Join Us at the Hunt Branch for Book Discussions!
Monthly, All Year Long

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts Discussion led by Librarian, Andrea Taylor. 6:30 PM

All discussions to be held at the Hunt Branch Library
To sign up online, CLICK HERE or call 714-738-3122 for more information.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Reader's Advisory Service

Judging from the polite impatience of our patrons, the world's most popular authors can't seem to crank out novels fast enough to satisfy Fullerton's voracious readers. When a top title finally does get published, everyone seems to want to read it at the same time, stretching the library's limited resources and forcing avid readers to languish in waiting list purgatory. It's feast or famine for bestseller junkies on a budget. What's a beleaguered bibliophile to do? We suggest you take advantage of our Readers' Advisory service.

What is Readers' Advisory?

So what exactly is Readers' Advisory? Authors Joyce G. Saricks and Nancy Brown (1989) provide this excellent definition:

Readers' Advisory service... is patron-oriented library service for adult fiction readers. The public library as an institution has always championed and encouraged reading. Readers' advisors and proponents of the service subscribe wholeheartedly to the philosophy that reading, of and by itself, has intrinsic value. They believe that readers are best served by a library that provides both appropriate materials and a knowledgeable staff. (p. 1)

Our primary Readers' Advisory service remains face-to-face interaction with our patrons. Need a book recommendation? Don't hesitate to ask at the library's Information Desk! In addition, we provide a number of additional resources, including online staff recommendations, a quarterly newsletter, and the Novelist fiction database.

We Recommend

The "hard-working, hard-reading" FPL staff members regularly post book reviews in the "Staff Recommendations" section of the library's website. Presented under each staff members are all of the titles they have reviewed since we started recommending books way back in 2002. (Our staff reviews both fiction and nonfiction titles.) The titles represent both new and noteworthy books, as well as a few "oldies but goodies" from back in the stacks.

Readers' Advisory Newsletter

Readers' Advisory is our quarterly newsletter for bibliophiles. Each issue of the newsletter varies in content, but usually features book reviews and recommendations from library staff members, as well as other features, such as bibliographies, author profiles, and read-alike lists.

What are Read-Alikes?

"Read-alikes" are books suggested by librarians and other readers' advisors to readers who have enjoyed a particular title or the works of a particular author. The goal is to provide the reader with a list of titles that are similar in style, genre, or subject matter to books the reader has enjoyed in the past.

Of course, readers enjoy books for all sorts of reasons besides genre or subject matter, and judgment calls regarding subjective qualities like writing style, narrative flow, and pacing make the practice of readers' advisory more of an art than a science. That's why it pays to consult human advisors-that is, librarians-rather than relying solely on software or statistics.

Novelist Fiction Database

That being said, computerized advice-such as that provided by Amazon.com-does have its place. In addition to automated recommendations based on sales, many avid readers create lists of titles that are posted to Amazon. Novelist actually goes a step further and provides articles and read-alike lists created by professional readers' advisors.

Our own Readers' Advisory newsletter provides an introduction to the information available online, concentrating on a few of the most popular titles here at the Fullerton Public Library. We hope these suggestions inspire you to dig deep into the library's holdings.

References

Saricks, J. G. & Brown, N. (1989). Readers' advisory service in the public library. Chicago & London: American Library Association.

Purchase books, CDs, DVDs, etc. from amazon.com through the library links, and up to 15% of the sale will go to the library!

Document last modified: Wednesday, 30-Apr-2008 18:00:20 PDT