Pairing up people with books - how hard should we try??

Yesterday I went to the Bestsellers course which is a Reader's Advisory service that is "supposed" to be core to what libraries do. There were many elements that I enjoyed about the whole thing, but what got me quite excited was that a key factor in the whole process of reader's advisory is in knowing and listening to the customer. This is interesting to me personally because one of the other hats I wear is as a music therapist and over the years I have done a lot of listening to people and their music, intuiting their unspoken thoughts and feelings, and providing a way forward. What I do now may seem quite different in form, but in essence it is very much the same: listening, discerning and recommending a solution.  After the session my head was buzzing with 1) all the books that I want to read, having discovered some really cool websites  2) ideas and inspiration on how we can develop this aspect of our service to our people at our dear little branch, and bring back the focus to  BOOKS

From what I know about my branch in my short 6 months or so of being there, getting a book into the hands of many of our customers is challenging enough. We have resorted to bribing getting kids to tell us verbal book reviews in exchange for bookbags, new cards etc!Interesting it has worked with some.

I think of a teenager who recently declared to me that he was not interested in anything (except hopping on Learnnet to do gaming of course!!) and so wouldn't bother to pick up a book. If I may venture, the subtext in his statement might be "I can't read very well, what's the use of trying, I won't understand it anyway". So what can we do? What can I do? Is it our problem that he can't read, won't read? I don't know.  Should we not put more thought into encouraging more reading programmes among our young people who never had significant adults read to them, never discovered the right book for them, never experienced the joy of reading?


I believe libraries are mainly about people and helping to meet their needs. (ok, sweeping statement by an Idealist!) It's not just about collections and processes, and maybe that is why I like this job so much. I am reminded again of Stephanie Johnson's recent talk at the library big day out, that a library is there for the people. Perhaps we have let down our customers when we have failed to introduce them to this wonderful wonderful world of books and reading and information that we are so in love with ourselves.

But I really can only speak for myself. I am determined to find ways and means to get the right book into the hands of my aforementioned teenager. So watch this space!

ps.  try THIS site (if you haven't already done so) for a new way to choose a book.