ABSTRACT: This article examines the development and delivery of a readers’ advisory training model for public library staff in New South Wales, Australia. Grounded in the Australian Library and Information Association Code of Ethics, the training emphasizes an actively representative approach to readers’ advisory work and the importance of diverse collections and perspectives. The training model is informed by Connectivist learning principles, using online discussion groups to support collaborative learning among geographically dispersed staff. The outcomes of the program, measured by both participant evaluation and observed amendments to readers’ advisory practices, demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in strengthening readers’ advisory services in public libraries.
ABSTRACT: This article presents a pedagogical conversation between two readers’ advisory (RA) educators who aim to promote a critical disposition in their respective classrooms. A critical disposition can be understood as an inclination to actively ask and engage with questions that express normative, transformative perspectives on RA work and its underlying commitments. Critically disposed readers’ advisors evince a keen awareness of the conditions of oppression that govern readers’ lives and, additionally, the transformational and autonomy-enhancing potential of the service they provide. Such a disposition is necessary in a library environment shaped and constrained by long-standing inequities in the book industry, changing technological affordances, disinvestment in our public institutions, and coordinated threats to the freedom to read. These educators address how library practitioners can build facility with the conceptual, practical, and imaginative tools required to serve readers well. The ultimate aim is to initiate a discussion about varied visions for RA education and practice that center responsiveness to the real world in which library patrons orchestrate their reading lives.
ABSTRACT: This article addresses the evolving trend of the use of readers’ advisory in a high school library. It presents the opportunities and challenges and discusses ways to mitigate them through embedding readers’ advisory into all library services. It reviews processes that, when used, create a library that responds to the unique needs of the students it serves. The article places student needs in the context and end result squarely in the realm of creating lifelong learners and pleasure readers.
ABSTRACT: Library-led book clubs are becoming increasingly popular, but many in the academic library field might not know where to start and what to do. This article lays out the creation and maintenance of a faculty-led book club at the University of Idaho that the author developed. In addition to the practicalities of starting and running a book club, the author presents the foundational talking points regarding the benefit this type of programming can offer the library and the larger university campus. Mainly focused as a case study on the University of Idaho’s Hit the Book(s) Club, the author also discusses observations derived from the program and the benefits seen from student testimonials. The hope is that anyone reading this article will gain the knowledge and confidence to start their own library-led book club.
ABSTRACT: Readers’ advisory (RA) starts with a healthy, well-curated collection. Collection development is obviously fundamental to RA service. Selecting materials is the “wholesale” end of the “retail” marketing RA transaction. Just as weeding is a vital part of the life cycle in a popular materials collection, weeding is also necessary to provide exceptional RA service. This article will start with weeding fundamentals, then share processes for weeding nonfiction and fiction popular materials collections for youth or adults across print, audiovisual, and then e-books and e-audio formats developed through years of experience.
