Secret Shopper

Today, I did some spy work, and secret shopped the readers' advisory desk at a local library. I wasn't sure what to expect especially after hearing some of the horror stories in class. However, I was fairly pleased with the experience.

I walked up to the desk and the lady smiled at me and asked if she could help me. I said, "I was hoping you could recommend a good book for me to read." She laughed a little (not meanly) and asked what I like to read. I told her I'm currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and love it. I said I also loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, so I guess more historical fiction. I told her that I also enjoy fantasy though too.

She thought for a minute then grabbed a book that was on display behind her, Garden Spells. She said that since I liked the other two books, I'd probably like this one, and since I'm okay with fantasy the magical elements of the book would probably be appealing to me. She did say that it is set more in modern times.

However, she didn't stop there. She had another book in mind too and took me to the stacks to find it. However, it had been checked out. She wrote the title on a piece of paper for me though. She said that this book was about a leper colony in Hawaii. She said she thought it was a pretty interesting book.

She then showed me a display they have for read-a-likes for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. (The library I went to was in Hamilton County, where this is the county-wide book for the months of March and April.) She suggested a book to me from this display. She suggested City of Thieves by David Benioff. She told me that it was about WWII, but that Benioff's writing is fast-paced and funny. I told her that that sounded good to me, because I enjoyed how The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was fairly light-hearted despite it's serious topic.

I ended up leaving with three books and a title she wrote down for me for later. I'm pretty excited to read all of the titles she had suggested. I was a little surprised that she did not use any RA tools. I mean she did use the book display, which I guess is a tool. I made it easy on her by mentioning I enjoyed a book they have a display for, I suppose. But I guess I was still expecting her to use more tools. Despite that, however, I felt pretty happy with the experience. She was very nice and willing to help me. She would have kept looking for more books for me if I didn't say the three she had already chosen sounded good. I'm not sure if she was a MLS or not, I didn't ask. I wouldn't be surprised if she was. She provided wonderful suggestions and great customer service.

Five Readers' Advisory Interviews

I decided to document my RA interviews with tables. This was the easiest way for me to organize my thoughts and the results of my interviews. I asked pretty much the same questions for each person -- What was the last book you read? Did you like it? What is your favorite book? What did you like about it? What is your favorite genre? I then asked more detailed questions if need be.

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Overall, this was good practice for me. I found it more challenging than I had thought it would be in some regards and easier in some ways too. It's a daunting task to help someone find a book they may like out of all the possible books out there! All the people I interviewed I know, which I think helped in some ways because I knew more about them than just what they revealed in the interviews. I think this may be harder in a real-world setting where strangers come up asking for book recommendations. But the challenge of it is kind of fun. It's such a joy to help someone find a good book for them. And if it takes a while and if it's challenging, then I think the end result of finding that right book is even more rewarding.

We Could All Learn a Thing or Two from the Children's Librarian

After our discussion in class, I've been thinking about library programs for adults. Why did so many have a bad or so-so experience? That seems like missed opportunities on the part of the libraries in my opinion.

The program I attended was interesting, but there were no librarians present. There were no library books. It didn't really feel like a library program. It made me wonder if readers' advisory and reference librarians should be talking with children's librarians a bit more.

Children's librarians, I feel, on average are better programmers. I think children's programming is more expected in libraries than adult programs which may be the main reason for that. I mean the preschool storytime is a library staple. But children's librarians know how to engage their audience. They know how to entertain while educating. They know how to promote their collection. They know how to get people to come back for more programs. It seems to me that librarians who program for adults could learn a thing or two from children's librarians.

Now, I'm not suggesting that there should be adult storytimes that begin with the group singing "Mr. Golden Sun" followed by the librarin sitting in her rocking chair reading a picture book. I don't think that'd go over too well with an adult audience. However, there are aspects of a children's program that could work very well with adults. A good storyteller can be enjoyed by any age. The story may be made more sophisticated, but a storyteller telling an engaging story can be an enjoyable program for adults.

Another children's activity that translates well for adults is crafts. Crafts do seem to be in several programs I have seen listed at different libraries, whether it be sculpture building or watercolor, arts and crafts are an activity enjoyed by any age.

