Crash Course in Readers' Advisory

Cynthia Orr

ISBN-13: 9781610698252

173 pages • 8½ x 11
 2014

If you want to be indispensable to your patrons, don't miss this one-stop guide to readers' advisory.

One of the key services librarians provide is helping readers find books they'll enjoy. This "crash course" will furnish you with the basic, practical information you need to excel at readers' advisory (RA) for adults and teens.

The question "can you recommend a good book?" can be one of the most daunting you face, notwithstanding the fact that recommender tools are ubiquitous. Often, uncertainty arises because, although librarians are called on to perform such services daily, readers' advisory is a skill set in which most have no formal training. This guide will remedy that. It is built around understanding books, reading, and readers and will quickly show you how to identify reading preferences and advise patrons effectively. You'll learn about multiple RA approaches, such as genre, appeal features, and reading interests and about essential tools that can help with RA. Plus, you'll discover tips to help you keep up with this ever-changing field.

There is no other professional book that covers the full spectrum of skills needed to perform the RA service that is in such great demand in libraries of all kinds. Helping readers find what they want is a sure way to serve patrons and build your library's brand. You will come away from this easy-to-understand crash course with the solid background you need to do both.

Features

• Serves as a practical, down-to-earth, all-one introduction to a subject that is essential for librarians working in the field
• Summarizes the best practices of readers' advisory service and the best tools for readers' advisors
• Introduces tools for identifying read-alikes and discusses new trends and approaches in readers' advisory
• Includes lists of the best sources for further reading for those who wish to delve more deeply into a subject
• Can serve as a text or manual for in-service training or be used as supplementary reading in LIS courses.