Special Topics Paper

Reader’s advisory has been a force to be reckoned with in libraries for many decades. One of the main jobs of public librarians was to help reader’s find books that they would love and fit within their idea of what a good book was. Patrons would come up to the reference desk and ask questions and the librarian would be there with a wealth of knowledge and resources available to answer their question(s). Today as the role of public libraries expands and the role of the librarian itself changes, so too does reader’s advisory. Often times patrons are not comfortable coming to the desk to ask for help and feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books that are made available to them. For that reason, the role of a librarian in reader’s advisory is changing from that of a person who sits behind a desk, to a person who must actively engage in all aspects of helping patrons find books they may love, through displays, programming, and through online programs that they make available to their patrons. My paper highlighted and showcased these three techniques and showed how reader’s advisory does not always have to be an “active” engagement with patrons.

In my paper, I discussed displays, programming, and online programs/social media as ways to engage in passive reader's advisory. When it came to displays I talked about mostly about adding 3D elements as well as staying up to date with current pop culture phenomena to enhance the displays. Then I moved on to talk about how programs like a book in a bottle, and bookmarks placed strategically at programs to provide reader's advisory without having conversations. I also finally talked about the role of social media and its extended reach to patrons about staff picks and the various book displays that are shown throughout the library.

Reader’s advisory is something that is constantly changing with the times and with the role of libraries within communities. Reader’s advisory has manifested itself to be something outside of a big wooden desk and into the world of being creative whether that be displays, programs, art, or photography the future of reader’s advisory is access. This access means to suggest that reader’s advisory is expanding past a building and into the homes of millions of citizens making the job that librarians do both physically and virtually present. Because of this, librarians are expanding their grasp on reader’s advisory to not be so rigid, but more relaxed and proactive at the same time.