The first assignment I have the students do each semester is for them to create their own Reader Profile. They have to think about what they like to read and why.
They start by identifying 3 books they like and why, and then, equally as important, they need to think about 3 books they did not enjoy and why. Then they have to use the language of appeal (which I already spent the first few weeks teaching them) to describe all 6 books.
From these lists, they are asked to write their profile. They consider what the books have in common, grouping these by appeal, such as a preferred pacing or character centered books vs plot driven ones. They use titles and/or authors to support their opinions.
The focus is on the whys.
The idea behind this assignment is that it helps to build their foundation as a readers advisor. I honestly believe that you cannot help another person to find a book they will enjoy reading unless you understand why you like to read what you like to read. I know that is wordy, but think about it. If you cannot articulate why you like certain books and dislike others, how can you expect your patrons to be able to do it.
I know this by experience. I resisted physically writing down my reader profile for many years, but then about 6 years ago, I finally did it. Here is mine. It is old by this point, and could use some tweaking, but you get the point.
I hope that by writing their profile, the students can see how unique their habits, quirks, and tastes are. This will allow them to be more respectful of the preferences of others later. It will also help them to coax this information out of their patrons when they are working together.
Since this is for a class, I extend the learning opportunity further. After each student writes a profile, they blindly exchange them with each other. Thus giving each of them the opportunity to start helping another "patron" immediately.
This multi-week assignment finished up last week which each student presenting their patron and the titles they would suggest to him or her. After grading all of the assignments, I like to share the best pair with you to see how it all works.
So from this semester, here is Laura's profile and Katie's response to her.
If you ever wondered how we readers' advisors turn your reading preferences into a list of suggested titles, read Laura's likes and then Katie's explanation as to how you use the resources to get results.
I feel like I am lifting the curtain to reveal the secrets behind our work. But if it helps you to help a few more readers, it is all worth it.
If you decide to write your own reader profile, let me know how it goes.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query reader profile. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query reader profile. Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Reader Profile and Response
Each semester, I have my students write their reader profile-- the books they most and least enjoy and why. Click here for more explanation and examples.
I then have the students switch profiles with each other, and as their first official RA assignment, suggest at least 3 titles for their classmates.
As I have said in the past here, this is a great assignment for two reasons:
I then have the students switch profiles with each other, and as their first official RA assignment, suggest at least 3 titles for their classmates.
As I have said in the past here, this is a great assignment for two reasons:
- The best way to learn how to help readers is to spend the time really identifying why you like to read what you like to read. How can you possibly help decode someone else's reading tastes if you have never tried to decode yourself.
- By blindly swapping profiles, the students are able to get a real life example of a patron, but since it is in writing, not an actually person hovering over them at the desk, the students can take the profile home and spend their time with the resources without pressure. They have time for trial and error; they can fail safely, learn from their mistakes, and then succeed. It builds confidence for the rest of the semester.
I have just finished grading their 2 part assignment, and, having received permission, I would like to share the tandem who had the best example of a profile and a response.
Both are accessible on Google Drive without sign-in as long as you use the link provided. Please let me know if there are technical problems.
If you are interested, you can use this link to pull up past student profile and response examples.
Thanks to Elizabeth and Melissa for agreeing to share their work too.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
New Booklist Reader Magazine is Live
Booklist has debuted a new publication, and this one is public facing. Booklist Reader is now a Readers' Advisory product for you to share far and wide, with your patrons.
This month it is all about Crime Fiction and includes extensive annotated reading lists of titles by age level and format. There are also interviews with authors and every month will feature that month's LibraryReads list and Hall of Fame authors.
It is useful? Yes! 100% yes. Everything in here can be used by you immediately to help patrons.
But even more important, it looks great! This is a professional magazine crew putting out this information. Your patrons will want to click through and read it. You can print out lists to hand out to patrons of all ages. You can build displays and offer a print take away. And each list is not only filled with some of the best RA info you can find anywhere, but it also makes you look like you upped your graphics game and or budget, which will impress your patrons [or at the very least grab their attention better].
And all of it is included with your Booklist subscription. In other words, you are getting more help for the same amount of money!
When you click through to read the digital issue, you will see in the Editor's Note stating that sharing this magazine far and wide is highly encouraged.
Click here to see the digital magazine or click the cover image below.
I have also reposted the landing page information below. Most libraries already have a subscription, bu,m you at the desk may not know how to access everything. See below or click here for contact information on how to fix that.
 |
| Click here to access the magazine |
What is Booklist Reader?
Booklist Reader is Booklist’s new library patron–facing magazine, featuring diverse readers' advisory recommendations, in print and on audio, for readers of all ages.
Who benefits from Booklist Reader?
All library patrons and all readers’ advisory specialists, and everyone who loves to read!
Where and when can you find Booklist Reader?
Starting this September, Booklist Reader will be available monthly at www.booklistonline.com.
Why Booklist Reader?
- Booklist Reader is now part of the Booklist and Book Links subscription: three magazines for the price of one!
- Booklist Reader is patron friendly. Filled with high-interest, themed lists that showcase books patrons can read and check out now, Booklist Reader is designed to be a readers’ advisory tool and time-saver in one.
- Booklist Reader is sharable: the digitalonly format means you can feature articles in newsletters or on your library’s home page— and print them to keep by the circ desk, too.
- Booklist Reader is librarian and readers’ advisory approved! Every issue includes the LibraryReads roundup of the top 10 books published that month, voted on by library staff across the country.
How can my library offer this to our patrons?
Subscribe today! Does your professional review source publication give you additional monthly printable lists, including LibraryReads and roundups of books and audiobooks for all ages? Booklist and Booklist Reader do. Subscribe today and get:
- 22 print and digital issues of Booklist
- 4 print and digital issues of Book Links
- 2 digital issues of Booklist Reader
- Booklist Online archive access
Already a subscriber? Set up a Booklist Online profile so you can access the digital-only Booklist Reader, the perfect readers' advisory tool for your staff. Questions about how to sign up? Call 1-888-350-0949 or email info@booklistonline.com.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
RA for All Roadshow Visits Tampa Bay Library Consortium-- Day 1: General RA Training
Today I will be spending the day with a group of library workers who have come together from various libraries throughout TBLC for a day of general RA training at the Oldsmar [FL] Public Library.
