Having an arsenal of good books at the ready is the specialty of a readers' advisory librarian. Of course, the real skill is not in just offering a good book, but in matching each patron with the best book for his or her individual tastes. Generally, this kind of excellent readers' advisory service depends on a face-to-face interview ("Tell me what you liked about the book?" or "What kinds of books do you like to read?").
So, what are you to do when the patron isn't there to walk through the stacks with you and preview the books? What is the ideal way to serve patrons who can't come to the library because of limited mobility, low vision, or other conditions? These are questions the outreach librarian must grapple with on a daily basis.
Over my 20 years experience in providing bookmobile and homebound patron service, I have perfected a few techniques that help me stay in touch with the needs of off-site patrons. Although there are special challenges to choosing and sending materials to homebound readers, I have found readers' advisory service can be done with a little technical knowledge and adapting methods of figuring out what will suit the patron's reading or listening tastes.
The process begins with an in-home interview, usually conducted by a trained volunteer. The volunteer works with the patron to complete a detailed reading interest profile. Then ask the reader some basic questions, such as how many items they want per delivery, preferred format (large and/or regular print, paperback, audio, magazines, etc), favorite authors, and un-favorite authors. (Williamsburg Regional Library "Looking for a Good Book" form, http://www.wrl.org/bookweb/RA/index.html, is a good example of questions that could be asked.)
Follow these questions with a list of detailed fiction genre preferences, such as bestsellers, literary fiction, contemporary women's romance, light romance, inspirational and Christian romance, mysteries, suspense/thriller, espionage, adventure, westerns, and so on. Offer your readers the chance to say whether they like any non-fiction options, such as biographies and autobiographies (current, historical, celebrity), travel and adventure, personal essays, humor, animals, and more. And be sure to take notes on content preferences such as sex, language, and violence. This section on our profiles has proven very beneficial to fitting books to readers.
Information collected in the interview is recorded and turned in to the staff coordinator, and used to create a "reading interest card" for the specific patron. This becomes your primary tool and guide used in selecting items to send out.
Some patrons make it easy by listing their favorite authors — Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Sue Grafton, John Grisham, and the like —, or, they may give you a list of books or authors they've developed over time. But interesting challenges invariably crop up. For example, what do you do when someone says they like John Grisham but don't want anything with lawyers or courtroom dramas; or they want a combination of murder and romance that contains no violence or sex? One of our patrons stated that sex in a book was fine as long as it was "nice." It can take a few months of trial and error to fine-tune preferences in these cases.
Keeping the lines of communication open is paramount, as feedback received on book choices helps you further refine your understanding of how to create future matches. However, finding out which books have been enjoyed can be difficult when patrons are in group residences and have no direct phone, or with patrons who have hearing issues and talking on the phone is difficult. E-mail is an ideal way to stay in touch, but this is still new territory for many older adults.
So, I've created another key avenue for feedback by training my delivery volunteers to talk with patrons and record their responses on a rating sheet. Of course, rating sheets can also be distributed, filled out directly by patrons, and mailed back; but I have found the personal touch to be more effective. Homebound people being generally isolated, often appreciate personal service. The volunteers also take verbal requests and note them in the notebook along with written requests or lists from the patrons. In addition, I communicate through notes sent in the regular mail, and by contacting third parties (relatives, friends, or activity coordinators), if the other methods don't work.
Be sure to encourage patrons to give you feedback, even if it's negative. Some users feel so privileged to receive this service that they are hesitant to say they didn't like something for fear of appearing ungrateful. I always encourage volunteers to give me all reports, both good and bad.
The techniques described above can be fairly mechanical; and with the right forms, they're usually easy to follow; but after collating the above information, how do you determine what to send? I've discovered that most of my readers' advisory work falls into the "read-a-like" or "If you liked this author, then try…" practices. This relies on skill in determining other authors and titles that readers might enjoy based on the genres and appeal factors they like.
Many books, articles, booklists, and internet sites can help with the "appeal factor" issue. Some of the best are written by Nancy Pearl, Joyce Saricks, Kaite Mediatore Stover, Cindy Orr, and Jessica Moyer. Alicia Ahlvers wrote an especially helpful article, "Older Adults and Readers' Advisory," the Summer 2006 issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly.
