Let's Chat About Readers' Advisory

Or Reader's Advisory. Or Readers Advisory. Or RA. Or whatever you want to call it. The art (and science) of helping people discover things to read, and also discovery of themselves as readers. We don't talk enough about that second part, so let's start there. 

I did a talk recently for a library staff day (not my own!) about RA and it did the usual things, giving an overview of the genres, helping people "discover" that they can suggest titles that have been written by an author that has a different lived experience than the person asking for things. You know, the usual. But before that, I spent a little bit of time explaining readers' advisory. Most of the people in a library environment know what it is. But in both of my sessions, there were people who worked in the library, but not in library operations type jobs (so accounting, or foundation, or something not dealing with what we think of as regular library work) and it helped them understand the terms library staff throw around so casually with little explanation.

We used to categorize things between "active" and "passive" readers' advisory and you know what? There is no such thing as "passive" readers' advisory. We meant it as something like a bookmark or a display where you didn't have a person actively coming to the desk asking for something. But if you've ever put together said bookmark, web based display, or physical display, you know there is nothing passive about it. You're picking the theme. You're trying to find things to match said theme. If you don't find enough things, proceed back to step 1. You're creating the thing (whether that is pulling materials for a physical display, or entering titles into whatever program you're using to create a digital display, or booklist for people to take with them.) None of that is passive. It's work, and should be talked about and respected as such. So now, I've started calling it "group services."  Because it isn't for an individual that asked a specific question, but for enabling groups to discover at their leisure. 

The next thing we talked about was the "readers" part of readers' advisory. The bottom two are things Becky Spratford and I spend a lot of time saying when we talk to people for Anti-Racist Service to Readers and they both have to do with vocational awe. If you haven't come across this phenomenal concept from Fobazi Ettarh, then click the link and go read. We'll wait here...  

Vocational awe resides in thinking you are somehow fixing people when you introduce them to books they "should" read (ie. books by underrepresented authors.) Oh honey. If only the world's problems were so easily solved! I'm sorry that it isn't too, because it would make things so much nicer for all of us. But not only is that not true, the pressure you put on yourself to put that perfect book into someone's hands... that will make them understand that we're all more alike that we are different... and they will ride off into the future with little to no prejudice for anyone...that pressure is enormous. And when it fails, the fall can be equally devastating. Library staff tell us, almost at every session, how making their RA more diverse is so time consuming and just an added thing on top of having to do it at all and...it isn't. But what they're feeling is that pressure to not just make it more inclusive, but to make it the kind of inclusive that will move the needle on all the world's prejudices. Please, library work is difficult enough in this day and age. Don't put that added pressure on yourself! More inclusive readers' advisory is good because it's good. The books exist, they are often not marketed and promoted to the extent of other titles and readers often don't find them without help. Or they see them and don't realize that it matches their overrepresented faves in ways they might find intriguing. That's why you should do it. 

While we're here, let's take a little detour to also say that reading these books won't "save" people.  And if you're telling people that reading underrepresented authors will make them better people...why are you making this a moral chore? You could be telling them to read that book because it's a kickass horror book and you know they've run out of all of their favorite horror authors to read. Books do fix us sometimes. And they do save us sometimes. But that's between you (the reader) and the book. My job is to help you discover all of the things you may not know about so that the magic can happen. 

Let's also talk about hating books. Did you know that it's ok to hate a book? Or a certain type of books? Or a certain writing style? Or any combination of things? It's ok. And it's ok to tell people this. There are many reasons why readers fall off and stop reading, but one of them seems to be the pressure of having to like all the things. Or having to like the "right" things. If you knew how many people have APOLOGIZED to me when asking for Romance....or have apologized to me for being very specific in what they're asking for, or things they'd like to avoid. Listen....it's OK to HATE a thing. If you don't like people randomly breaking out into song, please don't watch musicals! If the idea of aliens makes your eyes roll back in your head and your suspension of disbelief doesn't run to the future, then there are a whole line of science fiction books that probably aren't for you! You might think that nixes ALL SF, though, and readers' advisory is here to show you that isn't true! The point is: NOT liking something is a great way to narrow down the hundreds of thousands of choices when it comes to finding the books you might want to read. Making people think that you can't be a reader unless you have an open mind about all the books is a great way to turn them off entirely. 