Feel free to follow along whether or not you are attending.
Here is the full schedule with slide access.
9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.-- RA for All: Readers Advisory belongs in every library, no matter its budget. The implementation of this vital service is the responsibility of every staff member-- from pages to directors, from those behind the scenes to the ones on the front lines. This program will remove the mystery behind providing great RA service. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service” as a guide, Becky Spratford will use your own love of your favorite books to show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think. But more importantly, you will learn why a staff that can harness the power of sharing a great read will become a stronger team and improve service to all patrons. This Session will also include-- Creating Your Own Reader Profile: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member.
- Presentation follows Becky's 10 Rules of Basic RA Service
- Reader Profile Form
11 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.-- BREAK
11:15 a.m. -- 12:15 p.m.-- Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
12:15 p.m. --1:30 p.m. -- Lunch
1:30 p.m. -- 2:30 p.m. -- RA Rethink: The Displays Edition:
Becky Spratford brings the display portion of her popular new “RA Rethink” series to you. In this presentation Becky will show you how to “rethink” your displays to make them more engaging for patrons without increasing your workload; in fact, she will help you to create better displays in half the time. While Becky will provide many examples and suggestions, this training will be highly interactive. Participation is expected with the goal of you leaving the session with a few display ideas all set and ready to be put out immediately.
2:30 p.m. -- 2:45 p.m.-- BREAK
2:45 p.m. -- 3:30-- Networking, Troubleshooting, and Success Sharing
To end the day Becky will lead a discussion of local RA issues, concerns, and questions. She will answer your library specific questions and encourage the group to work together to look for solutions, both today, and going forward into into the future. Remember, you can do much more working together than you can possible do alone, so let’s start combining forces today to tackle more, together, tomorrow.
Friday, August 11, 2017
RA for All Roadshow Goes to Coal City
As summer reading programs begin to end, my schedule of live events starts to ramp back up. To see where I have been recently and where I am going soon, click here.
Today, I will be at Coal City [IL] High School speaking to a group of 150+ library workers from all over that area. This is a multi-type, regional library training. I am excited not only to work with some of my area colleagues, but I also am excited for these library workers to all get to meet and mingle with each other.
I want to thank Coal City [IL]Public Library District Director, Jolene Franciskovich for inviting me, but I also want to applaud her for getting so many people together. The learning will be enhanced because we will have so many different people together, plus they can use this meeting as a spring board toward even more collaboration. And collaboration between libraries, especially when multiple public and school ones work together, is always a boon to patron service. More hands= less work for each person, and a higher output of service. A nice side effect is that it also keeps staff engaged and happy. So bravo Jolene. I hope others use this post as an example to try to get their own regional training scheduled [whether or not you hire me to lead it]
Now for the specifics and links for today’s presentation.
Today, I will be at Coal City [IL] High School speaking to a group of 150+ library workers from all over that area. This is a multi-type, regional library training. I am excited not only to work with some of my area colleagues, but I also am excited for these library workers to all get to meet and mingle with each other.
I want to thank Coal City [IL]Public Library District Director, Jolene Franciskovich for inviting me, but I also want to applaud her for getting so many people together. The learning will be enhanced because we will have so many different people together, plus they can use this meeting as a spring board toward even more collaboration. And collaboration between libraries, especially when multiple public and school ones work together, is always a boon to patron service. More hands= less work for each person, and a higher output of service. A nice side effect is that it also keeps staff engaged and happy. So bravo Jolene. I hope others use this post as an example to try to get their own regional training scheduled [whether or not you hire me to lead it]
Now for the specifics and links for today’s presentation.
9-10:30 am: RA for All: Readers Advisory belongs in every library, no matter its budget. The implementation of this vital service is the responsibility of every staff member-- from pages to directors, from those behind the scenes to the ones on the front lines. This program will remove the mystery behind providing great RA service. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service” as a guide, Becky Spratford will use your own love of your favorite books to show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think. But more importantly, you will learn why a staff that can harness the power of sharing a great read will become a stronger team and improve service to all patrons.
- Presentation follows Becky’s 10 Rules of Basic RA Service
10 Minute Break
10:40-11:40am: Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
- Slides with active links
- This presentation has been updated and includes a brand new book talk
5 Minute Break
11:45-12:50: RA Rethink: The Displays Edition: Becky Spratford brings the display portion of her popular “RA Rethink” series to you. In this presentation Becky will show you how to “rethink” your displays to make them more engaging for patrons without increasing your workload; in fact, she will help you to create better displays in half the time. While Becky will provide many examples and suggestions, this training will be highly interactive. Participation is expected with the goal of you leaving the session with a few display ideas all set and ready to be put out immediately. This talk will also include-- Creating Your Own Reader Profile and Brainstorming Session: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member. Becky will also get you started talking to each other about how you can all work together to share the load.
12:50-1: Questions and Wrap Up
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Reader Profile and Response Example
One of my student's first assignments each semester is to write their own reader profile and then switch with another student. The students then take a classmate's redering preferences and practice being a readers' advisor. Last semester, I linked to Jennilyn and Dan's pair here.
This semester, I present Amy's profile and John's response.
Notice that Amy's profile presents an interesting problem since she lists the same author for a book she loved and one she did not enjoy. John's response handled this well. Also, John's response shows that a woman who likes Chick Lit can be helped by a trained, professional male librarian who prefers true crime.
I hope their work helps you or your patrons. Thanks for agreeing to share Amy and John.
This semester, I present Amy's profile and John's response.
Notice that Amy's profile presents an interesting problem since she lists the same author for a book she loved and one she did not enjoy. John's response handled this well. Also, John's response shows that a woman who likes Chick Lit can be helped by a trained, professional male librarian who prefers true crime.
I hope their work helps you or your patrons. Thanks for agreeing to share Amy and John.
Friday, August 21, 2015
RA for All Roadshow: Camarillo, CA
Today I will be working with the staff of the Camarillo Public Library as I lead them in a full day of RA training.