However, in spite of all that's been written, finding good read-alike authors is often fraught with peril. Many websites and books offer lists, but they can easily send you off in the wrong direction when the reasons the list-maker drew the comparison is different than the reason the reader enjoyed the author. There's really no substitute for gaining experience and a broad personal knowledge of authors. I often haul a large stack of books home or to the lunch room to peruse or skim. Also, consider joining a social book networking site, such as Good Reads or Library Thing, to expose yourself to thoughts from general readers. Even many "reviews" contain helpful information on why readers may like the book. Watch for descriptive terms and phrases such as "suspenseful", "this book was like a roller-coaster ride", or "the author made me care deeply for the characters." LibraryThing has a "book suggester" that acts like a read-a-like generator, although it is necessary to have some familiarity with the books listed in order to use it successfully.
Once I have determined what a patron enjoys along with a list of favorite authors, I keep a "history and requests" notebook with dividers for each patron (dividers with pockets for keeping written requests work best). When a new author or series is sent to a patron, a bookmark asking for feedback is inserted in the book, asking if they would like to receive more books by the author or in the series. The slip specifically encourages them not to be shy about saying "No, thanks."
Remember, some patrons find comfort in re-reading their favorite authors, so ask the patron if it's okay to send titles they had before too.
If a patron says she wants to move through a particular author or series, I make a list of all titles using the online catalog or Fantastic Fiction. After checking that against the reading history of the patron from our circulation side of the homebound program or via the online patron reading history (this is a great project for a volunteer), I can simply move down the list and mark off books as they are sent.
The list-making capabilities of the online catalog is also a great tool for teasing out available items for patrons who need a specific format, such as large print or audio books. It's pretty easy to sort out a list of audio books by Maeve Binchy or large print titles by Grace Livingston Hill to email to yourself for future reference.
A couple of my savvy patrons use this feature themselves to create request lists that they send via e-mail directly to my work address. And the best is when, sometimes, those experienced patrons place their own holds. That makes our job incredibly easy.
Patrons wanting specific books that haven't been published in large print present a special and all-too-common challenge for the outreach librarian, which is why I am starting to lobby for more use of e-readers. The font can be increased to up to 20-point type, large enough for most low-vision readers. Plus, they are a lightweight boon for the 95-year-old with arthritic hands who wants to read Gone with the Wind, War and Peace, or even Atlas Shrugged!
Homebound service delivery may not fit the "usual" model for readers' advisory, but with some creativity and a continual effort to gain more knowledge of authors and genres, you can keep patrons happy and give them exactly what they want to read each month. And giving readers what they want is, after all, the primary mission of a readers' advisor.
Helpful Websites:
- Fantastic Fiction, http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ — This site is fantastic for lists of titles and series for a wide cross-section of authors, along with forthcoming books. (accessed December 3, 2009)
- LibraryThing, http://www.librarything.com/suggester — Type in a title of a book and a list of suggested read-a-like titles based on tags created by readers will appear. (accessed December 3, 2009)
- GoodReads, http://www.goodreads.com —- Join this book social networking site or just peruse what readers say about what they've read. (accessed December 3, 2009)
- Stop You're Killing Me, http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ — Comprehensive site that helps with mystery categories and read-a-like authors. (accessed December 3, 2009)
- Williamsburg Regional Library "Looking for a Good Book" form, http://www.wrl.org/bookweb/RA/index.html (accessed December 3, 2009)
- Fiction_L electronic mail list for all things readers' advisory, http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html (accessed December 3, 2009)
- The Library of Congress's National Library Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped OPAC, http://www.loc.gov/nls/index.html (accessed December 3, 2009) — This site is very helpful for determining objectionable content.
- EarlyWord, http://earlyword.com (accessed December 3, 2009) — Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter that list up-to-the-minute information on current books and trends.
ROBIN BEERBOWER knew she wanted to be a readers' advisory specialist when she booktalked "Don't Count Your Chicks" during her first grade show and tell. She has been employed by the Salem Public Library for 36 years in various capacities, including circulation lead and bookmobile librarian, and is currently the homebound services coordinator and manages the fiction collection.
SONJA SOMERVILLE is the Community Relations Coordinator for the Salem Public Library in Salem, Oregon. She is the manager of the library's Modern Voices Author Series, one of the coordinators and a frequent leader for the library's public book discussion groups, and recently launched a weekly Grown-Up Storytime at the library.