I had a satisfactory experience during my secret shopper assignment, however it definitely could've gone a lot better. The librarian at the reference desk was friendly and I got the impression that she genuinely cared that I found what I was looking for, however, I could tell she was inexperienced with Reader's Advisory. I wasn't asked any open ended questions, so I ended up subtly supplying useful information such as that I was looking for historical fiction similar to Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It took the librarian a long time to locate a read-a-like list from Barnes and Noble and determining which books on that list were in the library's collection. Then she asked me if there were any that I liked out of those. Most of the books looked interesting but instead of being historical a lot of them focused on the time-travel aspect of the books and some were even a fantasy genre. I wanted something that took place somewhere in history and had some of the love story similar to Outlander. I did pick out two books on the list that she made a hold request for me.
Luckily, another librarian came to the desk and the librarian who was working with me (let's call her Jane) asked if she had any suggestions as well. The new librarian, I'll call her Sarah, asked if Jane had tried using Novelist. Jane hadn't heard of it and so Sarah took the time to show Jane how to use Novelist and came up with more read-a-like lists for Outlander. Unfortunately, neither librarian thought to ask me about why I liked Outlander to help them recommend books for me. I eventually did supply the information that I wanted a romance that took place in a historical era - but I wasn't sure if they took that information into account. Ultimately the books and authors that were recommended to me through Novelist I did find interesting and had hold requests put in for them as well. The librarians gave printed copies of the lists for me to have to reference and made sure that they had completely answered my questions before I left. I now have two books checked out from those recommendations and maybe I'll read one for the historical fiction genre annotation for this class. I wish they had actually 'interviewed' me, I think I caught them off guard with an RA question. However, they provided generally good service and I could tell they cared about me as a patron.
Shelby, I am glad that you did find a couple of books through your interaction. It sounds like both librarians had good intentions and used tools to help find books. I think we can get so caught up in finding a read-alike but not really think or examine the appeal factors. But I just find it sad that your librarian did not ask you any open-ended questions about why you liked Outlander. I did not feel like my librarian listened to me either.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like maybe only one of the librarians helping you had any training in reference interviews.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if very many librarians actually get RA training outside of an MLS? I kind of hear about it a little bit at conferences and such, but not much.
ReplyDeleteGenerally RA is an elective in many MLS programs and it's really up to the libraries to have a good RA plan and training in place.
DeleteSo many of the other people, including me, had librarians who weren't very interested in helping us, so I think it's fabulous that you had ladies that were at least caring and helpful, even if they're weren't perfect.
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