• Christine Howard (Randwick)
• Michaela Owen (MRL)

• Shiralee Franks (CNRL)
• Amanda Bourke (CNRL)
• Robin (Gunnedah)
• Chris Birkett (Gunnedah)
• Angie Hazelton-Kelly (Port Macquarie)
• Ita Hanssens (CNRL)
• Rose-marie Walkers (Cessnock)
• Valerie Phillips (Cessnock)
• Stephanie King (Cessnock)
• Ellen Forsyth (State Library of NSW).

Online attendance Catherine Johnson O'Keefe(Leeton) Nancy (Georges River).

*Note there were additional online participants, but not all their details were provided. There were approximately 20 people participating online.

Acknowledgment of country

Introductions

Appeal characteristics with genres and exploring readers' advisory interview/conversation

Heather Booth is from suburban Chicago where she writes and speaks about librarianship and is the Audiobook Editor at Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association. She has been working in libraries since 2002 where she focuses on teen services and reader's advisory, and is the author of Serving Teens Through Reader's Advisory and the editor of The Whole Teen Library Handbook, both published by ALA Editions. Heather Booth's presentation - with very useful resources listed throughout

Make sure you set aside some time to watch Heather's presentation, and look at the resources in the slides. Highlights the importance of giving signals that it is okay to talk about books (in all formats), building relationships with patrons and listening, focusing on the appeal as the feel of the book (not the plot of the book). Asking are you in the mood for anything in particular (in terms of reading)? Use other formats in the asking, so games/music/streaming/films all good prompts.

(Standing item - focus is on how you would help a client - short readers' advisory talk practice, not 'what I loved reading')

Using the appeal approach described by Heather.

• My year of rest & relaxation: Complex characterisation, Strong sense of place, Dark yet hopeful
• ARRT pop fiction list is a lot like our stock quality health check list - I like how it's very much focussed on the author is alive & still writing = contemporary fiction titles, this is important for having an up to date & vibrant fiction collection :).
• I am reading The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean. It's an Australian coming of age story, with an unexplained mystery. Nostalgic, atmospheric and tense. A mix between The Virgin Suicides, Jasper Jones and Picnic at Hanging Rock
• "The buried giant" - confronting, compelling, character driven
• The glory of the empress / Sean Danker - science fiction, humorous (the space ship is named Lydia Bennett; characters play off each other), similar to Jack Campbell (naval battles in space) & Becky Chambers (the long way to a small angry planet)
• the mystery of three quarters / Sophie Hannah : continues on Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries : characters, setting, language (what characters say/don't say is integral to solving the mystery :)
• The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. A time travel novel set in future and medieval Oxford. It’s full of imaginative detail, endearing and infuriating characters, and is life affirming and hopeful
• Hangman / Jack Heath - main character is both solving a crime & preventing himself from being uncovered as a criminal
• Circe by Madeline Miller - mix of different genres so would appeal to a range of different people. Historical, mythological, fantastical but feels factual, adventure. Themes of family, survival, the search for happiness, redemption. Beautifully poetic language, moderately paced, character-driven

- How are people using RA generally, at their library? (Standing item)

• The regular NoveList newsletters & Webinars are also really good for staying on top of emerging trends etc
• Coffs has brand new RA brochures (will send them through once we publish them) Complete new look & feel, reviewed authors/titles, bought titles we didn't have Monthly Library Reads eNews focussing on new titles & what staff are reading / watching - in addition to Librarians Choice book display & book list at beginning of every month
• One of our staff has just completed the ALIA short course on Readers Advisory, and has been 'trialing' some of the things she learned. She has brought a sense of excitement when something works, such as using the 'Doorways' technique…
• Cataloging staff have also been working through our genre lists & making sure titles/authors listed also have subject headings connecting me
• Interesting discussion on ala-codes last night about genre stickers & how it's important to balance the one sticker with the other genres that the title might also be
• OPAC OPAC OPAC OPAC OPAC :D
• We have ongoing training for staff - "Rewarding Reading". Currently about 60 staff have completed it :)
• We do weekly themed displays - all staff participate
• Cessnock - training staff as focus on skills and tools, using Facebook to promote resources and collections, will be taking today's training back, would be good to use the three points (you have to listen to Heather's presentation for this point) with book groups to encourage everyone to talk, and to help those who are quieter. Use of galleries (of book covers) to help with choice on the catalogue
• Gunnedah - method of reading first/middle and last page for quick RA help, library has a column in local paper with new books included in the update, fantastic fiction as useful tool, genre shelving, book lists, faceout displays, and cataloguing fiction with subject headings
• Tamworth - spine stickers helpful for passive RA

Afternoon

1.00pm* * ====5. Dr Beth Driscoll presentation- Research using Goodreads==== Dr Beth Driscoll spoke about her research using Goodreads. This has a lot of application for readers' advisory work.