Besides, here's a little secret: the more you read, the more you want to read. I'm sure it isn't true for every single person, but it's true for a lot of people. You have an entry point, and then you move beyond it. There are things adjacent to your entry point, broadening the scope. And then you branch out from there....new authors come on the scene....you get exposed to more titles, authors, genres, sub-genres....it just naturally happens. Tastes and preferences may start solid but they often become more nuanced as a reader gets exposed to more things they didn't know existed. I hate romance becomes I like some urban fantasy which becomes I like some paranormal romance which becomes I like some historical paranormal romance which becomes I like some historical romance if certain things are present. But that is a natural evolution which occurs on a reader's timeline, not at the librarian's insistence. 

Okay, that's enough for now. Go forth and help people discover their love of reading as well as all the things. 

San Diego Public Library pt. 3

This is the last post, I promise. Up on the 9th floor are things like the rare book room, but also an Art Gallery!  Well, you know I couldn't pass that up. Getting off the elevator, you're in this beautiful open air space. It's like your reward from all of the heavy inside you've gone through to get there. I may have twirled when I got off the elevator. 

The current exhibit

The next two go together. 

And the next two go together

The next three go together. And this was wild. I wanted to touch it so bad, but I know my art gallery etiquette.  What I'm saying is, I almost ignored it.... 

This was very cool. I wish I'd had time to stand and read them all. There were a lot of them. 

The next two go together and again, wanting to touch. I'm a menace! 

I really wish I'd gotten the write up about this one, but when you look at it, it's kind of self explanatory. 

And that was my trip to the San Diego Public Library! What a great place, and I wish I'd had more time. 

If you want to see the other two parts to this series, Part 1 and Part 2

San Diego Public Library pt. 2

 Have I mentioned that it has been a long time since I've done a blog post? Apparently, I couldn't do all the pics I wanted to do in one post? That may be a Blogger limit OR.....it might be a ME limit. User error, if you will. In any event, here is pt. 2 with everything else (I hope!) that I wanted to include. I suspect, looking at the pics I have left, there may also be a part 3....

The YA room was so interesting and looked very fun. 

I didn't go tot every floor. My sister was waiting for me, and we were pressed for time because the conference was going to be starting soon, and we still had to find lunch. So, of course, I went to the fiction floor. Because fiction. 

Waitaminute......what is this?!?  Is that....who I think it is?!? 

Okay, but there can't be actual cards in it.  Oh! 

Reference collections were kind of a thing of the past at the previous libraries I've worked at. And it is one of the things I miss about big Central libraries. Do people use these things? Probably not. Maybe once a year. Maybe once every 2 or 3 years. But for people with curiosity about EVERYTHING (namely me) they were glorious to have around. 

Up on the fiction floor were also the 800s because, of course. They go together. 

One of the things I found interesting was short stories being in the 800s. We'd done that, once upon a time. Now, I think most places put them in with the fiction. But if you're a person that just wants short stories, this is easier to browse. I prefer them in the fiction.

Some with stickers, some without. In stacks with old books, you can see the evolution of spine labels, stickers, and all the things they've tried in the past. For library nerds, it's like archaeology! 

Onward to Part 3!  Back to Part 1

San Diego Public Library pt. 1

 While in San Diego for Bouchercon, I made a visit to the library. Because you can't put a library in walking distance and then expect me to not go there. I had a free minute before the conference started in earnest, so library it was! 

Please understand that these are just MY thoughts. I talked to a few people who worked there, but it's not like I had a tour that explained all of their choices and situations. It was just me, as a tourist, walking through and comparing it to other libraries both visited and worked in. 

The Table of Contents....so to speak

The first thing I noticed was how dark it seemed on the first floor. Most libraries seem bright and airy now so this was definitely a blast from the past.  The upper floors didn't seem quite as dark and wait until we get to the top floor! LITERALLY bright and airy, as there is an outdoor element that was to die for. But on the bottom? Kinda dark. 

Even by the windows, it still seemed kind of dark. My sister camped out here while I looked around since she'd done that already the last time we were in San Diego. 

Absolutely in love with this Local Authors section. It was right up front, where it should always be. If you're an author local to San Diego, you should see about letting them know so you can be in this area! 

        

   

NEW books.  Separated into Fiction, Non-fiction. These are the new Fiction stacks. I could have stood here all day.

And some new Non-Fiction. Because I suppose you have to have that as well or people will get mad. 

Where people put their barcodes has always been a hot topic in libraries. Someone was complaining about ours (upper left corner, I believe) just the other day. Because it covered some of the back cover copy. I like this. I wonder, though, if their scanners get confused with a barcode over a barcode. If not, this is the preferred placement. You'll never be covering up cover copy! 

