from any number of “best of” and awards lists.  Good for those who haven’t stepped foot in a bookstore or opened anything that features advertising, but probably less useful for those who actually want to read more widely within YA lit. And, of course, then the question that comes up is “what next?” Often, those sources don’t offer an answer to that, and if they do, it’s not based on what it is a reader really dug in the books they read.

So rather than continue to complain about this, I decided I’m going to try to do something about it. Every month, I’m going to write a piece over at Book Riot called “Beyond the Bestsellers,” and it’ll feature a book, a series, or an author, an explanation for why readers like it, and then offer up three next reads and why those books may appeal to fans of the given work.

You can check out the inaugural piece today, which is about what to read about polishing off Veronica Roth’s Divergent series (or what to read while waiting for Allegiant).

Guest Post: Molly Wetta on Reader’s Advisory in the Library and Beyond

|

Molly Wetta is YA librarian assistant in Kansas who blogs about books, reading, and librarianship at Wrapped Up in Books. Her blog is a treasure trove of reviews and resources, so if you’re not reading it, it’s one to get in your regular reading rotation. You may recognize Molly’s work or name from some of the amazing graphic-driven reader’s advisory resources that have floated around social media, and I’m thrilled she’s here today to talk about what she does, how she does it, and how you can do it, too, whether you’re a librarian or not. I am a huge fan of it and want to model a lot of these ideas in my own RA work because they’re so great. 


To be honest, the first time someone complimented my “RA skills” I didn’t even know what she meant. Talking to people about books is something that came naturally to me. At the time, I had no formal training. I still feel like I am far from an expert on the topic, but it’s a subject I’m passionate about, so when Kelly asked me to contribute a post on my approach to reader’s advisory, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share my perspective and learn from other’s ideas.



I didn’t take my first library job because I wanted to be a librarian.  I was looking for a part-time position that wouldn’t be too stressful while I got my master’s degree in social work. I envisioned a career in outreach, advocacy, or organizing on behalf of the welfare of women and children.



It just so happened that when I began my search, a position opened up in the young adult section of my local library. I thought it would be fun so I went ahead and applied, even though my only experience working in a library was as a research assistant. I did have experience working with teens, as a high school debate coach and at a group home for children in the state’s care, but I’m pretty sure the reason I got my position was because of my answer to one particular interview question.



That question was, “What would you recommend to a teen looking for a book ‘like The Hunger Games?’” The film based on the popular series was in production, and it had more holds than any other book in the library. In my response, I discussed why recently released Legend by Marie Lu would be a hit with Hunger Games fans. Rather than any formal education, it was my personal reading and experience discussing books with other enthusiastic readers provided me with the foundation of knowledge to be able to answer that interview question.


Reader’s advisory is one of the most important services libraries provide, which is why I think my answer to that particular question weighed as heavily during the interview as my experience with the organization of information in my finance job and my past work with teens. In surveys, patrons continually rate help “finding their next book” as one of the top reasons they use their library. In fact, at least in the young adult section, I get far more requests for helping finding fiction books for pleasure reading than other types of reference inquiries.



Talking to people about books and understanding why people are attracted to the books they love wasn’t a skill set I consciously tried to develop, but there are three factors that I think help me connect readers with the right books: my reading habits, my approach to an in-person RA interview, and my graphic and social philosophy with regards to passive reader’s advisory.



READING HABITS



If you want to get better at reader’s advisory, there’s no way around it: you have to read. And read widely, which most likely means outside your comfort zone and personal interests. Reading reviews and using tools like NoveList and subject headings are great, but I know I’m best able to hand sell a particular title if I’ve actually read it (even if I didn’t personally like it). There’s certain insight that can only be gained from reading a book.



I’m lucky enough to be interested in a wide variety of styles and genres. I love novels by Portuguese novelist José Saramago, who won the Nobel prize in Literature, as much as I love the campy, supernatural mystery series by Charlaine Harris about a telepathic waitress. YA epic fantasy has as much appeal for me as gritty, realistic teen novels, horror, or paranormal romance. I’ve always had eclectic taste.



But my reading habits did change when I started working in a library and reading became essential to my job and not just a personal hobby. I used to read purely for my own pleasure, but now I’m willing to read just about anything. Even if a book is not my personal cup of tea (I prefer coffee), I can usually envision the type of reader who would enjoy it.



Now that I work in a library, I’m conscious about reading a diverse selection across all categories and genres as well balancing new and forthcoming releases with backlists titles. I’ve tried new formats like graphic novels and audiobooks in order to be able to better advise patrons. I keep track of what I read, I take notes about what I read, and I review most of the titles I read. An organized and deliberate approach to my personal reading definitely helps me in my job, even if isn’t a requirement. Writing about what I’ve read helps me remember details and gives me resources to refer back to if my memory is fuzzy.