Below is the schedule with links to the handouts and presentations. Anyone can use these links, but only Camarillo staff get to have me present them in person.
You can click here to see a list of my previous and upcoming presentations. You can also go here to contact me about coming to your library, organization, or system
- 9 am to 10:30 am: RA for All: From Pages to Directors, this program is aimed at any staff member in the library who interacts with patrons. Being able to provide good RA service from any desk in the library will help staff communicate effectively and ensure satisfied patrons. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service" as a guide," Becky Spratford will show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think.
- 10:45 am -12:15 pm: Demystifying Genre: Part 1 [Lunch Break]1:30-3 pm: Working With Genre Fiction Readers: Part 2 [The two genre program have one general description]: Nothing is scarier than trying to help a fan of a genre you yourself don’t enjoy. You want to help that, for example, Romance reader find the perfect book, but you are having trouble knowing where to begin because...eek!... you don’t read Romance. You are afraid they will find out you are a fraud. How can YOU possibly help THEM?!? Never fear, in this program, Readers’ Advisory expert, Becky Spratford, will teach you how to keep your genre knowledge up to date, explain the biggest trends in genre fiction, and share her time tested tricks for working with genre readers. You will leave this training confidence and skill to help fans of every genre, regardless of whether you have ever read a book in that genre. And that will leave a trail of happy patrons in your wake.
- 3:15-4:15 pm: Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
- Slides: features a brand new Halloween 2015 booktalk
- 4:15-4:45 pm: Creating Your Own Reader Profile and Wrap Up: Becky will end the day helping you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Reader Profile and Response example
Each semester I have my students write their own personal reader profile. As I blogged about here, it is hard to help others find books that they would enjoy, if you cannot articulate why you read what you like to read.
After writing their own profiles, I have the students blindly exchange their profiles, and then send them home to suggest titles for their classmate. I hope to have some more profiles to post next week, but here is an example of this exchange.
First is Jennilyn's profile.
And here is Dan's response. You can see how he took her likes and dislikes and used the RA tools to find her suggestions for further reading.
This assignment gets to the heart of what Readers' Advisors try to do for each an every reader who enters the library.
After writing their own profiles, I have the students blindly exchange their profiles, and then send them home to suggest titles for their classmate. I hope to have some more profiles to post next week, but here is an example of this exchange.
First is Jennilyn's profile.
And here is Dan's response. You can see how he took her likes and dislikes and used the RA tools to find her suggestions for further reading.
This assignment gets to the heart of what Readers' Advisors try to do for each an every reader who enters the library.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
RA Service Assessment: Step 3-- Providing RA to Each Other
It’s time for another RA Service Assessment post.
You can access the entire series through the page I have set up entitled “RA Service Assessment.” Ahhh yes, an obvious name, and it is in the right gutter of every page on the blog, but my goal is to help you help patrons better, so making it easy is key.
In the past two posts I have talked about you and your staff assessing your own personal reading and how to assess your staff and patron service strengths.
If you have completed those steps you now have a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses as a staff. Now, your instinct is going to be to attack the weak areas, such as gaps in genre knowledge among staff vs. patron interest. However, while we will get to that, jumping right to genre training will not improve your services as much as you think.
First, you need to start small and build confidence. You need to start practicing suggesting books to others without stress or consequence. You need to allow staff to feel good about committing to your leisure readers by providing early positive experiences for them.
Let me explain what I mean, and then I will explain why I believe this step needs to be BEFORE genre training.
If you had your staff do Step 1-- Assess Your Own Reading Preferences you have a sheet for each staff member where they have listed their favorite and least favorite books and genres. [Ed note: I updated that post from a survey to a paper form earlier today.]
Now, you take these reader profiles, mix them up, and hand them back out so that each participating staff member gets the profile of another staff member. You can either do this blindly or, as I prefer, by passing them out in a way that matches up people from different departments who may not know each other very well. This “interference” adds an extra team building benefit to the exercise.
But no matter how you distribute the profiles, you now have given each staff member a “patron” to practice their RA skills on. That patron being a co-worker who is also committed to the RA improvement process because he or she has chosen to participate with their own profile.
This last point is key. Unlike other training exercises where people are roped into participating. Here, if you filled out a profile yourself, you are invested in getting a reply for yourself. This makes you more willing to help provide a reply to your fellow coworker. The give and get here is equivalent. Everyone is doing both sides of the exercise in equal measure. That is one of the reasons this process works.
Set goals for the staff. I suggest that you give each person 2 weeks to use the staff profile they have received to provide a list of three reading suggestions to that person.
Then, once a staff member has received their 3 personalized reading suggestions, he or she must read at least 1 title and report back to the suggesting staff member as to whether or not the book was enjoyed and why within a month.
Each person has suggested three books to a coworker and each person has received three suggested reads. Now everyone has a personalized suggestion to try.
I have seen this training work dozens of times with students and library staff. By engaging in this exercise what you have done is created a safe practice environment where staff can take their time and help out a coworker. Whether they get their suggestions right or wrong, because it is a fellow staff member, they will get feedback on the process.
Even experts like me do not nail every suggestion to every patron. But whether or not the patron likes the suggested book is not as important as getting feedback as to WHAT was liked or disliked. This feedback is often missing when we work with patrons (although how to solicit patron feedback will be a later RA Assessment topic). It is by having a full RA Conversation that our skills improve and our patrons are happier.
So use my Staff Reader Profile form to get started on Step 3 of you RA Service Assessment journey.
Now quickly, back to my promised discussion of why you should do this step BEFORE genre training. I feel very strongly about building confidence in the idea of recommending leisure reading first. People who work in libraries love books and reading. I have seen staff who think they have no idea how to provide RA use their instincts to make great RA suggestions. Why? Because they love books and reading. The power of this instinct cannot be overlooked or underestimated. In fact, by doing this exercise first and genre training after, you are celebrating your staff’s implicit book knowledge.
Just like we try to make library signage positive [eg, cell phone friendly floors vs. NO CELLPHONES signs], I want to make the RA experience positive for staff. It is scary the first few times you are suggesting a “good read” to someone. This exercise allows a more positive “first time” experience.
