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Here are some exercises that library staff have created to keep your readers advisory skills up to date. These exercises aim to reinforce the readers advisory training staff members have already undertaken.
Creating book reviews
A training exercise we do for staff at the Inverell Library is monthly book reviews based on a particular genre/theme. The main purpose of this exercise is to introduce library staff to genres they are not familiar with in the hopes they will get an idea of the appeal characteristics of that genre to aid with readers advisory.
At the start of the year I will decide on the genre or theme of books we will review. I try and pick something we haven’t done previously and something that will offer diverse reviews without being too intimidating for staff.
Previous genres/themes have been: • First book in a series • ABIA Award winners (either in General Fiction of Literary Fiction) • Books set in another country • Biographies
I allocate a month for each staff member so there is a total of 12 reviews. Some staff may have to do 2 reviews. Staff can select their own book to review, preferably a book in our collection (either digital or print) so patrons can borrow them item if they are interested in it. They are encouraged, but not forced to read their book. If they choose not to read it, they are asked to research the book to see what other readers enjoy/didn’t enjoy about it and find out what makes it appealing.
Book reviews are due by the start of their allocated month, so I can put the reviews in our monthly newsletter. This year I have started putting their reviews on our LMS so patrons are able to see them online. When I first started this training exercise the reviews tended to be more of a summary of the book with very little context on what makes it appealing or not. Now I remind staff that book reviews should be written so it demonstrates what makes the book appealing and refer to Nancy Pearl’s ‘Four Doors To Reading’ (Story/Character/Setting/Language) which they can use as an aid should they have trouble writing their review.
This exercise has helped library staff improve their knowledge about what makes certain genres/themes appealing for readers which can assist them with the basic readers advisory skills. Deciding what book they will review requires staff to either search the catalogue, look amongst the shelves or research online, which means they are engaging in readers advisory skills to make an appropriate selection for a specific genre/theme.