Data Crunch: 35 Years of the National Book Award

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.  

The National Book Awards will be announced on Wednesday evening. Per usual, I spent my time alerting you when the long-lists came out so that you could get the most out of his award as a resource. 

However, I wanted to use this time, on the eve of the announcement, to share this report from "Public Books" which looked at 35 years of data about the award itself.

Please take a look at this report whether you care about the National Book Award or not because it is a great look at how the entire fiction landscape has slowly gotten more diverse. As the award committees have become more diverse (in every way), the titles they have considered have diversified as well.

It is a great example of how when you put in the work, consciously recognize that we live in a world where systemic oppression is real, even when it is not done in a hateful or conscious way, and then put in the effort to intentionally dismantle it, change can happen.

Yes, it seems slow. Yes, it can be frustrating. And yes, there is a lot more to do. But data crunches like this show that progress is being made. We are moving in the right direction. I hope this inspires people to not only keep going, but do more.

Please visit the report here. 

Actively Anti-Racist Service to Readers is BACK for a 2024 Cohort via Learn With NoveList

Last week, NoveList sent out an email officially announcing that Robin and I are back to do another full year of our class: 

A new cohort of our most popular course is now ready for you to join!

Actively Anti-Racist Service to Readers will give you tangible skills to help build enthusiasm for reading and discovering titles that make up a well-rounded, well-represented collection. Learn how others have created actionable plans to incorporate inclusive values into readers’ advisory practices. And you'll have a chance to participate in a thoughtful discussion with our expert instructors. Use code READY for $40 off at checkout.

I'm READY!

Robin and I recorded all new training videos. And just like last year's participants, you get access to the class for an entire year from now until December 31st 2024! Starting NOW! (The 2023 people are still working together.)

You watch our training videos and complete exercises, on your own and together with the others taking the course. But make sure you check back often, all throughout the year because new people join in all of the time and add to the conversations happening on the padlets. 

And, the sooner you enroll, the more live sessions you can join. There are 4:

• Live Session with Robin & Becky on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, at 12 pm ET
• Live Session with Robin & Becky on Thursday, April 25th, 2024, at 2 pm ET
• Live Session with Robin & Becky on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024, at 4 pm ET
• Live Session with Robin & Becky on Tuesday, September 24th, 2024, at 1 pm ET

We highly encourage people to come to all 4 if they can because the questions and conversations got better as we went through the year in 2023. As people join, the course message board and pallet conversation grew. People worked together to answer questions and Robin and I even checked in to make sure we addressed different questions, issues, and concerns as the year went on. 

I have updated the Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers page here on the blog with the new 2024 cohort information for Learn With NoveList and us. That page explains every possible training option you can get from Robin and/or me. 

But to specifically learn more about the Learn With NoveList version of this class, click here or on the video below. Our first live session is in January, so consider joining the class before the end of the year.

Group rates are available:
20% off for 3-25 seats
30% off for 26-49 seats
40% off for 50-99 seats
Ask us if you need more than 100 seats.

To take advantage of a group rate, or you have questions, please email learnwithnovelist@ebsco.com. If they cannot answer your question, they will forward it to Robin and I to get back to you as well.

One last thing, this class is an excellent option for libraries in areas where they are NOT allowed to be trained on EDI. Why? Because you are not signing up for an anti-racist class, you are signing up to "Learn With NoveList," a trusted EBSCO owned database that you probably already subscribing to. 

[I know this because I have helped libraries do exactly this]

We really hope to see you there. Again, click on the below video to se Robin and I to explain what you can expect. 

New Issue of Booklist is the Debut Spotlight

The November 1 & 15 2023 issue of Booklist just dropped, and while I do have 2 reviews in the issue, I will save those for a post next week. Today, I want to highlight the issue's Spotlight on First Novels.

See below for the very best debuts from the past 12 months, with my added links for you to also have access to the last few year's of "Top First Novels" because backlist access to excellent debuts is one of my favorite resources, especially if the authors have since gone on to have another book or two. You look brilliant when you remind your readers of their first books.

