Trend Alert: Non-Human Love Interests

Rule 5 of my 10 Rules of RA Service is:

5.   Read ABOUT books widely, so you can suggest widely

• Reading ABOUT books is MORE important than reading a book.
• Becky’s newsletters of choice: LJ, PW, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot
• Make sure you are reading with an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens as well as a diversity of genres

When I tell you to read about books it is so that you are aware of the conversations happening around books out in the larger world.

It is also one of the best ways to identify trends. Trends appear organically if you reading about books in a variety of locations and you see things overlap. In fact, when you start seeing something everywhere and in non book places, it is time to start promoting it to your readers.

It is also VERY important to put out small, rapid response trending displays whenever you can, to show your patrons you know what they are looking for before they even have to ask. I cannot underestimate how important it is for us to have these trending lists and displays up and highly visible both in the library and online. Even if a patron is not interested in the trending topic, when they see the things they are hearing and reading about outside of the library, they feel like we get it. We are showing them that the library has what people are looking for. That we understand what people want. That goes a very long way toward them knowing that the library is there for everyone. 

Again, even if someone comes in and does NOT want what you have on display, if it is something they have heard about other places, this shows them that we know what people are talking about. Again, do not underestimate how important that is. 

Today's case in point is Non-Human Love Interests in Fiction.

Now, I know this is NOT a new trend. In fact, the 2013 Netflix documentary "Animism: People Who Love Objects" made a wider audience aware of this concept.

In libraries we have had books that fester people falling in love with non-human objects and creatures for a while, but it was always a fringe topic. With the mainstream popularity of Romantasy and titles like The Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su, more people want to know about this trend.

So you know what that means--- let's start promoting all of those titles we already have that fit this now trending theme. Pull those books out of the stacks where they have been patiently waiting for their moment in the spotlight. It is here. No longer languishing, it is time to make them shine. We have these titles in our collections right now. We are ready for the readers who are interested. But without us pulling them out of the stacks to showcase them-- no one will ever know.

Today I have gathered resources for you to make those lists and displays.

• Alien Pleasures via Defector
• Genre Alert: Women Who Are Sexually Attracted to Airplanes...And Other Non-Sentient Objects via Lit Hub
• And as will come as no surprise, Reddit has MANY threads on this topic in various forums. Click here to see them all in a Google search.

This is a display you can have a lot of fun with. Embrace the trend and pull out those books. Show your patrons you know what they are looking for before they even have to ask.