So before we start pointing out the staff’s faults and training them on everything they don’t know, why not start with what they do? They know books. Let everyone try to suggest one to a coworker.
That being said, genre training will be needed and I will have a few posts on genre training coming in steps 5 and 6. But for now....get out their and provide RA to each other;.
I have at least five more steps in the works, so look for more RA Service Assessment posts soon. The good news is, with all of the steps on one page, you can access them at your own pace.
And if you want me to help walk you through the steps or inspire you and your staff to get started, I am booking appearances for 2016 now. 2015 is closed except for [very] select local appearances.
Click here for details on how to contact me.
You can access the entire series through the page I have set up entitled “RA Service Assessment.” Ahhh yes, an obvious name, and it is in the right gutter of every page on the blog, but my goal is to help you help patrons better, so making it easy is key.
In the past two posts I have talked about you and your staff assessing your own personal reading and how to assess your staff and patron service strengths.
If you have completed those steps you now have a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses as a staff. Now, your instinct is going to be to attack the weak areas, such as gaps in genre knowledge among staff vs. patron interest. However, while we will get to that, jumping right to genre training will not improve your services as much as you think.
First, you need to start small and build confidence. You need to start practicing suggesting books to others without stress or consequence. You need to allow staff to feel good about committing to your leisure readers by providing early positive experiences for them.
Let me explain what I mean, and then I will explain why I believe this step needs to be BEFORE genre training.
If you had your staff do Step 1-- Assess Your Own Reading Preferences you have a sheet for each staff member where they have listed their favorite and least favorite books and genres. [Ed note: I updated that post from a survey to a paper form earlier today.]
Now, you take these reader profiles, mix them up, and hand them back out so that each participating staff member gets the profile of another staff member. You can either do this blindly or, as I prefer, by passing them out in a way that matches up people from different departments who may not know each other very well. This “interference” adds an extra team building benefit to the exercise.
But no matter how you distribute the profiles, you now have given each staff member a “patron” to practice their RA skills on. That patron being a co-worker who is also committed to the RA improvement process because he or she has chosen to participate with their own profile.
This last point is key. Unlike other training exercises where people are roped into participating. Here, if you filled out a profile yourself, you are invested in getting a reply for yourself. This makes you more willing to help provide a reply to your fellow coworker. The give and get here is equivalent. Everyone is doing both sides of the exercise in equal measure. That is one of the reasons this process works.
Set goals for the staff. I suggest that you give each person 2 weeks to use the staff profile they have received to provide a list of three reading suggestions to that person.
Then, once a staff member has received their 3 personalized reading suggestions, he or she must read at least 1 title and report back to the suggesting staff member as to whether or not the book was enjoyed and why within a month.
Each person has suggested three books to a coworker and each person has received three suggested reads. Now everyone has a personalized suggestion to try.
I have seen this training work dozens of times with students and library staff. By engaging in this exercise what you have done is created a safe practice environment where staff can take their time and help out a coworker. Whether they get their suggestions right or wrong, because it is a fellow staff member, they will get feedback on the process.
Even experts like me do not nail every suggestion to every patron. But whether or not the patron likes the suggested book is not as important as getting feedback as to WHAT was liked or disliked. This feedback is often missing when we work with patrons (although how to solicit patron feedback will be a later RA Assessment topic). It is by having a full RA Conversation that our skills improve and our patrons are happier.
So use my Staff Reader Profile form to get started on Step 3 of you RA Service Assessment journey.
Now quickly, back to my promised discussion of why you should do this step BEFORE genre training. I feel very strongly about building confidence in the idea of recommending leisure reading first. People who work in libraries love books and reading. I have seen staff who think they have no idea how to provide RA use their instincts to make great RA suggestions. Why? Because they love books and reading. The power of this instinct cannot be overlooked or underestimated. In fact, by doing this exercise first and genre training after, you are celebrating your staff’s implicit book knowledge.
Just like we try to make library signage positive [eg, cell phone friendly floors vs. NO CELLPHONES signs], I want to make the RA experience positive for staff. It is scary the first few times you are suggesting a “good read” to someone. This exercise allows a more positive “first time” experience.
So before we start pointing out the staff’s faults and training them on everything they don’t know, why not start with what they do? They know books. Let everyone try to suggest one to a coworker.
That being said, genre training will be needed and I will have a few posts on genre training coming in steps 5 and 6. But for now....get out their and provide RA to each other;.
I have at least five more steps in the works, so look for more RA Service Assessment posts soon. The good news is, with all of the steps on one page, you can access them at your own pace.
And if you want me to help walk you through the steps or inspire you and your staff to get started, I am booking appearances for 2016 now. 2015 is closed except for [very] select local appearances.
Click here for details on how to contact me.
Monday, January 23, 2017
RA for All Roadshow Comes To Bradley [IL] Public Library District
It's the first RA for all training appearance of 2017, and I am so excited to be in Bradley, IL working with their library staff to improve their service to leisure readers.
I have a great, high energy day of training planned; training that is proven to get every single staff member, no matter where they work in the organization, motivated to help serve patrons better. Seriously, I have directors contact me after my training sessions saying they didn't believe me when I said that I would motivate the janitor to be involved in serving readers....but I totally motivated the janitor to be involved!
[That is my favorite feedback ever.]
Here is what we have planned if you want to follow along:
3:40 pm-4:30: RA Rethink- The Displays Edition: Using Next Level Data to Improve Merchandising: If someone told you there’s a practical way to improve circulation and increase the job satisfaction of your staff, would you do it? Librarian Becky Stratford has developed a method you can use to accomplish both goals. She’ll explain how to deepen staff involvement in readers’ advisory in a way that gets everyone from staff to patrons excited. This talk includes a discussion of “on the fly book display tips and tricks.”
Whether you are here with us in Bradley or not, there is plenty of information here to help you improve your service to leisure readers.
I have a great, high energy day of training planned; training that is proven to get every single staff member, no matter where they work in the organization, motivated to help serve patrons better. Seriously, I have directors contact me after my training sessions saying they didn't believe me when I said that I would motivate the janitor to be involved in serving readers....but I totally motivated the janitor to be involved!
