Readers' Advisory experienc

Courtesy of morgueFile.com

For my Readers' Advisory class we were asked to choose from two different situations.  The situation I chose was to practice what I had learned in direct communication readers' advisory.  I wanted to see if I could help people find that next great and/or needed read.

I was able to help a couple of people on the job and others I sought out via Facebook. For the face to face I was able to converse and kind of whittle away what they were looking for.


For the Facebook posts I took the option of creating a questionnaire that they could fill out and get back to me.

I enjoyed the face to face contact but I think I really enjoyed the questionnaire method.  I was able o sit back, make notes, investigate and give it some quality analysis.  I told each of them I would get back to them within 1 to 2 days as life was pretty hectic with staffing shortages, illness at home and work and . . . . well, life in general, I guess.  But, I also wanted to give them and their lists the undivided attention they deserved.  While not everyone was able to eek out time to read anything, the Facebook readers were all happy with their lists. They had something to look at when it was allowed in their time frame to read.

Here are two of my favorite experiences.  The first one was person to person, face to face and the second one was via Facebook.

First

Profile: Non-traditional Student.  Not an avid reader or watcher of movies, her sole focus is to get through school.

Reason for RA: Under pressure to write about an author that has the same beliefs that she has but unfamiliar with any such authors or commentators.  

Approach: The readers’ advisory for this patron required a unique approach.  We talked about people that she had heard or quotes that she had heard that she had found inspiring.  She had nothing to give. All she could give was that she was and believed in being non-judgmental.

First we tried looking at quotes online that were based on subject matter such as not passing judgement.  We didn’t get very far with that.  It was too vague and felt like we were fishing without bait.

I decided to take her to the nonfiction section were the many patrons go for inspiration.  This is found in the call numbers 230 to 300 range.  I pulled a few that I thought might be of possible interest and were popular.  After a couple of unsure steps I suggested that she pick three books that look interesting-- no more because then it would be overwhelming.  Then she should sit down and thumb through the book, maybe read a chapter or pick a spot in the middle and read a paragraph here and there.  I then told her that I would leave her to it because I didn't want her to feel like I was breathing down her neck.  This was between her and the books.  She agreed to this and just in time.  The library was closing early due to inclement weather.  She chose a book by or about Gandhi.  She left the library a little more encouraged about her assignment.

The next time I saw her, I asked her how the book worked out.  She was very happy with the results!

Second

This second was a result of a questionnaire I provided for the reader to fill out.  I studied her answers to the questionnaire and send her this response:

____,  I went over your questionnaire and found some titles you might enjoy.

For most of these I used Novelist, which is available through the databases via sjcpl.org.  You can access this with your library card.  It is an awesome tool!  However, there are a couple of possibilities that I read and found similar that Novelist didn’t pull up.

Because you enjoy Harry Potter and Mary Poppins you might enjoy Charlie Bone aka Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.  According to fantasticfiction.co.uk the fist of the series is Midnight for Charlie Bone.   I know [J], my oldest, really liked all of these titles and has been after me to read Charlie Bone.  I am putting it on my list for after school this semester.

Another author that is similar to JK Rowling is Richard Paul Evans in his teen series, Michael Vey series, which begins with The Prisoner of Cell 25.  OR you might want to try Rick Riordan with his mythological entourage. They are a quick read like Harry Potter and captivate the reader.

Because you liked The Tale of Despereaux, you might enjoy Poppy by Avi or The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy.

Because you liked Anne of Green Gables you might enjoy Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm. Here is the blurb as found on Novelist:

Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory.

Because you like historical fiction and Anne of Green Gables, I wonder if you have ever read anything by Ann Rinaldi.  She is a historical fiction writer that writes predominately for teen girls.  She was my first historical fiction author and hooked me into the genre.   I would be really interested to know what you think!

Because you read and enjoyed Mary Poppins, I wonder if you have read Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

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What is really great about the second experience is that she keeps emailing me the results of her reading these reads.  She has so far loved everyone of them and wants to share them with her children.  It does a librarian heart good--really good!