Readers' Services Conversation

W3A1

Straight off the bat, Wyatt talks about the roving model, where librarians approach and help customers where they are, usually in the stacks. If it sounds familiar it’s because it is also our BCPL model.

I like the idea that RA is just a conversation between two readers, even if one of them is working as a librarian. It is still a dialogue about book and a desire to share what one did like about it. Also, based on my experience, the 15 seconds rule to sell a book to a reader is true. Formerly I was trying to explain the nuances of the book, its merits and weaknesses. But I soon realized, people rapidly lost interest, they just want a short resume and know pretty fast if they want to give a book a chance or not.

For me, approaching the readers is the most delicate step of RA. Some customers do not want to be bother, some are too shy to ask for help, or too proud, etc. I always try to be tactful and make my presence visible. When someone ignores me on purpose, I know s/he does not want to be disturbed. Otherwise, as soon as I made eyes contact I offer my assistance and my help. Like Wyatt points out, once the reader is engaged listening is the key to offer good RA. I listen for the clues the reader says when s/he describes a book, and I integrated them to the appeal factors.

W3A2

Four novels (A Gay and Melancholy Sound by Merle Miller, Treasure Island!!! By Sara Levine, Lost by Michael Robotham and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain) in a little bit more than 7 minutes, that is less than 2 minutes for each book. Nancy Pearl only gave a brief and vague idea of the plot, but focus her time on the setting, characters and theme of the books. By being vague about the plots, she teases us and we are intrigued to go read the book. Basically, she gave us just enough to know if we are interested or not by the book, without spoiling the plot for the future readers.

W3A3

Conversation 1

This customer seems to like popular books (what everyone is reading, Oprah books). Even if Eat, Pray, Love is a non-fiction, she still enjoys the inner world or struggles of the main character, so I think she would also like novel with the same stream of consciousness technic. Furthermore, she is looking for something entertaining, but with some thought about the life, love and death. The first book that came in my mind is Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The story of a young man who left everything in search of something authentic and genius. On the fiction side, I was thinking about Catching in the Rye by J.D. Salinger or Life of Pie by Yann Martel. Both books are full of insights about life and the responsibilities of the adult world, without falling into specialized vocabulary, like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance does at times for example.

Conversation 2

Only two criteria: a vampire novel and not Twilight. An easy answer would be the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, the first volume is Interview with the Vampire and was made famous by the movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. It’s written well and the story does not fall into a kitsch love story. Of course, this is just one example, and a quick search will find hundreds of vampire novels. They are quite popular nowadays.

Conversation 3

Based on his comments, this customer likes true stories, adventures and presidential biographies. An easy suggestion would be the first book by Candice Millard, the author of the River of Doubt. Destiny of Republic is the story of James Garfield, the 20^th President of the United States. From a poor childhood in Ohio to the Oval Office, the book narrates the phenomenal rise of a born politician. In the same vein, I was also thinking of Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. A true story set during the Chicago World Fair of 1893. Larson links the story of Daniel Burnham, the famous architect of the Flatiron Building in NYC and the Grand Basin of the Chicago Fair, and Herman Mudgett, the first serial murderer of modern time. Or maybe Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt about the events leading to the murder of a young man by a famous socialite of Savannah. Or maybe Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The last three books are unbelievable true stories full of details and historical facts.