Also the Top First Novels from the past few years make a great evergreen, "Fresh Voices" display.

• Top 10 First Novels: 2023 (Adult)
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• Top 10 First Novels on Audio: 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• Trend Alert: First Novels Exploring Social Media

You can visit Booklist Online for the First Novel lists in other age categories and more. 

Backlist Gems via a Goodreads Data Crunch

I am on record many times telling you all that the backlist is one of your best resources. Those titles that are 2-10 years old that are great reads but no one can find them. They are hiding in plain sight in your overcrowded stacks. It is much easier for patrons to browse the new shelf and whatever displays you have up than it is to browse the large mass of backlist titles in the stacks.

People will always gravitate toward a smaller set of books. 

I am always reminding you that an older book that was greatly enjoyed a few years ago, will be new to someone today. And, I go out of my way to show you how to access those titles in every resource from best lists to awards lists to LibraryReads and more.

This is why I harp on making sure all displays include backlist titles.

It is also where you and your work will make the biggest impact on your patrons. When someone finds a great read that they would have never known about without you, that's when they remember what you did for them. And it is why they will come back, tell their friends, and support your library when you need it.

Most of the backlist resources I suggest are professionally created, by people in the book world, but today I have a reader created list via Goodreads with their members 76 most popular books of the last ten years.

Look, love it or hate it, Goodreads is the place where readers congregate in the largest numbers in order to share their feelings about books. And again, love it or hate it, Goodreads collects data on every book you load onto your shelves. 

I choose to love it because when the data is crunched and analyzed, I get to see larger trends. A view I need to help you help readers. A reader focused view I cannot get in any other way with a reliably large enough data set.

So today, here is the recently released, Goodreads' Members' 76 Most Popular Books of the Last 10 Years. Do what you want with it, but use it to promote your collections. You can simply make a display of these titles, or use individual titles to make lists and displays of great reads you may have missed from [insert year here] and take the titles from that year and use my other backlist resources [see above links] to fill those out.

Be creative, but use the list as a jumping off point to promote your backlist.

Attack of the Best Lists 2023: Barnes & Noble Featuring Reader Friendly Categories

This post is part of my year end "Attack of the Best Lists" coverage. To see every post in my "Attack of the Best Lists 2023" coverage [and more backlist best of the year options] you can click here.

Barnes & Noble has released their Best Books 2023 portal organized into dozens of categories, and it is exactly those numerous categories that I want to focus on here today.

Of course B&N has lots of best lists. The more the merrier in their eyes because ultimately they want to sell as many books as possible. And at the holidays, they want it to be as easy as possible to help you find the right books for your people.

You can be cynical if you want, but I'd rather look at it as a for-profit bookseller gifting us (pun intended), the not-for-profit book loaner, a huge set of conversation starters from which we can create our own best lists, identify sure bets, and even make evergreen displays long after the year end hoopla dies down.

Let me explpain. 

This graphic is an incomplete list of some of the categories you will find in their 2023 Best Book portal.

It is a list of natural language options, not book world speak. Some examples:

• The Most Meaningful Journeys
• Best Books to Mend Your Broken Heart
• The Best Reads Under 200 pages

Each list is only 3 books. They are right there on the screen for you to see the covers and click on them.

While the number of lists may seem overwhelming, the fact that the full page of choices is visually easy to browse (scroll) AND that they are titled with language leads to people feeling confident to use it to find the right book.

Speaking of the ease at which the average reader can access enticing titles, keep a list of those B&N categories to use as display titles and conversation starters anytime of year. 

You can make a display anytime of year entitled, "The Best of Novel Rich People Problems" or "The Best Dinner Party Conversation." You can start with the three titles here but then find ones that you think fit the title. Also ask you patrons to help by using  this link to see how to turn a conversation starter into a display. 

