graphic novel series were in good shape due to the popularity of the AMC television series.This made me realize that there are many books out there you should be checking on, since they are about to get a whole lot more popular.
Two that are on my immediate radar are the impending release of Gulliver's Travels starring Jack Black and the Winter 2011 HBO series, Game of Thrones based on the popular historical fantasy Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin
. These books have been checked and new copies have already been ordered where appropriate.Like me, I am sure you often get patrons who are interested in a book because it has been made into a movie or TV show. Many of these patrons have no plans to watch the media adaptation, rather, they are looking for the book so they know what all the fuss is about.
Anticipating renewed interest in title due to current events or media adaptations is a key component of good collection development. For this reason, as well as being responsible for ordering fiction from Library Journal for the BPL, I am also responsible for checking the mass media reviews and books news on a daily basis. Specifically, I am looking to see what the media is talking about and how it could pertain to leisure reading interests so that I can make sure we are ready to meet demand. To make things easier I usually compile the information for a week and tackle it all each Monday.
To help stay ahead of the game when it comes to movies, I rely on Early Word and their lists of books being made into movies. Early Word has four different lists in the categories of In Development, In Production, Upcoming, and Now Playing.
The point is, between RSS feeds, newspapers, and magazines, I get a sense of what my patrons are being told is popular right now. We cannot get stuck in our library mentality and forget about what is going on in the wider world. Readers' Advisory requires that we stay on top of popular culture.
My last tip is for those of you who think you are too old or too busy to stay on top of the latest media news. A simple perusal of Entertainment Weekly at your desk each week, will keep you in the loop enough to not be blindsided. And yes, I said read it at the desk. You may like reading it, but it is also good for your job performance. If your boss yells at you, direct them to this post.
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree about Entertainment Weekly; they do a great job in of covering a wide range of pop culture. Along with sister publication, People magazine, they publish short book reviews that are great sources for RA and often say better in a few sentences what others struggle to say in many paragraphs.
A bookseller I admire, who admits to being a snob (he reads the New york Review of Books) is a convert Entertainment Weekly's reviews and wrote about it on his blog: http://bit.ly/gDYQHi
Thanks for the shout out to EarlyWord. Our coverage of upcoming movies is as far ahead and as comprehensive as we can make it (we also include tie-ins). Not sure that Jack Black will cause many to go back to the orlginal, but it's worth a try.