Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends – ALA Annual Conference, Day Two
After the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon, I took a shuttle back to the Convention Center and attended the program that ended up being the most helpful and practical for use on my job, “Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Forum: What We Learn from Our Readers: A conversation with Nancy Pearl and Catherine Sheldrick Ross.”
I was late due to the slow shuttle, so I think I missed most of Catherine’s presentation, but what I did hear was excellent food for thought. I’m going to try some of these ideas.
Nancy Pearl talked about four “doorways” into books:
1. Story
2. Character
3. Setting
4. Language
She said that each book has each of these elements, and we tend to think that the books we love have four equal doorways. But as you think about the book in more depth, you can see it’s a sort of pie chart, with a book’s appeal divided between these four elements, with different strengths in different elements.
These doorways transcend genre. She said that a reader who reads for character will enjoy a book of any genre that has strong character development.
I liked her fundamental question she asks when doing Readers’ Advisory: “Tell me about a book you liked.” Even if she has read the book the customer mentions, she asks, “Tell me what you liked about it,” because what the reader enjoyed about the book may be totally different from what she enjoyed about it.
I liked her description of “Desk Paralysis,” where a reader asks a question, and you suddenly forget every book you’ve ever read. She gave some tips for finding books with appeal from the four major doorways.
Story
Books with Story the strongest element tend to be the most popular. Dan Brown and John Grisham fill the bill, but so do authors in many different genres. In fact, she said the chances are that if you go in the fiction shelves of your library, spin around and point, you will probably be pointing to a book with story as the major doorway. They are the most common.
Character
Some authors whose books have Character as the major doorway are Russell Banks, Anne Tyler, and John Irving. They have three-dimensional characters. One quick way to find these books is that the title of the book is often the name of the major character. You can do a display of these books with the heading “People You Ought to Know.”
Setting
You’ll find books where Setting is the major doorway in many genres. One where it’s particularly common is fantasy, where the authors build another world. People say about these books that the setting is a character itself. You can do a display of these books with the heading “Places You Ought to Visit.” You can have a nice mix of genres with that heading, with both imaginary and real places.
Language
Readers who read for the Language are the only ones who self-identify, saying things like, “I only read books with good writing.” Some authors whose books are language-driven are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Faulkener, and Marianne Robinson.
She reminded us that Readers’ Advisory is a relationship, a conversation. Even if they don’t like the book you showed them, they should be interested in discussing it further with you. It gives the reader a reason to come back to the library.
After this, the moderator gave them some questions, and I have two more pages of notes from their interesting and helpful answers.
Asked about their earliest reading memory, Catherine mentioned reading at bedtime, and Nancy said it wasn’t her earliest, but a book that really formed the way she thought about the world was Space Cadet, by Robert Heinlein.
Catherine: In stressful times, people go back to their old favorites.
Nancy: As you grow, your response to the book changes. The reader is the collaborator with the writer.
Think of Readers’ Advisory as a Professional activity.
Listen to the reader.
What does this reader want to read at this moment in their life?
First rule: It’s not about me.
We’re the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in someone else’s life.
Don’t assume you like a book for the same reason someone else does. That’s where the question comes in handy, “Tell me about that book.”
Think of conversations as ongoing dialogue.
The question, “Tell me about a book you liked,” gets you into one of the four doorways. From the reader’s response, you can find out which doorway appeals to them right now.
We also need to make people aware that we do readers’ advisory.
Give the message that all reading is important. Never treat any reading (such as romance) as beneath other reading.
When roaming, ask, “Are you finding what you need?” and Listen to the answer.
Staff should talk about books.
Think about adding to your e-mail signature: What I’m reading:
The role of the library has three equal parts:
1. Information
2. Reading for Pleasure
3. Programming and Outreach
Reading for Pleasure is just as important. It does make a difference in people’s lives.
Don’t hold back books on Readers’ Advisory (like Genreflecting) only for Reference. Let them circulate.
Goal: Get the reader to come back and talk to us, even if the Readers’ Advisor got it wrong.
When this program finished, I had lots to think about. I am going to start thinking about the books I read in terms of the four major doorways. Which is the strongest for that book? I think I will try making some lists and see if that helps prompt me for Readers’ Advisory. It was an interesting and thought-provoking session about one of my favorite parts of being a librarian.
After that, I went to a meeting of the ALSC Notable Books Committee meeting, had dinner with my roommates and attended the excellent movie “Library of the Early Mind.” I’ll blog about those tomorrow.
Awesome! That’s what everyone agrees about the third annual 