While most librarians enter the profession because they are at least somewhat passionate about reading, a love of books is not all you need to be able to offer personal suggestions that work for patrons. It’s how you use and apply that knowledge that makes the difference between good reader’s advisory and great reader’s advisory.



READER’S ADVISORY INTERVIEWS



You know what has informed my reader’s advisory style more than any MLIS class? My part-time job my senior year of high school and freshman year of college working at Hot Topic. While the appeal of the job for me at the time was free concert tickets and a discount on band t-shirts, it taught me more than I anticipated about interacting with consumers. Reader’s advisory isn’t that different than retail sales: instead of helping people find the right band t-shirts and costume jewelry that promotes their desired aesthetic, I now help readers find the right “style’ of book. Customer service experience is important for working in the library. If you’re not adept at interacting with people, front line service in a library is not going to be a fun career for you.



Though I do sometimes help adult patrons find books they want, YA or otherwise, most of my interaction is with teen patrons. I think I’m particularly good at talking with this age group because I genuinely like teens. I respect their opinions and enjoy how passionate they can be about what they love. It’s important to make them feel comfortable discussing their interests and let them know that I’ll never judge them for their taste.
It’s easy to recommend books to people who have similar taste to your own, but reader’s advisory isn’t about you—it’s about helping a patron find a book they will like. I suggest titles with a disclaimer and tell them I’ll in no way be offended if they don’t check out the book or if they do and decide they don’t like it. I listen to what they actually want rather than telling them what I think they should want.



I think it’s also important to throw preconceived notions about what someone will like out the window. Too often, they’re wrong. That 6 foot tall, 220 pound 17 year-old linebacker might lover reading historical romance, and the girl who won’t let go of her boyfriend’s hand might be more into sci-fi with robots than contemporary romance.



The first layer of reader’s advisory is finding a book that is “about” what the reader is interested in or in the mood for, but you’re more likely to find a good match if you look beyond subject matter to appeal terms. Anyone can make a list of zombie books. Finding the right zombie book(s) for someone requires a more nuanced approach. Is the reader looking for a funny zombie book, or a dark gothic horror? Something campy or something thought-provoking? It makes a difference.



Often, more casual readers (and especially teenagers) are most likely not going to articulate what they want in their next read in the kind of terms that librarians or especially bookish people use to describe the style and tone of a novel. A teen is probably not going to approach the reference desk and ask for a “fast-paced and satirical character-driven zombie suspense story” But she might confess that she really like The Walking Dead and might read a book that was kinda like it. Which means that knowing about other types of media can improve your reader’s advisory. Asking about more than just their reading preferences and thinking in terms of what other kind of entertainment they enjoy can also help you get a feel for what type of stories appeal to them.



As happy as I am when a patron settles on a book, for me, the most important part of a reader’s advisory interview is the part that comes after they’ve selected a book. I always invite people to come back and tell me what they thought of the book I helped them find, and make it clear that not only am I genuinely interested, but that hearing feedback helps me connect other readers with books they will like. There’s no way I can read every book out there, and my reaction will always be unique to me and won’t predict another reader’s response. Especially with teens, I think this helps build a rapport with a reader so they know that even if they hated the book, I want to know and care about their opinion.



I know a lot of people I work with get nervous about reader’s advisory. They don’t want to steer the patron in the wrong direction or doubt their own knowledge or are nervous explaining what a book is about. Which I get. I mean, I’ve gotten more than a few “what in the hell are you talking about” looks when trying to articulate what a book is about. Certain titles are easily summed up in quippy one-liners, and the booktalk is easy. Others can be hard to sell despite their awesomeness. (Lots of teens have been skeptical of my suggestion of The Scorpio Races, for instance. Apparently the idea of “killer water horses” freaks some people out, so if anyone has great line to sell that amazing book, I’m all ears).



The point is, not every reader’s advisory interaction is a home run. Sometimes a reader is fickle and doesn’t even know what they are looking for, or sometimes the perfect book is checked out. Sometimes you are just having an off day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of the perfect book half an hour after the patron has walked away, or was just having one of those days where everything I say comes out awkward and wrong. It happens. Don’t dwell on the mistakes. Learn from them. And be sure to celebrate the victories where you renew someone’s interest in reading by connecting them with the perfect book for them rather than dwell on those patrons that you don’t feel like you’ve completely satisfied.