[That is my favorite feedback ever.]
Here is what we have planned if you want to follow along:
9:30 -11:15 am: RA for All: Readers Advisory belongs in every library, no matter its budget. The implementation of this vital service is the responsibility of every staff member-- from pages to directors, from those behind the scenes to the ones on the front lines. This program will remove the mystery behind providing great RA service. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service” as a guide, Becky Spratford will use your own love of your favorite books to show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think. But more importantly, you will learn why a staff that can harness the power of sharing a great read will become a stronger team and improve service to all patrons.
- This program follows Becky's 10 Rules of Basic RA Service
11:30am -12:25 pm: Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
12:25 pm - 12:30: Creating Your Own Reader Profile: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member. Becky will also get you started talking to each other about how you can all work together to share the load.
- Handout and explanation
1:30 pm-3:30pm: Demystifying Genre: How To Help Every Type of Reader: Nothing is scarier than trying to help a fan of a genre you yourself don’t enjoy. You want to help that, for example, Romance reader find the perfect book, but you are having trouble knowing where to begin because...eek!... you don’t read Romance. You are afraid they will find out you are a fraud. How can YOU possibly help THEM?!? Never fear, in this program, Readers’ Advisory expert, Becky Spratford, will teach you how to keep your genre knowledge up to date, explain the biggest trends in genre fiction, and share her time tested tricks for working with genre readers. You will leave this webinar with the confidence and skill to help fans of every genre, regardless of whether you have ever read a book in that genre. And that will leave a trail of happy patrons in your wake.
3:40 pm-4:30: RA Rethink- The Displays Edition: Using Next Level Data to Improve Merchandising: If someone told you there’s a practical way to improve circulation and increase the job satisfaction of your staff, would you do it? Librarian Becky Stratford has developed a method you can use to accomplish both goals. She’ll explain how to deepen staff involvement in readers’ advisory in a way that gets everyone from staff to patrons excited. This talk includes a discussion of “on the fly book display tips and tricks.”
Whether you are here with us in Bradley or not, there is plenty of information here to help you improve your service to leisure readers.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
My Reader Profile
Although you may think you know what you like to read, until you are forced to sit down and write why, you have no idea. Each semester, we have our students write their own reader profile. The argument I use is, how can you help others to find books they may enjoy based on a short conversation, if you do not understand why you enjoy certain books yourself?
The exercise itself is quite simple, think about the books you enjoy based on the major appeal factors and try to link them. The goals is to come up with a document that makes general statements about your general reading tastes. What it does best is force you to make the subconscious, conscious.
We also require that the students list 3 books they like and 3 books they did not enjoy. We then mix up the profiles and have them take another student's (without the name attached) and suggest books for him or her.
Here is the link to my profile. I wrote this about a year ago, although I did update my dislikes recently. Now you know what I like. Have any suggestions for me?
The exercise itself is quite simple, think about the books you enjoy based on the major appeal factors and try to link them. The goals is to come up with a document that makes general statements about your general reading tastes. What it does best is force you to make the subconscious, conscious.
We also require that the students list 3 books they like and 3 books they did not enjoy. We then mix up the profiles and have them take another student's (without the name attached) and suggest books for him or her.
Here is the link to my profile. I wrote this about a year ago, although I did update my dislikes recently. Now you know what I like. Have any suggestions for me?
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Updated Ten Rules of Basic RA- Now Including Practice Tips
I love getting into libraries and delivering my trademark RA for All talk. It is the first training I ever created, and while I still use some of the same exercises I used on day 1, the talk itself is always different, but not just because each library has specific needs that I make sure to address. My training has also evolved over time, keeping pace with trends and shifts in practice.
At it’s core, the program is a pep talk aimed at any and all library staff who would ever engage a patron in conversation about a leisure “reading” option.
[By the way by reading I always mean any content they would check out of the library in any format for “fun”-- not for an assignment. It is much easier to say reading here rather than “reading, watching, listening, etc...”]
I provide the basic tools one would need to provide RA service as well as inspire staff to take some risks and start engaging each other [at first] and patrons [later] in conversations about leisure reading.
I base the entire training off of my publicly proclaimed Ten Rules of Basic RA Service. But those ten rules are not static. In fact, earlier this month, in preparation for a new round of upcoming presentations, I gave the list a major overhaul.
One of the biggest changes I incorporated was a brand new Rule 10: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
Last summer, I started leaving every appearance by giving the staff a reader profile exercise to keep the training going after I leave. You can click here to read more about that specific exercise.
But in the months since, I have heard back from staff who are now looking to take their skills up from level 101 to 201. The staff reader profile exercise is a great introduction because you have lots of time and unlimited access to the “patron” you are assisting [since they are your coworker], but in the real world of helping leisure reading patrons, you often only have the chance to get a few soundbites of information out of them before you are expected to turn around and immediately offer reading suggestions.
I know that last sentence made on-the-fly RA service sound a bit stressful. I would be lying if I did not acknowledge this. But like anything, with practice, you get better. But how can you recreate this more realistic experience in a practice mode? Easy. There is a perfect tool just waiting for you over at Book Riot.
The Get Booked podcast is your perfect RA practice tool. Get Booked is a weekly show of customized book recommendations. People write in, tell the hosts what kind of books they like and/or what they are looking to read next, and then the hosts suggest titles. You can listen to any episode by visiting this link, although I am partial to the one where I was a guest host.
Listening to Get Booked is a great way to see the rage of reading tastes that are out there, and simply passively listening to the hosts come up with suggestions and hear their “why” statements is useful. But you can also use Get Booked as an active training tool.
Here’s how you do it:
- Play the podcast and listen to the first query.
- Write down what the reader is looking for.
- Hit pause BEFORE the hosts give suggestions.
- Use your favorite RA tools to identify some suggestions and include notes as to why you chose the titles you did,
- Listen to what the hosts suggested.
- Compare not only the titles, but the “whys.”
