Ellen: from the Steering Committee meeting at Bowral in May, taking reading ideas to a client base while this years challenge targeted staff (book binge)
One book one tweet: Neil Gaiman’s American gods. Too hard to get the title for all to read, but 12 themes through the year could be tied together,with a twitter hashtag.
April: war and peace theme ties in with Anzac Day;
Broadly themed months eg: westerns
Feb: romance ties in with library lovers day and Valentine's day.
Short blog post on RA blog and each library promotes as they choose, twitter good to use.
Cannot do 1 book across the whole state but can do a themed promotion across the state.
One to tie in with summer reading challenge in Dec-Jan. Loose community of readers reading vaguely similar subject matter and sharing that reading experience with others. Remember to include non- fiction and bring in other formats eg: dvds, spoken word.
Put up book displays around these reading themes.
Lane Cove: Genre reading group, library picks a theme and each member reads a book around that theme.
Libraries can create reading lists to assist with this reading challenge.Read outside your comfort zone theme; get authors who have written in the theme to tweet as well as booksellers. Once the themes and tags are set up, promote through twitter and through your library, it won’t take much effort after this.
Twitterature (Penguin ed)
101 in Haiku (Penguin ed)
Mosman, Parramatta, Wingecarribee have twitter accounts. If your library does not have one you don’t have to set one up for this reading promotion. Not a tool for everyone but your library can benefit from this
promotion. Use nswref twitter account for this reading challenge. One or two volunteers a month to maintain twitter traffic.
Wear badge in library ‘tell me what you are tweeting’, patron says yes and then encourage them to participate in this reading promo and tweet their reading experiences.
Even if it doesn’t catch on twitter an interesting reading challenge has been set with minimal funding.
* * Flickr: photo the books you are reading or blog your experiences.
6 dot points on the ra wiki about each reading challenge as a starting point to blog discussion.
** Aliaread
: post theme each month, and have a themed night at each library around theme.
* *Lane Cove:* Blood apple: centring their ra staff training around this theme from Stephenie Meyer. rewriting android Karenina for example, lead onto the original challenge.
*ACTION:* Group feel it is a good idea, Nov 24 2010 meeting at Manly to decide what is covered each month, there is a page already on the RA wiki. All encouraged to have a look at the page on the wiki now and contribute suggestions. Twitter introduction to take place at the Nov meeting. Books: ‘Just twitter’, ‘Twitter for dummies’
====3. Feedback from Aussiecon====
*Ellen:*
World science fiction convention in Melbourne Sept 2010.
Access to authors high, Kim Stanley Robinson and Shaun Tan special guests, China Mieville, Alistair Reynolds, scriptwriters for Dr Who, sessions were serious readers advisory discussions, : around environmental science fiction, global warming, time travel : the physics of it and how they write about it. A lot of science fiction writers were scientists in their first career. Movies running through each day, 10-6pm sessions, attendees dressed up, children’s sessions. Great way to learn a lot about a topic in a short time. Romance writers convention in 2011 in Sydney. Conventions take us outside the library world, esp if it is a genre you don’t normally read. Keeps libraries in the forefront and up to date: different audiences eg: publishers, writers. Consider going if you can as it is a different perspective on a genre.
*Jenn:*
John Klute, biggest science fiction reviewer in the world was there.
Authors very approachable. Kim Stanley Robinson : wrote books on climate change and politics : more a political thriller than a science fiction book.
Aussiecon is more a readers festival as distinct from a writers festival. Librarians to have a readers panel at a readers convention is a suggestion to pursue.
====4. NoveList Plus :====
- Ellen
As well as novelist we have novelist plus, novelist training coming in Oct,
contact Kathleen Alexander at SLNSW.
====5. Reading challenges for staff 2011====
Jenn: use same themes as for tweet challenge. Encourage staff to tweet, use the hashtags, same info as for the public. Enjoyable leisure activity which is for professional development. Bring it up at team meetings,
encourage staff to talk about their reading. Another bookbinge in April after the RA seminar.
====6. Bookbinge the merchandise====
www.redbubble.com: print on demand tshirts , book binge tshirts.
3-6 days delivery time.
====7. Stock quality health check====
// – a research project//
*Ellen:*
going thru the research committee. Previous RA meeting was flagged at. Based on UK model and shows breadth and depth of collection, not a buying list but titles you might like to consider. Leanne and Ellen SLNSW working on it first half of 2011, looking at UK methodology and what can be used within an Australian context.
====8.Wiki membership and writers====
// – who and where//
* Jenn Martin (Auburn)
* Vassiliki Veros-Elliot (City of Sydney)
* Therese Scott (Ashfield)
* Ellen Forsyth (State Library of NSW)
====9. An update on Readers Advisory for Home Library Service====
// – a collaboration//
*Ellen:*
use more of Nancy Pearl’s appeal characteristics in Home Library Service delivery. How do we interview home library patrons to find out their reading preferences. Google working document about this is on the new tools section on the RA wiki. Has been tested with new clients in three libraries. Asking people what they have read, dislike, rating systems, types of reading genres, formats, contact information. Group were experienced HLS staff and readers advisory staff. Needs to be fine tuned.
*ACTION:*
group to get their HLS staff to try it out on new customers and give feedback.
====10. 2012 National Year of Reading ideas====
– think about ideas which can include the Multicultural Working Group, children and YA staff.
National campaign about reading.ALIA. tag is love to read 2010 was the UK Year of Reading.
www.love2read.org.au.
Local and statewide campaigns we could do, but probably think about it broadly.
*ACTION:* discuss further at the Feb 2011 RA meeting, look out for announcements and keep visiting website. Look out for grants as the federal govt are not supporting it, think of a multicultural slant, book busking, reading room, reader in residence, Parkes has a day of reading every year involving the whole community, national simultaneous reading day any title not just children, drop everything and read, public reading events, book swap meet like at the market in Surry hills involving clothes, add your ideas to the wiki.
====11. New approaches to Readers Advisory====
* *Jenn:* standing agenda item at every meeting. Anyone can give the group new ideas on RA to share.
* ** Vass: Pages and Pages Mosman Book busking for national indigenous day.
Merrilyn: hls doc put on front desk to give staff an idea of how to interview customers and/or use at staff training sessions and for casual staff. Staff out from behind the counter and walking the floor to talk to customers. Face out displays very important for reading selections. Nancy Pearl looks in her library each
day and picks 5 books to suggest to customers: the idea of being prepared. Be confident when answering customers. Self educate them in where the books are shelved, most discoveries are serendipidous.
Does your catalogue have a different banner each week highlighting browsing options.
www.hclib.org Hennepin Library. Box on right of search options changes each week and shows book of the month, targets one subject area to promote. Harvard University Library tweets every loan immediately.
Parramatta: one book of the week review on the blog and sent to local newspaper. Author of the month, what reading groups are reading, 1700 hits on review blog since April 2009.ACTION: Feb 2011 meeting: Genre lists: some are on the wiki but needs updating, tidying and new genres listed.
ACTION:Transfer the book challenge titles to the genre on the ra wiki or create a new page.