So You Want a Good Book... I Have Just the One.

First, how have reading and books changed since you were a child, for you specifically?   My personal reading habits have certainly changed, because of course I have less free time, and I have obligatory tasks that must be done without book in hand. So I listen to audiobooks—while driving, doing dishes, exercising, gardening, etc.—and read on my phone while waiting in offices or lines or in crowded spaces. Honest-to-goodness physical books are a treat, but I do usually have one in my purse, just in case. Audiobooks used to be a treat only indulged in while traveling or during hurricane season. E-books did not exist when I was a child. Physical books were what I usually read.   Reading has also changed in that I used to read “the classics” and try to get to the point where I would have a workable knowledge of “western” culture because I did not grow up solely in America and I wished to belong (I didn’t get jokes from ‘The Simpsons’ until I was maybe 15 years o...

I think the best way to market anything is by word of mouth. Personal recommendations, tailored by someone who knows you and how you go about furnishing the inside of your brain, are the way to go. A dedicated reader’s advisory librarian who is allowed to spend time talking to people and keeping up with what people like to read would fit the bill. Before I began to think of taking classes in library science, a friend of mine who was a librarian often magically found me books I loved and it was such a godsend, and a gift. Saricks’ idea of the signs pointing to the desk of a librarian with RA duties (Saricks 2005, p. 139) is a cheerful idea to me. However, I sincerely doubt this to be practical. Having moved so often during my lifetime, I dislike having to do all the groundwork of getting to know staff before I find the book I’m looking for, and often staff has no time to spend with me as a reader. Sometimes librarians are quite simply not approachable people even though th...