RA FOR ALL...THE ROAD SHOW!

I can come to your library, book club meeting, or conference to talk about how to help your readers find their next good read. Click here for more information including RA for All's EDI Statement.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Using Awards As A RA Tool: Bouchercon Mystery Awards Edition

Bouchercon 2019 happened over the weekend and there are three different awards that are given out during this mystery convention that are worth your attention. When I worked at the library, the Anthony and Shamus award nominees and winners were so popular, we had a "Hold Without Hassle" category just for these awards. This meant people could choose these awards as an automatic hold option; if it was nominated, they got put on hold automatically. This also meant we ordered a copy if we didn't have it because there was an immediate patron request for it. This practice was a great way to get around some of our collection development restrictions for lesser known titles since a local patron request coupled with an award nomination meant we HAD to buy it, and I often then had access to a separate budget line for those titles.

Early in my career [back at the turn of this century], these two awards and their popularity marked the first time I understood how important a resource awards lists truly can be, and now, it is one of the drums I beat the most often. Click here to read every time I have written about the importance of Awards Lists [not just the winners] as a tool for helping patrons, creating displays, developing your collections, and just as a general resource.

Since the awards given out at Bouchercon are not all easily accessible with one link I have provided a list of how to find the current nominees and winners as well as historical lists because remember, past winners are still a great reading option and you probably own those from last 2-5 years.

Finally, before I provide the links, I want to give a shout out to Tracy Clark, who came out to the Illinois Library Association to present with me here. She was up for the Anthony and the Shamus for Best First Novel. She didn't win, but what an honor to her. She is definitely a writer on the rise.

Here are the awards, what type of books they honor/how winners are chosen, and the necessary links to start purchasing and suggesting these titles. Your booktalk is ready for each title-- It was nominated for/won the award [fill in blank] which goes to the book that [fill in the blank].

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