Secret Shopper at the Library
Recently I visited my local library to see how the staff would react to my asking them for a book I would like to read. When I approached and asked for a librarian's help, they asked me what I liked. Immediately I noticed the librarian's confidence, friendliness, and bubbly personality. It made me feel at ease asking for help finding a book when I at first felt nervous approaching the desk.
I told them that my favorite books were Dracula and Frankenstein. At first, I was matched with a book called Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. This book did not sound like something I would like; serial killer main characters are not really my thing.
After that, the librarian was trying hard to think of something up my alley. To help in the search, I told them that I read Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments in high school. As soon as I said the series title, their eyes lit up! They immediately thought of Sarah J. Maas, but when they walked me over to where her books are kept, the book they wanted to recommend to me was checked out. They did not tell me the title of the book, and I forgot to ask. I'm not familiar with Maas' work, so I would love to hear what you guys think they meant!
Having reached 0 for 2, the librarian quickly remembered another title that they believed would suit me. This book is called Illuminae, the first book in the Illuminae Files trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. They explained the plot to me as we walked to the teen section to find it, and I really loved the idea. One thing that I appreciated was that they explained the concept of an epistolary novel to me without using the word, which may have been a confusing or unknown term to some patrons entering the library.
I haven't had a chance to open Illuminae yet, but I am very eager to start! My experience with reader's advisory was simple, but effective. I had a lot of fun being on the other side of it, and it gave me reassurance in my own capabilities. As I continue to grow in my advisory knowledge and expertise through more practice, I can approach reader's advisory with confidence like the librarian who helped me.
I'm not exactly sure which book the librarian was hoping to recommend to you that Sarah J. Maas wrote, but there are several books in some of her series that are super popular. One series is the Throne of Glass series, and the other is A Court of Thorns and Roses. It's most likely she was going to recommend the first book of one of these two series, since they are so popular. They are also frequently checked out. I'm also sure that if you went ahead and talked with the librarian again, she would be more then willing to help!
ReplyDeleteI love that you recognized that they explained something to you without using library jargon! That's something that I really try hard to remember to do myself when at work. I also like how you reflected on your own self as a readers' advisor and how seeing this librarian in action inspired some confidence in your own abilities.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that you had a good experience and it's really cool that the librarian didn't give up even when the first two books didn't work out. As for Sarah J Maas, like Taryn said Throne of Glass and ACOTAR are super popular (I've read the first four books of Throne of Glass, they're good but very chunky), but she has another series, Crescent City, and a new book in that series dropped this week so she may have been going to recommend that one as well.
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