Research Based Readers’ Advisory Jessica E. Moyer MLS Professional Development Workshop April 20, 2010

What is Readers ’Advisory? “A successful readers’ advisory service is one in which knowledgable, nonjudgemental staff help fiction and nonfiction readers with their leisure reading needs.” (Joyce Saricks, Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library, emphasis added) “Quite simply, it is the act of putting people together with the books they love”. Diana Herald, Genreflecting website “The art of readers’ advisory [for teens] involves masterfully articulating various elements of a book to pique interest and entice the prospective reader.” Heather Booth, Serving Teens Through Readers’ Advisory

Chapter 2: Adult Readers European studies and surveys Reading Matters Theories: Incidental information acquisition Usherwood and Toyne’s categories “Practical Typology” Yu and O’Brien Ross’ themes Success breeds success Selection process

Chapter 3: Nonfiction North Pole and South Pole The importance of “Real” Most NF readers also read fiction Subject based interests can cross boundaries Appeal based reading for NF only readers Story still matters

Chapter 7: Romance Readers The single largest market Lots of studies Heavy and avid readers Why is romance so popular? Sometime library users How can libraries support this group?

Chapter 10: Cataloging, Classification and Browsing Lots of research prior to 1996 No updates to reflect changes in OPAC displays and patron interactions Browsing is #1 Not always successful Genrefication as a solution? What do patrons want to know about a potential book?

Audiobooks, Ebooks, and Online Reading Chapter 4: Audiovisual RA (RB RA) Chapters 3 & 7 (RA Handbook

Appeal and Vocabulary From the Audiofile Lexicon by Mary Burkey  Full Cast, Partially Voiced, Fully Voiced, Dramatization, Unvoiced, Multi-Voiced, Spoken word production  Narrator/Voice Actor,  Narrator Match  Unabridged and Abridged  Audio Original  Accents  Musical cues or tags, Incidental Music  Simultaneous release  Digital/Downloadable audio  DRM  CD, MP3 CD, MP3 Player (ipod), Cassette

Research  Comprehension skills continue to develop  Listening comprehension  Struggling readers  Print plus audio  Professional narration enhances the text and comprehension  Just as good as “real” books  Reading and listening time should be equal

Audiobooks Downloadable audio accounts for 17% of all audiobook sales, up from 6% in 2005 Over 52% of users get their audiobooks from a library - the #1 source for listeners The fastest growing listening groups are ages 13 to 17 and 18 to 24 28% of Americans have listened to an audiobook, up from 25% in 2007 Over 92% of listeners have also read a printed book last year Libraries are the third choice for recommendations for new listens - less than 30% of listeners use librarians for suggestions

Listeners’ Advisory  All the appeals and tools of readers’ advisory  PLUS narrator and production  Narrator can override other appeals  Listeners may often prefer genres or appeals in their audio that are different from their print reading  Format and time constraints must be addressed  Sex, language, violence all can come across stronger in audio as they cannot be “skimmed over”

Evaluation  Review the jacket, cover blurb, and length  Start listening and take notes on narrator, pace, performance, and accents  Technical issues and production quality  Consider the entire audiobook  Write up your review or annotation  How to Listen to a Book in 30 Minutes Handout  Chapters 3 &7 of The Readers’ Advisory Handbook, ALA Editions 2010

Audiobooks and RA  Audiobooks are fun and good for you  They are just as good as reading a “real” book  Listening comprehension is an important skill for all ages to develop and practice  The best advisors are listeners  Regardless of format, audiobooks deserve a place in all library collections and must be part of readers’ advisory transactions

Online and Ebook Reading 59% of teens regularly participate in online creation activities 74% of teens have home computers with internet access (as of 2005). Use has increased with access. Teens have averaged 43 minutes per day of print reading for many years Teens have 5-6 hours per day for all media Heavy use of one media predicts heavy use of others 62% ages 5-17 prefer to read books printed on paper rather than on a computer or handheld. Low frequency readers are far more likely to say reading online is better than reading a book.

Online and Ebook Reading Nearly 2/3 of tweens and teens have extended the reading experience online, including connecting with other readers Children who extend the reading experience online value reading, enjoy reading, and read books for fun far more than children who do not Boys are more likely to say the Internet is better when they want to read for fun. Girls have a stronger preference for book reading. Older children are more likely to go online daily than read books for fun daily. Daily internet use grows rapidly into adolescence where it reaches nearly 100% 40% of teens have read a digital book in the past year

Teen Readers’ Advisory Chapter 5: Children and Young Adult Readers’ Advisory (RB RA) Chapters 18, 21, 22: RA by Proxy, Crossover RA (RA Handbook)

Do Teens Actually Read? YES!! Children and teens consistently choose leisure reading as an out of school activity Teens would like to read more if they had easy access to books they would like Children and teens read the most over school breaks, especially summer vacation Children and teens are motivated to read books that are about topics in which they are interested

When Do Teens Read?