GET GRAPHIC AND SOCIAL WITH PASSIVE READER’S ADVISORY



As important as in-person reader’s advisory conversations are, you don’t have the opportunity to have an discussion with every patron, and not everyone wants that kind of help, which is why passive reader’s advisory is just as important. There are tons of ways to assist these kind of patrons through lists and displays in both physical and digital spaces. I have a lot of success with passive reader’s advisory in the form of simple graphics and more involved flowcharts.



I’m a tried and true book person. I thrive on the words, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good infographic. A small amount of text paired with images can often convey information in a more accessible way that appeals to people who process information in a visually.



I make RA graphics in a variety of formats, but the two that seem to be the most effective are flowcharts and what I call “like—try—why” sheets.



Remember how I got my library job because I of my answer to “What book would you suggest to a patron looking for something “like The Hunger Games”? I started thinking seriously about changing career paths and pursuing a master’s in library science about the time I made this “So you loved The Hunger Games…What should you read next?” flowchart.



It was true—just as The Hunger Games hit theaters, every kid was going crazy for the series and wanting to get their hands on the next post-apocalyptic action adventure book with a hint of dystopia thrown in. And as I kept being frustrated by having nothing to offer them besides a spot on the hold list for the hottest titles, or not being able to put the right read-alike in their hands because The Hunger Games had so many different appeal factors it was hard to tease out what exactly excited a reader about it.



So after lots of conversations with colleagues and patrons and readers about why they liked The Hunger Games, I brainstormed a bunch of subject headings that might help me locate books with similar themes. I looked for books with the immediate, first person narration and the strong female protagonist. I thought it was a perfect way to entice readers to check out some of the books on the college-bound lists that are classic dystopian.



But having a huge list of titles was overwhelming, so I set about organizing them. Then, it was just about pulling together some covers, brief labels, and arrows to guide readers through to the perfect Hunger Games read-alike for them. In addition to being a resource for staff, it also mimics the in-person reader’s advisory interview by asking the patron questions and leading them to books they might enjoy.



I’ve made other flowcharts to fulfill specific needs, such as the regular inquiry for “funny” books, or to promote a particular event at the library, such as our Teen Read Week activities or our Read Across Lawrence one book, one community events. In other instances, I’ve made simple lists that identify the appeal terms, such as a list of books for fans of Doctor Who or road trip books.



I fell in love with the concept of “If you like…try…and here’s why” format of reader’s advisory graphics when I first saw them on EpicReads (the HarperTeen online community). I really liked the vertical columns and the short explanations of why a fan of a particular book might like a certain title, and I started making similar graphics to display in the Teen Zone at the library and to share on our blog and other social media. For these, I try and stick to a common genre or theme so that someone might be intrigued by one title and consider all those mentioned. I try to pair titles that are circulating well in my library with new releases or forgotten favorites.



For the like—try—why graphics, I often have regular patrons help make them and write the one sentence blurbs. It’s a great way for teens to take ownership of their space, to share their own recommendations, and for me to learn about why Real Actual Teens like certain books and relate them to each other, which is often surprising.



Reader’s advisory graphics are worth the time and effort because they have a dual purpose. They are great to display within the library, but they also share well on social media. At my library, we have a binder with tabs that separate lists, flowcharts, and graphics by genre, subject, and appeal. Readers can flip through on their own if they want to browse, and staff also consult it regularly. It’s easy to switch out like—try—why graphics from a plexi stand or a bulletin board each week based on what books are available, but they also share well on Tumblr, Facebook, or in a blog post, where graphics are going to catch reader’s attention in a way a text based list won’t.



Believe me, you don’t need any special graphic design skills to be able to create interesting and helpful graphics to promote books in your library. I’ve adapted a presentation I’ve give at library conferences into a blog post that goes into much more detail about my process for making graphics and various examples and resources that are useful if you’re thinking about creating your own, which you can find here.
Reader’s advisory is my favorite part of my job. I love geeking out with devoted readers over the books we both love as well as listening to them passionately defend a book that didn’t work for me or rail on how they hated a book I love. I’m interested in reader’s reactions because I’m fascinated by what attracts readers to books and why they feel the way they do about them. There’s something magical and mysterious about reader’s advisory; it’s far from an exact science. I love being able to match a high school student who hates to read but has to do a book report with a title he or she will actually read (and maybe even enjoy!) as much as I love to be able to discuss the latest releases with the teens that read everything. I love being able to surprise an adult who thinks YA is for kids with the depth and complexity of the stories being shelved in the YA section. Reader’s advisory is important to me because I truly believe that finding the right book at the right time can not only change, but save people’s lives.