Week 3

Assignment 1

After reading the The RA Conversation I noticed I was even more hesitant about going into the stacks and doing readers advisory. I guess it all comes down to the fact I'm the kind of person that doesn't like being bothered when I'm in a public place. If I need help I will go look for it. So, it's difficult for me to go up to customers in the library and ask them if they need help.

That being said the article did give me a few pointers on what to do. The opening questions will probably help me get over approaching customers. And I liked the statement that even the best librarian can't list four or five titles off the top of their head for every customer. I have to realize I will probably have to go look something up in Goodreads or Novelist to find materials to suggest. It's just going to take time for me to get better and/or more comfortable with readers advisory.

Assignment 2

After listening to the Nancy Pearl podcast I noticed her book talks were somewhat short, about 1 to 2 minutes tops (a skill some librarians I know need to learn.) She uses a lot of the appeal factors when describing the books not to mention her enthusiasm is contagious. I'm not a big popular fiction reader and her descriptions of the books made me at least want to go look at them. As far as the plots go, she reveals just enough to get you interested but not so much that she reveals the whole book.

Assignment 3

Conversation 1: What I got out of this conversation was a customer that likes autobiographies and maybe some travel writing. Based on that I came up with A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler by Frances Mayes.

Conversation 2: So obviously this person wants a fast paced book with vampires without the teen angst. To meet that request I would give her any of the Brian Lumley books that we have in the system. While the main character is a vampire hunter the vampires in these books are the real deal. None of this sparkling stuff.

Conversation 3: It seems this customer is looking for a fast paced historical fiction. Based on this I came up with The lost city of Z: a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon by David Grann.