While this B&N page is for the Best Books of 2023, you can use it anytime. You do not have to only use this treasure trove of a resource right now. I works all year long. You can find backlist titles to fill-out a display. Since theses display and list ideas are not a "genre," you have limitless options. You can put anything that strikes your fancy into those displays. The result, you will attract more readers, both with the natural language titles and with the range of choices. When we show people how to think more broadly about finding the right read, and stop worrying about our arbitrary rules and barriers we give them permission to try something different.

Model the behavior we want to see and it will follow. For too many years we have modeled the wrong behavior, focusing on gatekeeping or being very narrow with our lists and displays. And don't forget I have entire programs on how we prioritized white, straight books for far too long, making us responsible for many of the messes we are in now with book banning. 

Let's start doing better. It can all begin with this best list and today's post which both serve you to think more broadly about how we help readers all year long.

Look for more "Attack of the Best Lists" post coming soon.

Staying Up to Date on BookTok Obsessions

Yes we still have to pay attention to what books are catching fire on BookTok. As I wrote in a post from February 2023, "Don't Be Scared of BookTok: Let Others Help You"

You should not spend your time on BookTok trying to anticipate what books will rise to viral status. That is  NOT where your limited time should be spent. Rather, you need to rely on those who have skin in the game-- meaning money-- who are paying people to cull BookTok for this information...

That was from my first post about BookTok. I wrote about why you need to care about what is happening there, but also, how you should not worry about keeping up with it since others are doing it for us. 

Today, I have a few reminders and updates about checking on BookTok trends. I know that in the course of our day-today work we cannot help but have some idea of what is popular on BookTok. We see it in the increase in holds of seemingly random backlist titles. But, most days,  this is as deep as we get in looking into what is going on in the larger BookTok world.

The end of the year is an excellent time to check back in with those who are watching BookTok all year long. It is a good time for a deeper dive.

Why?

Well first, like summer, the end of the year is a time when people seek out books to read for fun. They are planning to read something with their time off from November thru to New Years. They are also looking for ideas on what to buy others as gifts. For both of these reasons, people, rightfully, turn to viral books. These are titles that took large numbers of people by storm; therefore, these books are probably a good choice for me and or my friends and family.

This is a very solid argument and not that much different than using the bestseller lists as a way to find a "sure bet." Please remember, most people do NOT seek out professional help for reading recommendations. We may be wrapped up in the professional book world  day in and day out, but our patrons are not.

We are going to see request for these books as people look for that perfect read for their limited time off.

Second, I am very interested in how these BookTok obsessions are going to translate into year end circulation numbers and sales data. Every year I present a "Year in Review" webinar where, among other things, I compare checkout vs sales data. Each year the caparisons show me different things, but they never have not correlated in at least a couple of key ways, ways that have implications as you serve leairue readers.

2022 was the first year where I saw BookTok making an impact on both circulation and sales data. This will be the second year where I am keeping an active eye on the app's impact.

Since I am keeping an eye on it, I figured I would share my go-to BookTok resources with all of you:

• Again, here is my first post where I gathered resources. You can also click here for all of my posts tagged, "BookTok." 
• Popsugar has this list of the 34 titles BookTok thinks you need to read right now.
• Barnes & Noble keeps a updated list of popular BookTok titles organized by categories.
• Book Riot has regular BookTok coverage including this article that is a MUST read, "IS THE BOOKTOK REIGN LETTING UP? A NEW ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT IT MIGHT BE," with some mid year sales data from BookScan.
• LitHub's BookTok coverage
• Goodreads "genre" page for BookTok books. Crowdsourcing of Goodreads users who tag books "BookTok," so a book social media experience within a book social media experience. I find that in and of itself fascinating as a resource.

I'll be keeping an eye on this and many other year end articles, best lists, and data dumps here on the blog and in my upcoming Year in Review webinar. This year it will be free to anyone who signs up and presented with a partner. 

I will have an official announcement with all of the details soon, but for now save the date-- Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 2pm eastern.

What's New in the World of Reading Research via Kelly Jensen on Book Riot

Last week, I posted a very useful academic study on Library Use by Gen Z and Millennials here. It made me think about what other studies were happening that I would not know about until they made it to the general book media.

