#LibFaves18 Has Begun: Participate And Access Previous Year's Lists Immediately

Beginning today and going for 10 straight days, library workers all over the country will be counting down their personal favorite reads of books published in 2018 by Tweeting 1 books a day, with the title in ALL CAPS, and using #LibFaves18.

Whether or not you are a Twitter user you can enjoy all the countdown fun using this link. But even better, the entire 10 days of library worker recs will be compiled into one, accessible spread sheet where every single title that is mentioned, even if it is only once, will be available for all to see, use to suggest to patrons, and for collection development. And, the organizers will also extrapolate some data from the process too.

In fact, it is in the analysis of the results, after the 10 days are up, that I love even more than following along in real time because when all of our titles are aggregated together, some interesting trends appear. To see specifics, click on the year to see the final reports for 2017, 2016, and 2015 on the #LibFaves host, EarlyWord.

I have not only included those links to show you what the organizers do with the titles each year, but also to remind you that those 3 past lists still make for perfect "BEST BOOK" suggestions to your patrons today. And, the best thing about those backlist best lists, there is a much better chance those titles will be on your shelves right now. Meaning, a patron can enjoy a previous best book, one they missed, one that is still just as good a read as it was 1, 2, 3 years ago, one they do not need to wait for. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Personally, I take advantage of the  #LibFaves18 spotlight and use the fact that every single title will be included in the final list to promote only horror. Throughout #LibFaves18, I will be counting down my top 10 #HorrorForLibraries and then I will wrap it up with a post on the horror blog with more details.

I take #LibFaves18 very seriously as a chance to promote horror to the widest audience of library workers possible. Go back and look at last year's list and you will see at least 10 horror titles on the LibFves17 list because of me. Without me horror is almost non existent on the list. Since I know some libraries will use the aggregated list to enhance their collections, I am not missing the opportunity to advocate for the appeal of horror to the widest audience possible.

Please consider participating yourself. And while you wait for the results, peruse the last few year's lists. Remember, best lists are a great resource all year long, not just at the end of the year, and not just the current year's best. If it was someone's best at one time, there is a great chance it could be your patron's next best book right now.