RA Ready: A Beginners Guide to Genre Fiction in LJ

The May 1, 2017 issue of Library Journal is putting a spotlight on RA for genre readers. Not only was the editor of the series, Kiera Parrott smart enough to contact me to write the piece on helping horror readers [duh] but she also asked me to nominate others in specific categories to help her get the very best RA genre people to contribute.  The result is a useful and amazing series that LJ has made available in its entirety online a few days early.

If you need to brush up on the major genres and want some advice on how to help these passionate readers, these succinct articles with their focus on titles, authors, and resources are the perfect place to start.

Here are the direct links to all of the article in the series:

• Expanding the SF/Fantasy Universe
• Learning to Love Romance
• Making Horror Less Scary
• Living on the Edge with Thrillers 
• Taking the Mystery Out of Mystery
• Leading Adults to YA fiction

And here is the link to the introduction to the series by Ms Parrott.  As you will see, this series is a direct response the results from a RUSA, LJ, and NoveList survey about what gives RA library workers the most anxiety-- keeping up with genres!

Also, I have added the links to Neal Wyatt’s ongoing columns mentioned at the end.  Neal is a friend and my long time editor. She will never steer you wrong.

So fear no more. Read below and use the links above to help genre reader today. I would suggest starting with Making Horror Less Scary, but any of them are fine.

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There are few things more satisfying for a librarian than uniting a reader with a great book (or two or ten). But many library staffers experience anxiety when asked to recommend titles in genres they don’t read themselves and with which they are unfamiliar. In these terrifying moments, some may cast a glance around, hoping to spot the resident sf aficionado or dedicated romance buff. In the absence of a knowledgeable colleague, eyes may turn desperately to the New Releases or Staff Picks shelves. Resources such as NoveList can be a lifesaver—provided the library has a subscription and if the patron has the patience to wait for a search to be performed. Other resources that cross genres include Goodreads and of course LJ and the other professional review publications, plus general interest publications targeted to book lovers.

In a 2014 survey developed by LJ with NoveList and the RUSA/CODES Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Committee, the first most commonly cited cause of RA anxiety is keeping up with books and genres, a problem cited by 21 percent of the librarians. Second, at 17 percent, was discomfort with unfamiliar genres. Combine that with the 23 percent whose library provides no training or support for RA, the 42 percent who had no RA class in library school, and the 14 percent who cite “time to train in RA/read.”

For all those people, the following toolkit was designed specifically with genre-newbies in mind. Not a horror fan? Never read a Regency love story? Don’t know the difference between an Orc and a Dementor? Fear not. RA experts with deep knowledge of some of the most popular genre fiction categories (sf/fantasy, romance, horror, thrillers, mystery, and young adult) here offer a crash course in the top titles, series, and authors librarians need to know. For more advice and recommendations, be sure to check out Neal Wyatt’s “RA Crossroads” and “Wyatt’s World,” two long-running RA columns on libraryjournal.com.—Kiera Parrott

Illustration by Boris Séméniako/Purple Rain Illustrators