Conversation Starter to Display Monthly Question: What's a Book That Scared You? and 31 Days of Horror Begins Anew

This is part of a monthly series of conversation starters which can be made into evergreen displays that I first proposed here (with 12 examples that could last you full a year). You can expect a new conversation starter on the first week day of a new month. Use the newest one for the next month, or access the long backlist of these ideas anytime by using this link. 

Back in June, I wrote about how to use conversation starters to create evergreen displays (see link above), and in that post I promised to give you one conversation starter a month at the start of each month. I also make it clear in that post that these displays can be small. 3-5 books that you keep rotating. You can even use this link to make it into a scavenger hunt of small displays all over the library.

This month question is to celebrate Spooky Season: What's a book that scared you?

This is the exact question people are expecting you to ask and while their answers cannot help you with this year's Halloween Displays if can absolutely help you for next year not to mention aid your collection development. 

And to help you answer this question and build your displays you need to look no further than....ME.

Head on over to RA for All: Horror anytime of year but especially starting today as my annual 31 Days of horror has begun for its 16th year. 

The blog is a reference all year long with resources, lists, reviews, and more. I also have my featured "Why I Love Horror" essays.   Literally, everything you need to help horror readers all year long is there, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

What's a book that scared you?-- This is a question that everyone who is a reader can answer quickly; much more quickly than when you ask people to share a favorite book or the last good book they read. This is a question that has an immediate and visceral response. It is also a question that changes. I you ask someone this question today, you will get a few titles, but then ask them 6 months later and you will have a few more. 

Even those who do not read horror, they will have an answer to this because this is NOT a genre question. Rather, it is an emotions question.

And the answers are evergreen by default because people like being scared all year long. 

Start by asking staff What's a book that scared you?-- at the very least. Do it through an electronic form so that the answers get filed into a spreadsheet. And then do some searching.

The title of this display you make is the question itself:  What's a book that scared you?

Why? Because this is interactive. Your display is a conversation. It will draw patrons toward it, their interest piqued. You are asking them a question and presenting some answers, but they will have their own and they will want to tell you!!! And it is Horror season but your question is not only about Horror. It will invite everyone to participate. 

Now, you can follow my more elaborate suggestion on how to ask every patron to help answer this question and add titles to your spreadsheet of options, OR you can start smaller. Put up a white board or bulletin board near the display and allow people to add titles. You can pull them as needed or just leave them there, answers to your question, a way to SHOW your community that you care about their answers. You should be adding these to the spreadsheet overtime as well.

That spreadsheet is key here because it is a way for the library to KNOW what books matter to their patrons. Circulation statistics just show us what checks out. It doesn't tell us if they were enjoyed, let alone a book so treasured the patron recommends it to everyone they know. Asking this question makes an excellent, interactive, and, quite frankly, easy display, BUT it also gives us valuable collection development data.

First, if the books people are recommending to answer this question and their circ stats are not great, this lets us know that the book should stay in our collection. It alerts us that it is a patron fav and we now know to get it on display where another reader will almost certainly give it a try (with a title of a display like that, it is sure to circ now)

Second, this conversation starter allows us to see what books matter to our readers and we can pass that information on to those who buy the books for our collections so that they can look for similar titles. As someone who bought for the fiction collection, I would have loved to have this information. I knew my key patrons and bought books I knew they would like, but this question would have reach more people. Many who never stop to talk to use will answer. You will get a much wider view of the books your readers love and crave. That data is collection development gold!

You can search out readalikes that you have, and add more. All of that will lead to small displays, ones you can title, "So this book destroyed your productivity.....Now try this." Those can be online and in small spaces. 

You are asking a question, getting responses to fill a display, gathering valuable collection development data, and then creating more displays. All by asking one question: What's a book that scared you?

You have nothing to lose here. You and your patrons win the second you ask the question.

Back next month with anther question, but as always, use the link at the top of this post for many more questions you can use today, tomorrow, or in a few months. Just start asking your patrons questions so you can see what really sticks with them. Your displays will be easier to build, more inviting, and you will have a better sense of what other titles need to be added to your collections.

And head on over to RA for All: Horror for help getting your display started.