1. Presented by: Becky Siegel Spratford WAPL Annual Conference April 29, 2010 Starting a Readers Advisory Department @ Your Library

2. Why You Should Trust Me Hired to co-create RA Department for the Berwyn Public Library in July, 2000. Began with 2 employees (including me) and 2 high school, part time pages. Now co-head is Library Director, we have 3 full time and 3 part time staff plus a page and our Department has a national reputation.

3. Word of Warning Some of what I will tell you is still considered a bit radical. Be prepared to question everything. Trust me. I have lived through this. I am not embarrassed to share my mistakes. Deep Breath Here We Go…

4. Today’s Presentation 10 Rules of Basic RA Service HANDOUT 5 Resources you cannot live without 6 steps to implement RA service @ your library I will provide contact info for questions

5. What Is RA Service As defined in Joyce Saricks’ 3d edition of Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library Readers’ Advisory is a “patron-centered library service for adult leisure readers.” Today’s RA service is powered by Betty Rosenberg’s First Law of Reading, “Never apologize for your reading tastes.” Readers’ Advisors suggest books, they do not recommend.

6. What Is Appeal? Subject headings can be useless to the RA. Leisure readers enjoy books with a similar “feel.” This has been defined as the “appeal” of a book. Handout and Exercise Look at what appeal can do for you http://ra763.wordpress.com/ http://browserscorner.wordpress.com/ New: describe a book in 3 words!

7. Read! Read! Read! Read widely Learn to “Read a Book in 10 Minutes” (pg 131-132 of Saricks) Originally presented by Georgine Olson at the March 2004 PLA Conference. Not speed reading for plot A method for picking up a book and making some kind of useful connection with it. Genre a day

8. Stay Up To Date Read what your patrons are reading Entertainment Weekly, People, Local Papers. Bookmark popular TV/radio where books are mentioned RSS Feeds Popular media, NPR, genre specific Don’t be afraid to change subscriptions frequently Also subscribe to library specific blogs My suggested links in the right hand gutter of RA for All: http://raforall.blogspot.comhttp://raforall.blogspot.com

9. Share Everything With Everyone Talk to patrons about what they are reading Ask patrons to come back and share Talk about what you are reading to coworkers and patrons…especially at the desk! Work as a team to share books as a staff

10. Customer Service and Marketing BPL RA motto: Never let a patron leave unsatisfied Patron does not need to leave your library with what they thought they came in for in order to leave satisfied! Get out from behind the desk Take people to their books Roam the department looking for “lost” patrons Get the entire staff involved in creating displays

11. Step 1: Change How You Relate to Your Books This is the biggest impediment to offering RA Matchmaker vs. Gatekeeper mentality Rules 1-5 set the stage Get into the shelves and get your hands dirty Full rant: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2010/03/keeping- shelves-in-order.htmlhttp://raforall.blogspot.com/2010/03/keeping- shelves-in-order.html A new service needs to be reflected in the staff with a new attitude or it will fail.

12. Step 2: Focus on the Patron Have an opening line Place signs/literature where the patrons are not where you think they should be. Read, Why We Buy by Paco Underhill http://www.mls.lib.il.us/consulting/envirosell.asp Keep your catalog up-to-date

13. Step 3: Change Your Look… …But wait until you have been doing Steps 1 and 2 for awhile Buy or make some new signs Move things around Consider merging your collections Bye, bye mystery section; hello happier patrons and more space!

14. Step 4: Brag About Your Services Network, create committees with other RAs in your area Adult Reading Roundtable: http://arrtreads.orghttp://arrtreads.org MLS Networking Groups: http://www.mls.lib.il.us/members/networking_groups_alpha.asp http://www.mls.lib.il.us/members/networking_groups_alpha.asp Comment on other blogs Run a daily Google search on your site Offer book discussions @ your library AND offer services to groups in the community Toot Your Own Horn!!!

15. Step 5: Create a Virtual Presence Virtual patrons deserve the same attention as those walking in your doors http://www.berwynlibrary.org/adult-services-1 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berwyn-IL/Berwyn-Public- Library/113918773595 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berwyn-IL/Berwyn-Public- Library/113918773595 http://twitter.com/BerwynLibraryIL http://browserscorner.wordpress.com/ http://www.shelfari.com/bspratford/groups Displays in library and online http://www.berwynlibrary.org/adult-services-1/annotated- bibliographies.html http://www.berwynlibrary.org/adult-services-1/annotated- bibliographies.html

16. Step 6: Have Fun! You are helping people to find their next good read. This is a librarian’s dream! Patrons love it! Keep it up! I included the 5 web resources I could not live without When in doubt…distract them! http://www.gnooks.com

17. Questions and Contact Me bspratford@hotmail.com http://raforall.blogspot.com I can come to your library and rally the troops or just look at your specific situation and help you to get started. Questions? Now or anytime in the future.