Thankfully, my Summer Scares colleague and Book Riot editor, Kelly Jensen has also been thinking about  what other research is being done in relation to reading and unlike me, she has access to all of the academic journals. 

You can click here to read her summary of some of the studies that have caught her eye including links to read them for yourself. Click here to read her full "The Deep Dive" newsletter for Book Riot. There is a lot of interesting information here to help every single one of my readers. 

Please give it a read and think about the studies, their findings, and how you can use this information in your work with leisure readers both actively and passively. 

Click here to read the article

7th Annual LibraryCon Live Featuring Tons of Authors and Me

I am happy to announce that LJ & SLJ are back once again with the FREE, virtual LibraryCon and I am also returning as a moderator.

You can see the full program here, but the details for my session are:

3:30 – 4:20 PM ET | Haunting Horror

Experience thrills and chills as these panelists examine what inspires their writing and why tales of terror resonate.

 

Matteo L. Cerilli, Lockjaw (Tundra)
Amanda Jayatissa, Island Witch (Penguin Random House)

E. Latimer, The Afterdark (Tundra)
Nick Medina, Indian Burial Ground (Penguin Random House)                                          

A.J.Steiger, Eye of a Little God (Severn House)

Moderator: Becky Spratford, Readers' Advisory

I highly encourage all of you to register to attend the day. I know most of the moderators personally and they are all awesome.

Click here to register. I hope to see you all there. I will be taking live questions for my panel if you have them.

From the LibraryCon homepage:

Join Library Journal and School Library Journal on November 9th for our seventh annual LibraryCon Live! We're excited to present a day-long celebration of fandom, spotlighting genre fiction for adults and teens with panels devoted to comics and graphic novels, horror, sf/fantasy, and more. In addition to panels and keynotes, we're also offering studio spotlights focusing on visual artists.

Plus, network online while exploring the virtual exhibit hall, where you'll hear from publishers about their newest books, download galleys and resources, and engage in live chats with featured authors and illustrators.

Whether you're a public or school librarian, an educator, or a superfan, don't miss this chance to meet with some of your favorite creators!

EVENT HOURS: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET 

#LibraryConLive

Click here for more information

Report on Library Use by Gen Z and Millennials

Kathi Inman Berens, Ph.D. and Rachel Noorda, Ph.D. of Portland State University released their report, "Gen Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through Media Use."

This is a must read for anyone working in a public library right now. As the parent of 2 Gen Z adults, I definitely saw a lot of their findings in my kids and their friends. For example, Gen Z loves print books. his is 100% true. 

At the public library in Adult Services, we serve patrons of all ages, but often, the ones we interact with the most are the oldest of our users or the parents who bring in their young children. Those parents, many are Millennials, but they are NOT using the library for themselves in most of our interactions with them.

When I work with libraries to help them serve leisure readers, they are too focused on services that cater to the Gen X and Boomers who have more free time to come into the library. This is a huge mistake, and one we keep making as a profession.

We have never been good at looking to how we are going to serve the younger adult generations as they are growing up and becoming library users with or without our help. And this lack of foresight has cost us dearly in previous generations. I remember at the turn of his century, as a profession, we had lost sight of people my age (Gen X) so much that I was in library school reading articles and think pieces by Boomers and the generation above them about the demise of the library over and over again. Let's not make the mistakes of those who came before us. Let's make sure we are looking behind us with a critical and honest eye.

Even if you do not see Gen Z and Millennials in your library on a regular basis, they are using the library in fairly high numbers. I hear this a lo from library workers, actually. They tell me that Gen Z and Millennials aren't there, so why should they serve them. But here's the thing, they are there, both in person and through our online apps and sites. We are the ones not seeing them. That is our problem. But wee can fix it.

Again, read this report, pass it on to others at your work, including those higher up the organizational chart. After reading it, have conversations about how you are going to serve patrons better based on these findings. I know I will be going over the report to assess what information and ideas I share with all of you here on the blog or in my training programs. 

You can also pair this with other generation reading reports which I have posted and gathered here for you.