The thing I noticed about their paperback section:  

A. no spine labels. I'm not sure what that means. If it was naked fiction across the board, I'm all for it. If you shelve by author, do you even need a spine label? Columbus PL convinced me that no, you do not. (I wonder if they still do it that way.). But, it's *just* paperbacks that don't have a spine label. I like that less. 

B. there are trade paperbacks in this collection. Libraries usually segregate only the mass markets. I thought that was interesting. 

AV was also on this floor. 

I was digging these displays! 

The library had lots of rooms for different things and that's just one thing I miss about large Central libraries. 

Always a source of community information

Loved these little displays throughout as well. 

Angsty about Angst

Well, it’s been a minute here at the blog! I moved it to Wordpress, but then kind of forgot all about everything related to blogging and here were are, five years later, back at 1. Am I going to continue blogging? Likely not. The world moves fast, and I just prefer twitter, tbh.

BUT, that said, I may pull out the blog and dust it off for a post or two. #RomBkLove is a good reason to do exactly that.

When Ana asked me if I wanted to do this, the first topic that came to my mind was “angst.” It’s something I love in books, and since I recognize it, actively look for it, I figured it would be easy to put together a list of my favorite books that fit the bill. It WAS easy to put together this list, but the difficulty came when someone asked the question: How do you define angst?

Strangely enough, I’d never thought about it before. At least, not in any kind of way that I could put into words for someone else. Much like porn, I know it when I see it! But, also like porn, the definition can change from person to person. Now that I have thought about it for a bit, I guess I’ve settled on the definition of angst as a desperate yearning for something you cannot (or think you cannot) have. The idea of it consumes you, drives your actions, and generally makes you miserable. I think of it a lot like the tarot card Eight of Swords.  Her eyes are covered, she's bound, and she thinks she’s trapped. Looking at it, you might think the same. But, there is a path forward if only you would use your other senses to find it. A lot of the angst books are old people who may have done bad things, and they can’t see their way out of the downward spiral. They want so much to be better, and a lot of times they ARE, and everyone can see it but them. You want to hug them, then shake them, then hug them again.

The book that most encompasses my definition of angst is Anne Stuart's To Love a Dark Lord. Let me introduce you to the Earl of Killoran. The baddest bad boy to hold a title.

"If he hadn't been drunk at the time, Killoran would have simply ignored the letter. Unfortunately, he'd taken to drinking deeply of later -- it didn't fit the emptiness inside him or relieve his monumental ennui, but it made him less aware of the deficiencies in his elegant, comfortable life." 

You can play "spot the angst qualities" right in that trope. Excessive drinking, Emptiness, Monumental ennui. It's a trail of cat nip for readers who love the tragically broken character. And, of course, Killoran is supposed to be THE WORST, but he's got a buried heart of...well, if not exactly

gold, at least some semi-precious stone or metal. You end up rooting for the self proclaimed bad boy who keeps doing good.

But, this book has not one, but TWO characters striving towards epic angst. Let me introduce you to Lady Barbara Fitzhugh. 

"She gave him no encouragement whatsoever, apart from the occasional cool smile. She hadn't yet been cruel to him, though that time would doubtless come. Sooner or later she would need to drive him away, before she was tempted by something she could never have." 

Is there anything better than a character who believes they are irredeemable finding out that they will get their happily ever after? 

Sometimes, the angst comes not from the person's sense of self worth, but from outside circumstances. It causes "brooding" which I toss in the angst category, but your mileage may vary. In the case of Callan Baird, hero of Melissa Blue's Kilted for Pleasure, he

was a different man before his wife died.

"Her lungs squeezed and she couldn't find the air to even ask another question or give him condolences. How could she when Victoria couldn't fathom the grief hinted at in his voice? Their eyes met and what she saw made her heart hurt for him. He laid the grief out for her now without trying to hide it by being rude or a pain in her ass. And it simply was an abyss."

You're rooting for him, for them, to move beyond that abyss into something that will make it all better.

Sometimes, the circumstances for the angst are both forced on you and self inflicted. My two favorite examples of that are Laura Lee Guhrke's The Marriage Bed  and Alisha Rai's Hate to Want You.  In one, circumstances and misunderstandings lead to a marriage of cold convenience where everyone thinks the spouses hate each other, including said spouses! But, really, they feel something entirely different for each other but don't quite know how to fix everything.












In the other, a huge family falling out causes two high school sweethearts to sever all contact...except for one night a year, when they can't help making their way back to each other.

Other angsty favorites:

And whichever books you recommend that are destined to become my new favorites!  How do you define angst, and which books do you love that feature it?