I went to a medium, suburban library in a nice area. Beautiful library. Nice people. But I was really nervous. I had just read Chelton's "Readers' Advisory 101" and was now concerned I would be treated badly and turned away with a sniff. Very nervous. But I persevered.
It ended up being a somewhat satisfying experience! The librarian greeted me with a smile, which put me at ease right away. She didn't seem upset at being asked about book suggestions and she seemed to have plenty of time for me at first. I told her I need to read a mystery, but I don't read mysteries, so I don't know where to start. First she consulted NovelList (yay!) and asked me about appeal factors of books that I liked in the past. I told her I like literary fiction, intricate plotting and good writing. After a few more appeal questions, she suggested a couple authors, Lindsay Davis and Janey Mack. I said they sounded interesting, I'll give them a look. She then asked if that was all I needed or did I want more options? Well, yes I needed more options! So she consulted Booklist Online and found a couple articles about literary mysteries. She found some great possibilities for me with Emily St. John Mandel and John Banville, who writes mysteries under the name "Benjamin Black".
With that, I thanked her and went on my way. But I got the feeling that she was about out of options for me, for some strange reason. I felt like she was winging it with Booklist Online because after I told her I wanted more options, she seemed a little puzzled. Luckily we found Mandel and Banville and I was able to let her off the hook, but really it seemed that she didn't have a quick reference list of resources that readers' advisors should have. Further, she didn't delve into appeal as much as she could have because she only came up with TWO authors on NoveList. Two?? I know we could have found more than that had we talked more.
Finally, had she told me to come back with any more requests or she could look at some more resources if needed, I would not have felt like she was very nicely helping me, but trying to end the session. It wasn't busy at the time, so there was no need to feel rushed. It seemed like she felt there was not much more she could do for me. However, she was nice and I found some interesting prospects, so I consider the trip a mild success.
Compared to many of your classmates your experience was a smashing success! I'm glad you were able to come out of it with a book recommendation as well. What is the biggest thing you would improve about your experience?
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