On Friday, I was chatting with my FL colleague and IRL friend, Lila [click here to learn more about her from her previous appearances on the blog] about libraries rushing to serve leisure readers virtually right now and how some important basics of RA Service are not being communicated to new practitioners of the service.
As we have both noticed, many of the staff across the country, who are being asked to provide RA Service for the first time, have not only had zero training on the principles behind RA, but they also are missing one of the main tenants-- that RA is about what the patron is looking for NOT what you think they SHOULD read.
Readers' Advisory is not about you, ever. The way I teach RA Service is to reconnect library workers with themselves as readers. To get them to take the time to look at themselves and their own preferences, analyze why they like the things they like, and then learn how to articulate that to others.
As we all get better at understanding WHY we like certain stories and why we dislike others, we can become better at helping others.
Because RA service is about thinking like a reader. When you understand your own leisure reading motivations, you can begin to ask the right questions of your patrons to help them uncover theirs. We use ourselves as a reader to understand the process. Where our patrons need your help is in the interruption of their preferences into actual title suggestions.
Never should you be telling them what they should read. RA is a no judgement zone. RA Service is about helping connect readers with the right book for them at that moment. We have access to the resources to help them once they can articulate why they like what they like. And it helps is to help them better if we already understand what it means to find that perfect read for ourselves.
Here is great example from my own life. My least favorite genre to read is Romance. However Romance readers are my favorite patrons to help. Why? Because they are so good, as a group, at articulating why they love the books they do. They understand the genre tropes and can assess the types that work for them personally, while also acknowledging others that do not.
I would never try to force a romance fan to read a book that they wouldn't enjoy. What good would that serve me or them. My job is not to get them to read something "better," rather it is to find them the "best" book to fit their particular preference and desires at that moment. Helping them find the right read for their current needs is 100% my job-- and yours if you are providing RA Service, in person or virtually.
So today's Call to Action is a reminder of the basic rules of RA Service. I direct those of you being thrown in to RA for the first time to go look at my 10 Rules of RA Service page and to check out the other posts in this Call to Action series. You can learn quite a bit about the basics with those links.
And if you are a library or a system with staff who are struggling to provide RA for the first time, contact me. I have basic RA Service webinars or even interactive smaller group classes I can do virtually, immediately.
In the meantime, just remember that it is not about you! It is about the reader in front of you. Remind yourself of this by thinking about your own reading preferences. You wouldn't want someone forcing you to read a book you had no interest in. Leisure reading is for fun. RA is all about leisure reading. There is no forcing here. Only the joy of a great read!
For past Call to Action posts, click here.
For Becky's Ten Rules of Basic RA Service, click here.
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