RA Training

Yesterday, I spent 6 hours teaching librarians from the Metropolitan Library System (near west and southwest Chicago Suburbs) how to provide basic RA service in their public libraries.

One of the things I was happy to see is that library administrators took my marketing seriously and sent some Circulation Staff. I was able to teach those library staff members on the front lines, who interact with the public more than anyone in the building, how to share books with patrons in a non-judgmental way. I encouraged them to engage library users in conversations about their leisure reading. I hope you try to talk to the check-out people at your library next time you visit. Tell them about the last good book you read and ask if there is anything they could suggest.

One of the groups' favorite exercises was "How to Read a Book in 10-minutes." This program was originally presented by Georgine Olson for the Public Library Association on March 27, 2004.

This is not plan to speed read for plot, but rather, it is a fun and useful way to get a feel for a book. Take a look at the document and try it out. Grab some books from the library that you always meant to read but never got around to. This works best with genre books, such as romance, mysteries, suspense novels, etc...

Let me know how it works for you.