RA Service for Middle Schoolers As Great Training, Inspired by Booklist's Corner Shelf

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The latest issue of Corner Shelf is live and while I think the entire issue is worthwhile, I would specifically like to point out this Notes from the Field report by Sarah Hunter on RA for Middle Schoolers. 

I am a huge advocate of library workers who do RA mostly with Adults [my core readers] to spend time helping other age groups. And I do more than say you should do this, I live my advice as a regular volunteer at my local K-6 school. I am there to assist the LRC Director by helping to provide some professional services [like RA and cataloging] in order to free her up to work with the kids.

I learn so much from my time with those kids, especially the 5th and 6th graders-- middle schoolers-- about how I can be better at RA to adults. Why? Well as one one the librarians in the piece points out, this age group is still figuring out what they like to read and are more willing to experiment. I don't think this willingness to try something new ever fully leaves readers, but as our patrons get older, it is harder to convince them to break free of what they think are the only books they will enjoy.

Working with middle schoolers is freeing in this way because if we earn their trust, they are more willing to try something different. And this begins by us listening to what they want from a story. Not the plot or the tropes they are used to, but the feel. Middle school aged children require we listen more intently because they are just beginning to articulate what appeal factors they most enjoy and they have not closed the door to specific genres. Little kids only talk about certain characters or plot devices and adults try to anticipate what we are going to ask them based on the buzz words they have read in magazine or heard on NPR.

But middle school kids are discovering what they enjoy, who they are, and who they will be. This is an everyday experience for them. They are trying to articulate this in everything they do. We can learn a lot by listening to them and then try to find them something to fit their desires. But again, we don't need to stay within genre confines. I am often giving the same kid a graphic novel, fantasy book, and realistic fiction all in the same visit and they devour all three. Often these books are united by a preferred appeal factor such as they might all be character centered or fast paced or have a strong sense of place, etc....

I often remind myself of the willingness of middle schoolers to articulate their desires when I am working with a picky adult reader. I try to frame a slightly different title [that I am pretty sure they would like if they just gave it a try] in the same way I would with a 6th grader. I talk about how the story would match up with their preferences and leave plot and, especially, genre out of it. It is how I frame the suggestion that matters. I encourage them to give it a try because it sounds like a story they would love- repeating some of the adjectives they have used to describe other good reads as being found in this book.

And, as a result, I have had great success giving patrons books they never would have picked up on their own, but with my guidance, they have found and enjoyed. This is where we make our biggest impact on the adults we help-- when we help them connect with a title that they could not have found without us

However, and I can not overstate this enough, I learned to think more outside the box in helping adults precisely because of my time helping middle schoolers. I  was never as willing to reach outside of the patron's comfort zone until I was regularly confronted with an age group who craves and demands expanding their comfort zone as they discover themselves. We all need to work with this age group more.

So kudos to Susan for reaching across the age divide to include this valuable interview. Don't dismiss it as irrelevant to your work with adults because it is absolutely relevant. In fact, I hope it inspires you to offer to take a shift at the children's desk after school and help some middle schoolers find a good read. You will gain valuable experience to take with you on your next adult RA interaction.

For related posts about middle schoolers and RA check out my 5th/6th grade book club tag here on the blog.