First off, I want to say that I was gonna go to the Readers Advisory Toolkit workshop this morning anyway. Finding out the presenters were handing out chocolate was just a bonus.
An awesome bonus.
I took some time between morning sessions to explore the exhibit hall a bit more – and visit the ALSC booth! – so this blog post will have to be cut a little short. Instead of highlighting the top five things I took away from my workshop this morning, I’ve got to limit myself to just three.
Top Five Three Things:
1. Instead of asking patrons the question, “What kind of books do you like?” to help guide me (often answered with a blank stare or a shrug in my department), I will now ask children to name me 3 books they loved and 3 books they hated and why. (Or maybe just one book of each. We’ll see how it goes.)
2. Shame on me for forgetting about AV materials when it comes to blogging staff picks! I regularly recommend videos and music; why would I leave them out of my online RA? The presenters reminded us to consider reading as ‘story in every form’ – whether it be print, audio, e-book, etc.
3. I am also now motivated to not only update my departmental bookmarks, but also to include them in outreach visits.
Jennifer Wharton
I always ask kids what the last book they read and liked was to start with. Then we move on to “what kind of things do you like to do” which is useful for nonfiction. If the answer is “I hate reading” I ask them about their favorite movie, game, or comic (Many kids don’t think of comics as “reading” at my library. Thank you parents and teachers).