Secret Shopper - My Readers Advisory Experience
I visited a library in Hamilton County in search of a good book. I approached the librarian on duty at the reference desk and asked if she could help me find a new good book to read. I intentionally was a bit vague to see if she would ask me some good questions. She asked about a recent book I read that I enjoyed and I told her The Only One Left by Riley Sager was a new favorite and I really loved the gothic elements. Another librarian at the desk overheard our conversation and told me I should try the St. Ambrose School for Girls by Jessica Ward. I told both of them I read a lot of thrillers but I'm open to expanding my horizons to something similar.
The first librarian suggested The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, but the first book in the series was checked out. We ended up heading to the fiction section to retrieve Ward's book and then she took me to the new books. All of the new books are organized by genre, so she thought browsing by genre might be helpful for me. I ended up finding a book myself that sounded like it fit the gothic criteria, Masters of Death by Olivie Blake.
The interaction overall was not bad by any means, but it was brief. It was just okay. The librarian did not consult any outside resources to find something for me. I looked on the website and this library does not have access to Novelist, so that makes it a little difficult to find spot-on recommendations. I took a day to think about this interaction and kind of wondered if she just went with her go-to thriller recommendation that she has enjoyed. I was surprised that she did not recommend something more contemporary since that was what I said I enjoyed. It seems like a series I could enjoy, but I probably won't ever pick it up.
Mallory,
ReplyDeleteObviously there's no way for you to know, but I'm wondering whether that library doesn't have access to NoveList at all or if they do, but only for staff. It could really go either direction. I would lean toward there being a lack of knowledge and/or motivation involved though, because it doesn't take special access to throw "books like The Only One Left" into a Google search.
Found you this: https://shepherd.com/books-like/the-only-one-left
Hi Sarah, I at least saw on their website that they do not offer it to patrons. I am guessing it was lack of knowledge/motivation too. What a great resource though, thank you!
DeleteI think it's a little interesting that her first instinct was to recommend a book that was published in 2005 after you brought up Riley Sager's novel. You're probably right, she likely heard thriller and thought, "well I've got just the thing."
ReplyDeleteHi Mallory! I feel like this might be a very typical kind of RA conversation at many libraries. We have to fight our urge to suggest what "we" like to our patrons and instead really listen to them. It's easy to put books in front of them that we know and like, but to do good RA, we have to step outside of our comfort zones! I think it's good that she walked with you into the stacks, though! That's always a fun place to chat about favorite reads.
ReplyDeleteI agree, as someone who's library that doesn't have NovelList, that it is harder to find the more specific type of genre books like contemporary, lyrical, etc. However, there are other resources like Goodreads, Fantastic Fiction, What Should I Read Next, etc. that could have also helped in that situation. But I won't lie and say my usual instinct is to at least ask a patron if they read a book that I liked if it is related to their requested genre. So I can't really fault them for that.
ReplyDelete