- Repeat for the rest of the episode
In this active practice mode, you are not only providing RA in a simulated real time atmosphere, but you are also able to compare your ideas and suggestion with 2 other people, immediately. Yes, this practice technique does not provide a way for you to speak to the “patron” after the fact to find out if your suggestions were okay, but it does simulate the “ask and answer” time frame that you would experience at the service desk and provides you with two other perspectives to compare your notes with.
I plan on adding even more practice exercises to Rule 10, so you should continue to check back frequently. If you haven’t checked the Ten Rules page recently, head on over and see for yourself. I will be debuting the newest version of my RA for All talk for a coalition of WI libraries on February 25th. Contact me if you are interested in bringing me to your library.
In the meantime, start practicing.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
RA for All Roadshow is in Manteo, IL!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. This morning, I will be celebrating with my new friends at the Manteo Public Library at their in-service day.
- 9:30 am to 10:50 am: RA for All: From Pages to Directors, this program is aimed at any staff member in the library who interacts with patrons. Being able to provide good RA service from any desk in the library will help staff communicate effectively and ensure satisfied patrons. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service" as a guide," Becky Spratford will show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think.
- 11 am to 12:15 pm: Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
- 12:15 pm to 12:30 pm: Wrap Up: Creating Your Own Reader Profile: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member.
I can come to your library to inspire you to reach out to your readers and engage your staff to improve their own RA skills. I promise, it really works. Contact me for available dates and details.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Flashback Post: Allow People to Dislike the Books You Suggest
Today I am reposting something from 2017. There are a few reasons why I am doing this.
First, I know there is a lot of good content buried on the blog, content that I use in my live training programs, so I think more people are seeing it than they really are. I need to be better about pulling out older content that is foundational to everything I teach.
Which leads to second, in 2023 I debuted the idea of using "conversation starters" as the basis for all of your service to readers but again, the foundation for this goes back much further. Here is one of those examples of where I worked through these ideas in real time with all of you.
Third, I get new people on this journey with me all of the time. By pulling out older posts, you can see examples of what is there to find if you dig through the archives and use the tags to guide you.
So here is today's flashback post.
Call to Action: Allow People To Dislike The Books You Suggest
For today’s Call to Action, I want to remind you of something very important, something that can derail library workers as they begin to help more readers...
If patrons don't like every book you suggested to them, that’s not only okay, it is actually a good thing!
Failure in general teaches you way more than success. But in particular, why is getting a book suggestion wrong a good thing in our work with leisure readers? Well, honestly, we learn so much more from patrons when they don’t like something. They share much more detail about what they want to read and why when they are talking about what they did not enjoy. Think about yourself. It is much easier to articulate why you disliked a book than why you liked it. And, this information helps us to fine tune future book suggestions.
Take the example from my own reading that I include on my staff reader profile exercise:
Just about every single RA resource [from computers to people] has told me over the years that I should like Outlander, but I don’t. Understanding this nuance as to why I did not like it, has helped me to not only understand how to find better books for myself, but it has also made me more aware of the intricacies in helping readers. It has also allowed me to understand that everyone makes a bad suggestion now and again and no amount of research can stop that from happening because working with people is never predictable.
Now, while failure is both inevitable and leads to more information we can use to help our patrons better, there is actually a larger, more overarching reason why getting a suggestion wrong is helpful. In general, the biggest missing piece in established RA Service in America today is feedback. I know this from my personal experience and from the hundreds of library workers I encounter in my work.
More often that not, we suggest a book or two or three to a patron and we never hear back about how we did. Many times patrons come to us over and over for suggestions without ever letting us know what they have liked or disliked about our suggestions. We can’t even get them to tell us which methods of book discovery we are providing they like the most. Now, over the years, I have worked intensely with a few patrons [I still continue to work with one from my former library, weekly] to get very specific and detailed responses to every book I suggest. This non-scientific research has been time consuming, but I have learned a few things I want to share with you.
The best way we can encourage feedback is to make time and space for conversation at the library.
People are afraid to tell us that they didn’t like the book not because they think we will get it wrong again; no, that is not what is going on at all. I have found that more often than not, they are afraid to tell us we got it wrong because they are worried that we will have hurt feelings and won’t help them anymore.
That’s right, they still want our help when we get it wrong. This fact alone should free you up to accept more failure. They don’t want to lose you, their book discovery tool. They care much less about how much they liked your suggestion than we think they do. Add to this that we, as a group of library workers serving leisure readers, are starved for more feedback and you can begin to see one of our biggest hurdles we have to taking the next step toward more robust RA Service.
So how to stop this vicious cycle and create the space to fail on a suggestion but win at RA Service overall? One of my favorite tools is to make sure every time I suggest a book to a patron that I tell him or her something like, “Based on what you have told me about the books you have enjoyed in the past, this seems like a good option. But, if you aren’t enjoying it, bring it back and let me know. I have thousands of more options. We will find the right book for you. Besides, it’s no skin off my back, I didn’t write it.”
This mix of humor with a gentle reminder that not only do I not mind criticism, but that I have so many more books that I can substitute this one “dud” with, goes a long way toward enraging feedback and creating a space where the RA Conversation can not only live but flourish.
Of course, you don’t have a physical interaction with every patron; therefore, why don’t you start including statements like this on your digital and paper lists and bibliographies, or even stick a note at the end of some of the books. Have a statement like the one above. Something like, “Let us know if you loved this book, hated it, or fell somewhere in between. We want to know so we can help you better!” Have an email address, your phone number, your Facebook page-- multiple places where feedback can be given, but you have to make sure you are letting them know that negative feedback is okay.
When we make the RA conversation-- a truly honest back and forth sharing of ideas and preferences-- our priority and stop making the book we suggest our ultimate goal, then we are encouraging the RA journey. When you encourage the journey it doesn’t matter if your patrons love every book you give them. What begins to matter is HOW they felt about the book-- positively or negatively. Then we learn what our patrons want to read and why-- each one individually and overall as a population we are serving as a whole.
When you encourage the journey and do not put the focus on yourselves [or your employees] to get every suggestion right, you encourage the feedback we all desperately crave.