Research Review: Conflicting Results NEA Report 2004 – Reading At Risk Less than half of American adults read literature, from 56.9% (1982) to 46.7% (2002) Over the past 20 years, young adults (18-34) have declined from being those most likely to read literature to those least likely The decline in reading correlates with increased participation in a variety of electronic media, including the Internet and video games

Research Review: Conflicting Results 2007 NEA Report – To Read or Not to Read Less than one-third of 13-year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline. Among 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled, from nine percent in 1984 to 19 percent in Americans ages 15 to 24 spend almost two hours a day watching TV, and only seven minutes of their daily leisure time on reading. Reading scores for 12th-grade readers fell significantly from 1992 to 2005, with the sharpest declines among lower-level readers.

Research Review: Conflicting Results Reading is good for teens: for developing social skills and empathy – Bookworms vs. nerds, Mar et al 2005 Fanfiction and “other” literacy activities Surveys of teens in Europe, Canada, Australia and US report: teens do choose to read books, newspapers, magazines, more than 20% read at least 3 hrs a week and YA books sell and circ Girls tend to prefer narrative fiction books or graphic novels. Adult fiction is also popular. Boys are more likely to pick comic books, graphic novels (F or NF), gaming manuals, magazines, newspapers or any type of NF Boys are less likely to consider these real “reading” and more likely to describe themselves as “nonreaders” to adults

Teen Reading Choices

Rules of Leisure Reading “Never apologize for your reading tastes” - Rosenberg’s First Law of Reading “Every reader his [or her] book. Every book its reader” - S. R. Ranganathan’s 2nd and 3rd Laws of Library Science “ No two people ever read the same book.” Diana Herald, RAO Blog

Examples of RA Interactions Teen with Gossip Girls series (for the 3 rd time) “Aren’t you ready to read something else?” OR “You’ve already read that, don’t you want something better?” “I’ve noticed how much you seem to enjoy reading Gossip Girls, I thought you might also be interested in this list of similar books” OR “Let me know when you might want some more books, I’ve got some suggestions from other teens who like these that I think you might like”

Examples of RA Interactions Teen reading Shakespeare GN “We have the real book, here it is” (puts in hand) “Did you know we have a GN collection with other classic stories? Here are some of the others I’ve heard are good (lays GNs on table)” OR “Did you know there are several different versions of that play in the library? ”

Examples of RA Interactions Young looking teen in adult fiction area “These books are too mature for you, let me take you to the childrens (or YA) area” OR “Are you sure you want to reading such adult books?” OR “Would your parents think it was OK?” “There are lots of books to choose from here, are there some authors you like in this area?Would you like some ideas on which ones you might enjoy the most?”

Examples of RA Interactions I recently read Outsiders in school and I liked it, do you have anything else like that? “I LOVED Outsiders when I was a teen!! It was my favorite book!! You must read Annie on my Mind, that was my other favorite book in high school” “I’ve read that, it was pretty good, wasn’t it? What was it about Outsiders that made it so great for you?”

Examples of RA Interactions “I’ve read all the Georgette Heyer books in the adult section and they are pretty good, but I don’t like a lot of other adult romances, too much sex” “You’ll want to read the original Regency romance stories, by Jane Austen. They are so much better than anything written now.” “She’s a great author, isn’t she? Barbara Metzger is an adult romance author who writes stories that are lot like Heyer, you might like them. Here’s a book that you might like to browse for more ideas.” (Show Genreflecting or Rocked by Romance)

Guidelines for Young Adult RA: DO Stock popular materials and replace them when they wear out or walk out Have nonfiction, graphic novels, magazines and audiobooks in your YA collection Read nonfiction, graphic novels, manga, magazines and adult fiction, and listen to audiobooks of all types, even if it is only in “10 Minutes” Keep a journal to remember what you “read” Suggest nonfiction, graphic novels, manga, audiobooks, and adult fiction Be specific, not abstract when describing your suggestions Admit your likes and dislikes when asked – be honest with your teens!

Guidelines for Young Adult RA: DON’T EVER make any kind of judging statement when talking to teen readers Suggest really old materials (as in I loved that when I was a teen) Push your favorite books Encourage teens to read “quality” books or “move them up” to better books Tell teens only books (or fiction) count as really “reading” Read only YA books Forget the Rules of Leisure Reading

Selected Resources Research Based Readers’ Advisory Wiki Research Based Readers’ Advisory, Jessica E. Moyer, ALA Editions 2008 The Readers’ Advisory Handbook, Jessica E. Moyer and Kaite Mediatore Stover, ALA Editions 2010 Jessica E. Moyer Doctoral Candidate, Adolescent Literacy, U of Minnesota