The World of Reader’s Advisory: A Very Short Introduction

By Laura Hiatt-Smith, Public Services Librarian
(This is the first of what will be a regular column discussing Reader's Advisory)

Reader’s Advisory – it sounds daunting, intimidating but above all boring. Yet this combination of words underlies an area of library science that has seen a renaissance in recent years (May 40). This is because reader’s advisory is the process in which a librarian attempts to answer the infamous patron question: “What should I read next?”

I claim that it is infamous because “Most reference librarians say they are unprepared to answer that classic question…Because all readers are different, reader’s advisors know they can’t have one answer for everyone” (Ross 52). This unpreparedness factor is found with all types of reference librarians but more so with academic ones due to the unique characteristics of their trade. Since the main focus of academic libraries is research—meaning that their collections will have little to no titles that stray outside of that area (e.g. small to nonexistent fiction sections)—they have less of an opportunity to practice reader’s advisory. Yet public library reference librarians still find themselves reluctant and/or unprepared even though they have a higher likelihood, and even an expectation, of having someone ask for a fiction suggestion. Part of this uncertainty stems from the practice’s inherent subjectivity: how can you know what someone likes to read? But this seeming difficult dilemma is exactly what the realm of reader’s advisory attempts to decipher.

Because of this difficulty librarians have created various resources to help them in their quest. These stem from ALA guides (such as Joyce Saricks’ The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction), to online subscription databases (NoveList, etc.), to book series centered on various genres (the What Do I Read Next? series or the Genreflecting series), to online blogs (Librarything.com, Goodreads.com), to corporations (Amazon.com), to professional book reviews (Choice, etc.). Not only resources but a language was created to help librarians. Hence reader’s advisory librarians talk about genres and subgenres (what category a book belongs in), the "elements" of a genre (what causes people to read in a genre), genre study (an intense period whereby the librarian only reads in a specific genre) and read-alike essays (essays describing the elements of the book and providing similar titles). All this has helped to externalize the practice so that when asked librarians don’t just grab their personal favorites but actually try to understand what it is the patron really wants at that time.

The resources, language and externalizing also means that reader’s advisory is not just a one off session (although it can be). Rather it hopefully initiates a professional relationship between the librarian and patron that is meant to help the patron find what they want in an ongoing capacity. In this role librarians are facilitators and not gatekeepers because sometimes they will make mistakes or need to consult resources for a longer period of time than the patron has available. It is also the reason for why librarians suggest titles rather than recommend them since this hopefully disconnects both parties from value judgments about the book and reading tastes.

Reader’s advisory is a challenging but fun area in library science. While librarians have striven to create resources to help them in this endeavor ultimately, it is the patron that can answer whether or not what has been suggested works for them. So, what would you like to read next?

Works Cited

May, Anne K., Elizabeth Olesh, Anne Weinlich Miltenberg, and Catherine Patricia Lackner. “A
     Look at Reader’s Advisory Services.” Library Journal 125, no. 15, 15 Sept. 2000: 40-43
     MasterFile Premier.  EBSCO. Web. 22 March 2012.

Ross, Catherine Sheldrick, and Mary K. Chelton. “Reader’s Advisory: Matching Mood and
     Material.”   Library Journal 126, no. 2. 1 Feb., 2001: 52-55. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.
     21 March 2012.