The main thing though that I have seen children's librarians excel at is promoting their collection. They'll have books available for check-out lined up near the door. They'll have books related to the program in hopes that someone will be intrigued by the program and want to learn more. I've also seen children's librarians create handouts or bookmarks that they pass out at the end of a program with a list of similar titles that program participants may be interested in.

There may be many librarians who program for adults out there who excel at creating programs, but from personal experience this has not been the case. I feel more like their created to fill space. Their created on the fly almost. Whereas the children's programs I have seen are full of energy and well thought-out activities. It just seems to me that more of that joy of the library should be able to translate for adults as well.

Owls and Other Fantasies

Mary Oliver is certainly a name to know when it comes to modern poetry. Her work is new, but she writes as an old soul. Owls and Other Fantasies is a prime example.

Reading Oliver's work reminded me of reading Emerson or Whitman. She has that deep appreciation of nature. Oliver looks at the beauty around her a bit deeper than most people do. For example she writes in her poem "Spring," "...My, in his/black-feckled vest, bay body with/red trim and sudden chrome/underwings, his is/dapper..." Her description of this bird is so detailed that a reader can easily picture him. She goes on to describe this bird's courtship with a female and the beauty of the circle of life that is present each spring. This is just one example of the beauty of Oliver's writing.

Oliver's poetry is gentle and unforced. She examines the beauty of nature as well as some of the darker sides of life. "Hawk," my favorite poem in this collection, is one that examines the darker side. This poem battles the ideas of religion with the natural order of the world. Upon seeing the hawk perched alert on top of a tree, Oliver writes "and I said: remember/this is not something/of the red fire, this is/heaven's fistful/of death and destruction." She refers again to religion later on in the poem by writing, "and I said: remember/the tree, the cave,/the white lily of resurrection." In the end, she desribes the hawk: "seemed to crouch high in the air, and then it/turned into a white blade, which fell."

Owls and Other Fantasies would be a great suggestion to someone who enjoys poetry about nature. This would also be a great suggestion for someone who isn't sure about reading more classic poetry. I feel Oliver's writing would be a good stepping stone into the "harder" classics.

Poetry and Readers' Advisory

I've been trying to find articles about poetry and readers' advisory, but that topic seems to be non-existant. Why is that? There are entire textbooks on genre fiction and readers' advisory. Why should poetry be left out? Well, I was able to find some possible answers to that question.

First of all, poetry's not as popular as genre fiction or non-fiction. As Dominique Raccah writes in his article, "The Promise of Poetry in a Digital Age," poetry is one of the poorest sellers in bookstores. It would only make sense that the same would be true for libraries. But why? Why is poetry such a poor seller? Raccah suggests that poetry tends to make readers feel a bit uncomfortable. He mentions that "no matter how learned the reader was, people generally were unsure of themselves in tackling poetry." Now it should be said that Raccah is the CEO of Sourcebooks, the publisher of Poetry Speaks. Poetry Speaks is a book of poems accompanied by CDs of poets reading their work. Raccah is suggesting in his article that this book helps people become more comfortable with poetry because they can hear the poems read outloud. Regardless of his obvious objective in writing this article, I still feel that Raccah makes a good point in suggesting that poetry does tend to make people uncomfortable. I am an English major who enjoys poetry, but I still feel uneasy or confused at times when reading poems.

Raccah may also be correct is suggesting that hearing poetry helps people get more out of poems than simply reading them. PoetryArchive.org, created by 1999 U.K. Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, seems to agree with Raccah on this point. They explain that poems were originally made to be read aloud. Hearing poems was more important than reading them. In that tradition, perhaps hearing a poet read his work would be more meaningful than reading a poem on your own.

In addition to the challenges that poetry presents to readers, I also feel that poetry is not as popular because people tend to cling to certain poems that have great meaning to them. In my opinion, it can be more difficult to drift away from a favorite poet than from a favorite author. For me, that poet is Robert Frost. I had to memorize "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," in fourth grade. It was that poem that really introduced me to poetry. It was that poem that caused me to fall in love with this art. I can read other poems by other poets, and I have, but none have stuck with me like Frost's work.