Now don’t worry about having to force a failure in order to practice this Call to Action; they will come. The more RA work you do, the more you will get wrong. And, the more you help a specific patron the more he or she will feel comfortable telling you the honest truth about how much they liked or disliked a suggestion.
Get out there and make suggestions. Don’t be afraid of failure; in fact, let the patrons know you might get it wrong and encourage them to come back and work with you more. Let them know how helpful it is for them AND you to have the most feedback-- positive and negative-- possible. It will help them get access to the perfect book for them and it will help you to help even more readers.
For past Call to Action posts, click here.
If patrons don't like every book you suggested to them, that’s not only okay, it is actually a good thing!
Failure in general teaches you way more than success. But in particular, why is getting a book suggestion wrong a good thing in our work with leisure readers? Well, honestly, we learn so much more from patrons when they don’t like something. They share much more detail about what they want to read and why when they are talking about what they did not enjoy. Think about yourself. It is much easier to articulate why you disliked a book than why you liked it. And, this information helps us to fine tune future book suggestions.
Take the example from my own reading that I include on my staff reader profile exercise:
Now, while failure is both inevitable and leads to more information we can use to help our patrons better, there is actually a larger, more overarching reason why getting a suggestion wrong is helpful. In general, the biggest missing piece in established RA Service in America today is feedback. I know this from my personal experience and from the hundreds of library workers I encounter in my work.
More often that not, we suggest a book or two or three to a patron and we never hear back about how we did. Many times patrons come to us over and over for suggestions without ever letting us know what they have liked or disliked about our suggestions. We can’t even get them to tell us which methods of book discovery we are providing they like the most. Now, over the years, I have worked intensely with a few patrons [I still continue to work with one from my former library, weekly] to get very specific and detailed responses to every book I suggest. This non-scientific research has been time consuming, but I have learned a few things I want to share with you.
The best way we can encourage feedback is to make time and space for conversation at the library.
People are afraid to tell us that they didn’t like the book not because they think we will get it wrong again; no, that is not what is going on at all. I have found that more often than not, they are afraid to tell us we got it wrong because they are worried that we will have hurt feelings and won’t help them anymore.
That’s right, they still want our help when we get it wrong. This fact alone should free you up to accept more failure. They don’t want to lose you, their book discovery tool. They care much less about how much they liked your suggestion than we think they do. Add to this that we, as a group of library workers serving leisure readers, are starved for more feedback and you can begin to see one of our biggest hurdles we have to taking the next step toward more robust RA Service.
So how to stop this vicious cycle and create the space to fail on a suggestion but win at RA Service overall? One of my favorite tools is to make sure every time I suggest a book to a patron that I tell him or her something like, “Based on what you have told me about the books you have enjoyed in the past, this seems like a good option. But, if you aren’t enjoying it, bring it back and let me know. I have thousands of more options. We will find the right book for you. Besides, it’s no skin off my back, I didn’t write it.”
This mix of humor with a gentle reminder that not only do I not mind criticism, but that I have so many more books that I can substitute this one “dud” with, goes a long way toward enraging feedback and creating a space where the RA Conversation can not only live but flourish.
Of course, you don’t have a physical interaction with every patron; therefore, why don’t you start including statements like this on your digital and paper lists and bibliographies, or even stick a note at the end of some of the books. Have a statement like the one above. Something like, “Let us know if you loved this book, hated it, or fell somewhere in between. We want to know so we can help you better!” Have an email address, your phone number, your Facebook page-- multiple places where feedback can be given, but you have to make sure you are letting them know that negative feedback is okay.
When we make the RA conversation-- a truly honest back and forth sharing of ideas and preferences-- our priority and stop making the book we suggest our ultimate goal, then we are encouraging the RA journey. When you encourage the journey it doesn’t matter if your patrons love every book you give them. What begins to matter is HOW they felt about the book-- positively or negatively. Then we learn what our patrons want to read and why-- each one individually and overall as a population we are serving as a whole.
When you encourage the journey and do not put the focus on yourselves [or your employees] to get every suggestion right, you encourage the feedback we all desperately crave.
Now don’t worry about having to force a failure in order to practice this Call to Action; they will come. The more RA work you do, the more you will get wrong. And, the more you help a specific patron the more he or she will feel comfortable telling you the honest truth about how much they liked or disliked a suggestion.
Get out there and make suggestions. Don’t be afraid of failure; in fact, let the patrons know you might get it wrong and encourage them to come back and work with you more. Let them know how helpful it is for them AND you to have the most feedback-- positive and negative-- possible. It will help them get access to the perfect book for them and it will help you to help even more readers.
For past Call to Action posts, click here.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Why We Read
One of the most important things I try to teach my RA students is how to get to the heart of why people choose to read what they read. I explored this a bit in this post where I talked about appeal. And here where I talked about my own reader profile.
Yesterday, The New York Times weighed in on this issue in the "Week in Review." Motoko Rich's article, "A Good Mystery: Why We Read," begins the discussion by bringing up one of the sleeper hit books of the year, The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Here Bennett creates a fictional world in which the Queen of England gets obsessed with reading after finding the "right" book. The article then goes on to recount other author's recollections of the book(s) that turned them into voracious readers themselves.
I think this adds another twist to the RA interview. As I have said before, we usually begin by asking a patron about a book s/he has recently read and then follow up with , "Are you in the mood for that or something different?" Sometimes patrons cannot articulate exactly what they want to read at that precise moment, so maybe now, we could take the pressure off their present needs by delving into their pasts. Something like, "What are the first books you can remember which really captured your imagination?" might be a good place to start this new line of questioning.
The idea is to get people talking about story, character, pacing, tone, style, etc... in order for us to get a sense of where to take that reader next. What a great idea for getting a patron to open up and begin talking about why they read. I think it will work too since there are already 97 reader comments posted about this article.
By the way, this now validates my reading of the "Week in Review" a few minutes past my lunch break. And for the record, the first books I can remember falling in love with were Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Compare that to my current profile. Not too far off. Interesting.
Yesterday, The New York Times weighed in on this issue in the "Week in Review." Motoko Rich's article, "A Good Mystery: Why We Read," begins the discussion by bringing up one of the sleeper hit books of the year, The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Here Bennett creates a fictional world in which the Queen of England gets obsessed with reading after finding the "right" book. The article then goes on to recount other author's recollections of the book(s) that turned them into voracious readers themselves.
