How would you respond to a reader who asked if Guy Gavriel Kay had a new book coming out. Each of the responses below isn’t just about the service we provide. It is about the type of relationship we want to build with a reader.
Which of these responses to the Kay question are you most likely to use? Which do you use most often? Which ones do you think would create a positive relationship with the readers in your community?
When asked about Kay’s next book, you might:
- Check resources and provide the answer. which ones would you use?
- Ask about other books the reader has read and enjoyed.
- Suggest other authors/titles the reader might enjoy based on what you have learned about them as a reader. Use Novelist to find read-a-likes.
- Show the resources you used — or other resources that might be of interest to the reader.
- Urge the reader to sign up for our library’s Science fiction/Fantasy newsletter or other book oriented newsletters.
- Encourage the readers to rate titles that they have read and write reviews for them in the catalog (Ratings are also available in the eMedia Catalog) or share on social media such as FaceBook or Twitter.
- Ask the reader if he would like to come to the library’s next Fantasy book club meeting.
Of course, not every library will be able to provide all of these responses, but any of them is an opportunity to build stronger, deeper relationships with our readers. We do not want to be just a place that library users come to pick up the books they put on hold, but, through their interactions with us, we want to enrich their reading and their lives.
Filed under: Did you know?, Librarianship, Reference Work Tagged: | Guy Gavriel Kay, library, Readers Advisory
Thanks for the feed back! I’m glad to spark some new ideas.
Thwnie, Lauren. I hadn’t thought of all of these. I will certainly add a few to my normal responses.