So, what is a readers' advisor to do? There are several resources out there that are helpful in locating particular poems, themes, poets, etc. It would be helpful to familiarize ourselves with these resources. A patron may have a poem in mind, but only knows a single line of the peom. Or they may want a book of poetry on animals or robots. These resources can be quite helpful. If a patron wants to read poetry, but doesn't know where to start, a collection of poems may be a nice suggestion. Perhaps the patron will then find their own Robert Frost.

Some suggested resources:

Poets.org (created by the Academy of American Poets)

PoetryFoundation.org (publishers of Poetry Magazine)

loc.gov/poetry (Library of Congress - contains info on Poet Laureates, news conferences and links to other useful sites)

PoetryArchive.org (Inclues searches by poet, poem, theme or poetic term - great for teachers)

guardian.co.uk/books/poetry (includes reviews of new poetry)

Bartleby.com/verse (includes many of the classic poets)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I was originally going to read a street lit book, but something else caught my eye. Hamilton county has a program each year called "Hamilton Reads." This program encourages all of Hamilton county to form a book club, basically. We are all encouraged to read the same book in order to create more opportunites for discussion. There are also several programs centered around the book that take place during the two-month long program. This year's book is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Therefore, I've chosen to read this book, an historical fiction novel, as one of my six titles.

I really fell in love with this book. Although, I wasn't so sure during the first few pages. This book is written entirely through letters. It was a little difficult getting used to that format at first, but once I did I really came to enjoy it. There's something very personal about reading letters. You feel like you're getting to really know the other person through what they write. I also felt a bit like I was spying on other people by reading their personal letters. It was kind of fun.

This novel centers around Juliet Ashton, a writer living in London just after WWII. Juliet receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey. Mr. Adams tells Juliet that he had found a book that had once belonged to her. Her name was inside the cover. The book was by Charles Lamb and Mr. Dawsey asks Juliet if she could perhaps help him locate more books. He mentions that he is part of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Juliet is intriqued by Mr. Dawsey and his literary society (particularly what the society's name means). She writes back, starting a pen-pal relationship with not only Mr. Dawsey, but all of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Juliet begins to develop friendships with the people of Guernsey through her letters and decides that she would like to write a book about them. She discovers that Guersney was occupied by the Germans during WWII. The islanders had it fairly rough during the war. The literary society actually came to be because of the German occupation. A group of the societies members were out past curfew one night, and when caught, they came up with the excuse that they were coming home from a literary group. The German officers were interested and let them go. The next day the group gathered as many books as they could find and began their made-up literary group in order to cover-up their lie. The facade became real. They were able to find an escape from the harsh reality of the world around them through books. Literature saved them in a way.

Juliet is fascinated by the islanders experiences and decides to travel to Guernsey herself where she falls even more in love with Guernsey and its people.

Filled with unique characters and relationships and information about WWII, literature, friendship and love, this is a book that I was easily able to become lost in. I would certainly recommend this to fans of historical fiction or literary fiction. This would also be a great suggestion to someone who enjoys untraditional formats.

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

A.J. Jacobs
Simon & Schuster/0743291476/$25.00

A.J. Jacobs, editor-at-large for Esquire Magazine, decided to take on the seemingly impossible for a year -- following the Bible as literally as possible. He admits that he is not a religious man though his family is traditionally Jewish. However, he felt obligated to explore the top-selling book in the world.

Jacobs uses humor and compassion to describe his experiences of following the 700+ rules outlined in the Bible, all of which he tries to obey (assuming they're legal in today's society.) He grows a beard, he doesn't wear wool and linen together, he rests on the Sabbath, he prays regularly, he doesn't touch menstruating women, and he stones adulterers (which he accomplishes at one point by dropping a pebble on a man's shoe). However absurd or strange the rule may be, Jacobs keeps at least a partially open mind and tries to follow it as best as he can. During his year-long journey, Jacobs comes to find himself appreciating religion and leaving behind some of his secular ways.

While, Jacobs does cover the Bible is some detail, he creates an approachable book that people of any religious background can read and enjoy. Funny, engaging and thought-provoking this is certainly a title worth recommending.