I think this adds another twist to the RA interview. As I have said before, we usually begin by asking a patron about a book s/he has recently read and then follow up with , "Are you in the mood for that or something different?" Sometimes patrons cannot articulate exactly what they want to read at that precise moment, so maybe now, we could take the pressure off their present needs by delving into their pasts. Something like, "What are the first books you can remember which really captured your imagination?" might be a good place to start this new line of questioning.
The idea is to get people talking about story, character, pacing, tone, style, etc... in order for us to get a sense of where to take that reader next. What a great idea for getting a patron to open up and begin talking about why they read. I think it will work too since there are already 97 reader comments posted about this article.
By the way, this now validates my reading of the "Week in Review" a few minutes past my lunch break. And for the record, the first books I can remember falling in love with were Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Compare that to my current profile. Not too far off. Interesting.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
RA for All Roadshow: Peoria Area RA Training and Networking
Thanks to a collaboration between Alissa Williams, the Director of Morton Public Library and a grant from RAILS, I am spending all morning at Pekin Public Library. Alissa and I worked to put together a program that will freshen up skills for the area library workers who are most responsible for RA Service. This is going to be a highly interactive training where I not only work with the people in front of me, but also, I am giving them skills and tips to bring back to train their staff.
After I leave at lunchtime, this group is going to keep working-- brainstorming ideas and collaboration opportunities so that they can keep helping each other to serve their leisure readers better. I can’t wait to see what they are able to come up with in the coming months. Oh, but I am getting ahead of myself. Here is the plan for today with links:
August 18, 2016 from 9am-Noon at the Pekin Public Library:
9-10:50 am: RA for All: Readers Advisory belongs in every library, no matter its budget. The implementation of this vital service is the responsibility of every staff member-- from pages to directors, from those behind the scenes to the ones on the front lines. This program will remove the mystery behind providing great RA service. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service” as a guide, Becky Spratford will use your own love of your favorite books to show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think. But more importantly, you will learn why a staff that can harness the power of sharing a great read will become a stronger team and improve service to all patrons. Program follows Becky’s 10 Rules of Basic RA Service
10 Minute Break
11-11:40am: Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons. SLIDES
11:40-Noon: Wrap Up: Creating Your Own Reader Profile and Brainstorming Session: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member. Becky will also get you started talking to each other about how you can all work together to share the load. Link to form and description of exercise.
Friday, April 14, 2017
RA for All Road Show visits Cedar Rapids [IA] Public Library
Yesterday, I hit the open road to travel to Cedar Rapids Public Library to facilitate their library inservice training day, today. Personally, this marks the first time I have really delved into the state Iowa since moving to Illinois 20 years ago [up to this point I have only been to Dubuque, which is literally on the other side of the Mississippi River from IL].
In case you didn’t know, Cedar Rapids Public Library is currently a Finalist for the 2017 NationalMedal for Museum and Library Service. Why am I telling you this? Well, if a library that is doing this well still takes a break to train their staff, every library should.
In case you didn’t know, Cedar Rapids Public Library is currently a Finalist for the 2017 NationalMedal for Museum and Library Service. Why am I telling you this? Well, if a library that is doing this well still takes a break to train their staff, every library should.
I make that statement as a former library worker who craved more training, as the person who runs many of these trainings, AND as a trustee who has final say on a library’s budget.
With tight budgets, staff training is often the first thing to get axed. Please, if you are at a library that does not have staff training days, please show this post to your Directors. Ask them to contact me. As I said above, I am uniquely suited to advocate for staff training dollars since I understand all sides of this complex funding issue. I don’t even care if you hire me as a result, but one of my missions to to make sure library administrators understand what they are losing in service to their communities when they cut staff development dollars.
Again, if Cedar Rapids makes time for staff training, your library has no excuse not to.
Okay, I will get off that soap box now. Let’s look at what we have in store for today’s training.
8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. RA for All: Readers Advisory belongs in every library, no matter its budget. The implementation of this vital service is the responsibility of every staff member-- from pages to directors, from those behind the scenes to the ones on the front lines. This program will remove the mystery behind providing great RA service. Using her “Ten Rules of Basic RA Service” as a guide, Becky Spratford will use your own love of your favorite books to show you how to help any patron find their next great read. It's not as hard as you think. But more importantly, you will learn why a staff that can harness the power of sharing a great read will become a stronger team and improve service to all patrons.
10:20-10:30 Break
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Booktalking: Harnessing the Power of Sharing Books with Patrons: Booktalking is at the heart of what we do with patrons each and every day at the public library. Whether we are sharing books informally at the services desk, presenting a prepared list of books, or posting information online, talking about books is something we do each and every day. It is a core service, but it is also hard to teach. Booktalking is more of an art than a skill, but with the right guidance and some practice, it can go a long way toward engaging your patrons and re-energizing your staff. Join experienced Readers’ Advisory Becky Spratford as she shares the secret behind delivering great book talks, giving you tips and tricks you can begin using right away to hone your own skills. Rediscover the power and joy that comes from sharing books with patrons.
Lunch 11:30-12:30
12:30-1:30 RA Rethink: The Displays Edition: Becky Spratford brings the display portion of her popular new “RA Rethink” series to you. In this presentation Becky will show you how to “rethink” your displays to make them more engaging for patrons without increasing your workload; in fact, she will help you to create better displays in half the time. While Becky will provide many examples and suggestions, this training will be highly interactive. Participation is expected with the goal of you leaving the session with a few display ideas all set and ready to be put out immediately.
This talk includes 1:30-1:45 Creating Your Own Reader Profile: Becky will help you take what you have learned to craft your own personal reader profile and start you on your first RA journey-- suggesting a good book to a fellow staff member.
All slides are accessible to anyone.
This schedule is also a great example of the type of interactive training I offer for ALL library staff. You can mix and match any of my programs to fit your library’s needs. I also will create a new program just for you. My past and upcoming programs as well as an updated statement on my availability can be found here.
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