Readers' Advisory with Christina

As a child I loved reading. Looking back now, it’s amusing to me that when I was in elementary and middle school, I read mostly adult books. I loved mysteries like Agatha Christie’s and books featuring pioneers, like Janette Oke’s books. Now, as an adult, I read mostly young adult novels. I’ve also gained more of an appreciation for non-fiction as I’ve gotten older. As a child, non-fiction felt like reading for school rather than pleasure. I have less time to read than when I was younger and I find myself listening to audiobooks more often than reading books. I hadn’t thought much about the social aspect of reading, other than book clubs, but I do enjoy reading books everyone is talking about so I can be a part of the conversation. I like being able to talk with others who have read the same book I’ve read. I found Le Guin’s argument that bestsellers fill a social need for people interesting (Le Guin, 2008 p. 35). There are so many hidden gems that are rarely talked about because the...

  This Downton Abbey display was very popular with patrons. I had fiction, non-fiction, and audio-visual materials related to the show as well as bookmarks patrons could take. With fewer people coming into the library, digital promotion is currently more important than ever. I would like to send out an e-newsletter to promote the library’s fiction collection. It could include staff recommendations, read-alikes for popular books (which would help keep patrons engaged when waiting on hold for popular books), and genre-themed lists. I would use circulation statistics and look at what is being checked out to see what is popular. To track the effectiveness of the library’s emails, I would write the number of current holds there are on titles we’re going to recommend before sending out the email. A week after the email is sent out, I would check the number of holds again to see if the number of holds went up dramatically after people had a chance to read the e-newsletter (Novelist, 2020)...

Librarians are often forced to the forefront of political issues. The Orange City Library was shoved into the public eye when a small portion of their population complained that LGBTQ+ books should be separated from the rest of the collection (Associated Press, 2018). Giving into the pressure to segregate parts of the collection that certain individuals find offensive is problematic in many ways.   At my local library, all the fiction books are shelved together. Separating LGBTQ+ and Urban Fiction would create discrimination and judgement toward readers of those books. It is important to note the motives of the Iowan patrons who wanted these books separated; they were not doing so in order to make them easier to find. They wanted to make books that they found offensive difficult to access. Readers browsing the fiction section might not find LGBTQ if they weren’t aware they are in a different section. In addition, some people might be shy and fear people seeing them go into that...

  When I read this week’s prompt, I immediately thought of an interview I once ready with young adult author John Green. He said he writes for and about teenagers because “young people are thinking about so many important questions, about love and meaning and justice. And maybe in part because they are new to those questions, teenagers tend to approach them without much embarrassment or ironic distance. My favorite Y.A. novels explore love and loss and meaning with that same unironic enthusiasm” (Why John Green Likes Writing for Teenagers, 2019). I think this sums up why adults enjoy young adult fiction, or at least why I do. As adults, we grapple with the same issues and questions about love, loss, and meaning as young adults do. The type of young adult books I read and that seem to be popular deal with these heavy issues and aren’t filled with happy youth fluff as one might think by the name of the genre. When it comes to serving adults who enjoy young adult literature, they ...

  Author:  Kerri Maniscalco Title:  Stalking Jack the Ripper Genre:  Young Adult Publication Date:  2016 Number of Pages:  337 Geographical Location: London, England Time Period:  1888 Series:  #1 in the “Stalking Jack the Ripper” series   Plot Summary Audrey Rose is the daughter of a lord and expected to be a proper lady in the Victorian era. She is constantly questioning why she can’t be viewed as capable as the males around her. Unbeknownst to her father, Audrey often visits her uncle’s laboratory to study forensic medicine, where she fights to be more knowledgeable than the males studying there. Audrey finds herself in the midst of an investigation of a serial murderer. Stalking Jack the Ripper brings a scientific approach to a murder mystery and includes a lot of history from the time period it is set in.   Subject Headings:  Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Romance, Science ...