And now in a moment of timely irony, I am off to the elementary school library to work with kids from Generation Alpha. 

Promote Horror All Year Long a Guest Post by Lila Denning

I wanted to remind you AFTER October Horror is still worth promoting. As reported in Publisher's Lunch in January 2023, Horror is up 79% in sales as its own category over the previous 2 years. 

While we see an increase in seasonal readers in the Fall, there is a steady amount of all year long Horror readers, and that number is growing.

I asked my colleague Lila Denning, a national expert on Book Discussions, and part of the HWA's Library Team, to share how she highlights Horror all year long.

Even if she does not convince you, at the very least, leave those displays up for another week as people trickery in who meant to read a Horror title this fall but forgot. They will be relieved that you are sill thinking of them.

Thank you to Lila for helping out here. To read other guest posts by her, click here. And now, Lila Denning:

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

It’s the day after Halloween and you may be tempted to set aside the horror titles in your collection until next October. You may be sad that spooky season is over as we head into the winter holidays. But remember that it’s always spooky season because horror circulates all year and given the current rise in popularity, it is part of good patron service to include it in your passive and active readers advisory outside of Halloween season. By expanding how you think about genre and blending similar themes, you can continue to market horror to your patrons throughout the year.

Winter is dark, silent, cold and kind of scary. Look for those horror novels that take place in the winter and the snow. Lists like this one on Goodreads can guide a search of your library’s collection. There is also at least one winter or winter holiday themed short story collection released every year. Some readers may appreciate a small break from the push of joy and family visits to dive into something scary.

A theme like “Not Such a Happy Home” could include domestic thrillers, psychological suspense, haunted houses, and dysfunctional families. This would allow you to blend mysteries, suspense, and horror on one book display or online list. There are plenty of books with broad appeal that could be included. Using generic terms like murder for the title of the list or display, is another way to expand beyond one genre.

Witches cross genres – add paranormal romance, historical fiction, and horror. There are also creatures like shifters that appear in more than one genre. Add a sign that says “Shift Into Summer” and you can help circulate those titles in that time in between spring and summer. Of course, human monsters like serial killers appear in a variety of books, movies, and TV series.

When movie or series gains popularity during the year (studios don’t save all their horror features for October), remember to put up a display or list with read-alikes for that title. Bird Box was released in December 2018 and was a huge success. Netflix released Wednesday in November. That series could be used to promote your backlist YA titles in addition to adult books. Harness the energy of things with momentum in popular culture to draw attention to your backlist horror.

Springtime is the season for baby birds, melting snow and…folk horror. The movie Midsommer demonstrated that people will flock to stories set in rural places about folk religions, paganism, and witches.

Don’t forget about scary beach reads. Not everyone wants light, humorous books while they are on vacation. I have book displays with horror empty out in the summer as patrons take them down the road to the beach to enjoy as they sit in the bright sun. One of the more iconic summer creature films is Jaws. Recently there have been some great beach/ocean/shoreline related horror released that could jump start a summer display – What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman and Whalefall by Daniel Kraus. Additional evidence for the allure of scary books in the summer is the number of big mystery and suspense titles that are released every summer.

Speaking of summer, don’t neglect horror on your YA and youth summer reading suggestion list. There are a lot of great middle grade and YA horror titles available. Seeing their favorite kind of books promoted in the library could be just what a child needs to draw them back into reading and the library. The Bram Stoker Award nominees are an excellent place to start.

There are also juvenile fiction titles and picture books that can be suggested to help younger fans keep reading while school is out. The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist present Summer Scares every year. Three adult, YA, and middle grade titles are selected and can be worked into book clubs and displays. The most up-to-date resource page is here. Use these titles and the annual programming guide to make next summer a spooky one.

Hopefully, these ideas will give you a jumpstart on adding horror to your displays and lists all year. While Halloween is a wonderful celebration of the dark and spooky, horror can easily be worked into readers advisory year-round. If you are one of the library workers who loves horror, take it forward into every month.