Dr Beth Driscoll's slides This presentation linked to the appeal characteristics discussion from Heather Booth. ====6. Discussion about use of Goodreads=== For tracking reading to use at work, or does using Goodreads feel too much like work? 2.00pm ====7. The new wiki, how to join, how to edit and why you would edit, including discussion of migrating data==== * New wiki shown, and people asked to join the wiki and be willing to help migrate data. * Importance of following the conventions on the wiki was highlighted as it is a wiki for many working groups, and so have to be structured for this to work (at least in terms of naming the minutes). * Refer to the "about" page info for the naming conventions - these conventions were agreed upon across the groups by reps from those groups, ie, they're not random conventions & quite a bit of debate went into each one ====8. Readers' advisory tools==== It would be helpful if people could include how they train/inform staff in these tools, and/or how they train/inform the public in their use. Include tools like Novelist, Goodreads and Librarything. * Each staff meeting we talk about what we're reading, we also add a section of what staff are reading watching listening to in our monthly book list The big thing is to keep having conversations with staff about reading etc and help push this out into conversations with borrowers as well * I have used our What Will I Read Next? for training. I printed out a bunch of the patron's filled in forms, and had the staff members use the tools to find suggestions for them. * Cessnock and Tamworth use profiles on Spydus, setting up alerts for new titles in genres or new titles by authors. Gunnedah also will buy borrower suggestions, Cessnock - staff and clients can make suggestions for purchase, Gunnedah keeps Who writes like at the front counter, Tamworth using Instagram to make suggestions - especially from Reese Witherspoon's book club, RRL uses form based RA and links to previous responses online. * Sutherland Library *Uses Novelist to train staff in both basic Readers Advisory as well as genre. *Genre bootcamp training- focusing on specific areas of interest in each training. We also have a featured resource of the month that is promoted through all our promotional channels, both online and in print. Novelist is included. Staff are encouraged to use this resource when they are helping customers with RA enquiries, and to show customers how to access this resource.We also use this when doing personalised reading suggestions online as a resource to find books. We also include reviews with the suggested books and these are often sourced from Novelist. * Good Reads: We encourage staff to create reading lists in good reads, as it offers a means of keeping track of what they have been reading. Great resource to find new titles in particular genres you enjoy. Find the Good Reads people’s choice Awards a great resource for popular books in particular genres for the previous year. The library does not have a Good Reads account. * Stock Quality Health Check We have used this as part of our genre bootcamp training. Each staff member is encouraged to tick off books they have read from each of the sections of this document to discover where there are gaps in their reading knowledge. This is to encourage staff to read outside their comfort zone and these stock quality health check lists offer a starting point of books in various genres to consider reading. This also allows us to identify the areas of strength in particular genres, and this is useful with personalised reading suggestions- we can also call on particular staff expertise in genre areas to help find the right books for our customers. * Fantastic fiction This is a great way to help customers who are enjoying a particular author and or a series. Referring them to fantastic fiction allows them to see all the titles by one author in one place, in chronological order. * Christchurch City Libraries if you likeIf you like books in a certain style or by a particular author, you may wish to explore some of these. Includes heaps of different genres, and also categorised by country/ region /culture and author/ title. Lots of great and a good place to get ideas. If you like books in a certain style or by a particular author, you may wish to explore some of these. * Beginners guide to genres in LJ Really great way for staff to learn about the differences between the main genres in easy to read short articles. To quote Becky Spratford: If you need to brush up on the major genres and want some advice on how to help these passionate readers, these succinct articles with their focus on titles, authors, and resources are the perfect place to start.Staff are encouraged to read these short articles when they have time at the desk, to gain an overview and understanding of the main genres. * Independent book sellers Australia and Readings Australia. Both of these booksellers offer up to date lists of the latest books available to our customers. A great way to keep up with new books on the horizon. * Early Word Very useful lists of books to check out- in most anticipated lists on right hand side of page, includes best seller lists and awards as well. Encourage staff to check this out weekly. NSW form based RA** Form based, or asynchronous, RA is a great way to provide in depth, well-researched reading and/or watching suggestions to library patrons. Online or paper forms are used to gather information about a patron's reading and watching likes and dislikes, the appeal characteristics they read for, and what they are in the mood to read or watch next. Library staff then use the available tools to find items that meet those requirements. This is a fairly time consuming process, providing personalised RA to just the participating patrons. In order to give this work further reach, it is good to include some instruction about using the tools, so the patron may use them to find further resources, and to make the list of suggestions, along with the basic criteria, available for others. It may help to share the task out across a number of staff members, to make it a service available only at certain times (eg. summer reading, Library and Information Week), or to promote it only when there will be time to produce the lists of suggestions. Below you will find the online forms of various NSW public libraries.

Coffs Harbour

Parramatta

Shellharbour

Shoalhaven

Sutherland

Hawkesbury

Riverina

You can find examples of replies to these requests here - https://rrl.nsw.gov.au/adults/what-will-i-read-next/

Thanks to Tamworth Library and Central Northern Regional Library for hosting.

(what summary of the meeting goes out with the minutes)

• look at the presentations and the slides - including the tools
• readers' advisory work is everyone's job (so watch the videos in the minutes) - all staff are advocated for reading
• 3 words (to describe a book) and four on the floor (yes, you need to watch the videos).
• consider form based RA