readers advisory for all discussion

Hello,
As I mentioned I am a Grad student in Library Science. I am doing a paper on Social Media and Reader's Advisory in Libraries.
I am curious if Social media has made your job easier finding material for a patron, or if social media has hurt having patrons come into your library and check out material. Are people still interested in approaching the librarians for recommendations, or has social media taken over?

Thank you.
Carolyn

It seems mostly social media has made patrons more knowledgeable about what books they want as opposed to asking staff for recommendations especially for YA titles

I'm not a librarian but I just wanted to raise another possibility. When I was 13, after finishing JRRTolkien's works, I might wonder, "what else is kind of like Tolkien?" However, when my 13 year old daughter finished the first Warrior Cats series, she knew what to read next: the next 6-book series. There are, I'm led to believe 6 series of 6 books. This is an extreme example, but it is clearly more common now than 30-40 years ago for an author (or in this case, a consortium of authors writing under one pen name) to churn out book after book after book in the same series. There may be less reason for them to ask a librarian for a recommendation simply because the next book is provided for them by changes in publishing/writing.

Just another hypothesis for your paper to consider, of something other than social media that has changed in the last few decades.

I generally do anywhere from 1-4 a week, but it really depends on what branch I'm working at and where I'm at (reference or circulation). I think a lot of it (for my patrons, at least) has to do with embarrassment of not being able to find the right thing or thinking that we just don't do that here, and some of my coworkers are uncomfortable doing a reader's advisory that is outside of their reading zone. Most of my patrons are not readers, however. They come to use our computers.

Much of my frustration with reader's advisories and children has nothing to do with social media and everything to do with parent's worrying about the right lexile for their reluctant reader.

I have been a librarian for 7 years. For me, social media/internet has made readers advisory much easier. I like sharing my screen with patrons to better find a book they're interested in before running around the library pulling books from shelves (patrons like things done quickly!)

I've worked at different library systems and different branches within a system, and the interest or need for readers advisory has changed with each branch. Some patron bases seem to need or enjoy personal readers advisory more than other patrons at other branches, seemingly regardless of average income bracket or age for the area.

In my experience, social media helps me simply by informing me of titles that I would otherwise have missed. Librarian Twitter is formidable, and so discussions on #AskALibrarian or #EWGC (Early Word Galley Chat - a monthly event for publishers to connect with Librarians, Bloggers, and Booksellers) have become an immensely effective tool in my arsenal. This is especially important when it comes to diversifying our recommendations when our collections fall short of community representation. I can use these titles and authors as suggestions while they're waiting for whatever book they've put on hold, or tell patrons to keep an eye out for any forthcoming book that will appeal to them.

Thank you so much for the comments. Do you also consider cross media a part of RA? I been researching articles and now they are putting audiobooks, video games and films also under the title of RA.

I personally consider media as another facet of RA services, and we have a few people who are excellent at talking up movies/TV shows. I've tried to encourage discussion among staff to talk about what they're watching/listening to/playing, and included these areas in a spreadsheet for staff to utilize when stuck on suggestions in areas where they're less comfortable (e.g. Who can I refer this person to? Who can teach me more about this area?). I think that the biggest hurdle is what Beatrice mentioned above - patrons expect prompt answers and immediate access - and this may discourage patrons from asking for help.

I teach readers' advisory at UCLA for MLIS students. I think that part of the problem you are going to have with this thesis is that you have assumed that patrons once asked for advice and now may not. The truth of it is that for the past five decades (or even longer—Margaret A. Edwards cites this problem in her book written about her YA practice in the 1940s!), libraries have prioritized technical knowledge and continued to push reference services, and have devalued readers' advisory as something that librarians do. Despite the fact that 70 percent of the public says they come to the library "to find a good book," library administrators do not encourage a comprehensive knowledge of and ability in readers' advisory in their staff. It is not a required class in the majority of library schools, and many people therefore don't have any kind of expertise. So librarians then become reluctant to put themselves forward to help patrons with finding something recreational to read, because they don't have the confidence that they can do it properly or thoroughly (or quickly).

Furthermore, because libraries and librarians have had such a low profile regarding the provision of readers' advisory, many patrons don't even know it's an option. I did some surveys at public libraries in Los Angeles, and the most frequent comment from patrons, when librarians said "may I help you find something else to read?" when the book the patron wanted wasn't in stock, was "Oh, I didn't know you offered that service." How sad is it that in a "business" that is (despite whatever else it is) a giant box of books, librarians are many of them not adept at recommending one, and patrons don't know to ask?

Melliott wrote: "I teach readers' advisory at UCLA for MLIS students. I think that part of the problem you are going to have with this thesis is that you have assumed that patrons once asked for advice and now may ..."

Thank you. Luckily at my school Dominican University there are a couple classes based on Readers' Advisory. My Professor Bill Crowley teaches RA and has written a couple articles on it. He has encouraged me in RA and he along with other professors have shown the value in RA and how important it is to know something of it. I am actually teaching a lesson plan in RA where I will use Goodreads and other websites to practice looking up certain books a patron might be interested in, I think patrons will ask for advice not only in books, but in the cross-media and social media as I will discuss in the paper.
I did read how library directors and library board might not find RA valuable, I believe you and my professor are showing students like me the importance of RA and hopefully we can do programs to let patrons know the value of RA.

laurel [suspected bibliophile] wrote: "I generally do anywhere from 1-4 a week, but it really depends on what branch I'm working at and where I'm at (reference or circulation). I think a lot of it (for my patrons, at least) has to do wi..."

Laurel,
Your comment Much of my frustration with reader's advisories and children has nothing to do with social media and everything to do with parent's worrying about the right lexile for their reluctant reader is interesting note. We haven't talked much about parent's except in books unsuitable for their children.

Rossdavidh wrote: "I'm not a librarian but I just wanted to raise another possibility. When I was 13, after finishing JRRTolkien's works, I might wonder, "what else is kind of like Tolkien?" However, when my 13 year ..."
Thanks for the suggestion. I also am adding cross-media to RA and about politics, budget and economy of RA, that wold be good for another paper.

Beatrice Longbottom wrote: "I have been a librarian for 7 years. For me, social media/internet has made readers advisory much easier. I like sharing my screen with patrons to better find a book they're interested in before ru..."

Beatrice,
I am learning also that different branches or libraries do things differently from also looking on their website and watching YouTube videos. I look forward to seeing how I can help wherever I am lucky to find a place to work.

Carolyn wrote: "Melliott wrote: "I teach readers' advisory at UCLA for MLIS students. I think that part of the problem you are going to have with this thesis is that you have assumed that patrons once asked for ad..."

That's really good to hear, Carolyn!

Melliott wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "Melliott wrote: "I teach readers' advisory at UCLA for MLIS students. I think that part of the problem you are going to have with this thesis is that you have assumed that patrons o..."

Goodreads has somehow twice, both today and Saturday, linked me with this continuing post, which features someone named Carolyn.
Goodreads, you send me emails telling me how many posts I have
linked to this thread - today five, actually linked to Carolyn

I am not Carolyn. I am Caroline. I have never spelled my name for you as Carolyn. How did you link my email address to Carolyn??

This is not good, particularly on a website that seems to stress carefulness with language.

Caroline

You should probably notify support@goodreads.com.