Librarians know their library collections! We know just the right questions to ask for each library customer seeking their next favorite book.
Library customer: Do you have any new penguin picture books?
Librarian: Hi! Yes, we have a wonderful selection of them!
Library customer: I’m looking for a new book with a penguin wearing a sweater.
Librarian: Let’s walk over to the new picture book section and look under Animals. (Point out the new picture book stickers.) I saw the book you’re looking for yesterday. So many colorful sweaters! Books Found: Penguinaunt by Marcie Colleen, Little Penguin Stays Awake by Tadgh Bentley and Penguins Don’t Wear Sweaters! By Marikka Tamura.
Librarians’ desks are usually covered in books! Books we’re reading, books for storytime, books for a library program but most of all books for sharing with library customers. One of my favorite parts of the day is readers’ advisory and finding the perfect book for a library customer. Librarians are experts at staying current – we’re up date on new books, we display them so they can be discovered and we find new genres.
We review and read journals, websites, hashtags on social media platforms, newsletters from publishers and more. We attend conferences, literature festivals and other author events expanding our knowledge of new authors and illustrators.
Ask yourself the following four questions and discuss with your library staff.
- How do you keep track of the books you read? Goodreads, Rifflebooks, Bibliocommons?
- How do you prepare for readers’ advisory questions at the library? Explore new books lists on Pinterest, share new books at library staff meetings, circle favorites in library journals or publisher’s listservs?
- What does your library do now for readers’ advisory? MyReads? Library quick links?
- What are the challenges of readers’ advisory and how do you address them?
We could talk about resources for days! Books! Blogs! Librarians on Instagram! New webinars!
A selection of favorite resources…
Books:
- Explore what’s new at the ALA Book Store.
- Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide, 3rd Edition by Sylvia M Vardell
- The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books, 2018 Edition
- A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children’s Picture Books, 10th Edition by Rebecca L. Thomas
Attend Webinars:
- An upcoming list of ALSC webinars plus archived webinars.
- School Library Journal Webcast Series
- Public Library Association Webinars
- Novelist archived Webinars, Slides and Articles
Librarian Blogs: So many! Discover more on each librarian’s blog of recommended blogs.
- School Library Journal: 100 Scope Notes by Travis Jonker
- School Library Journal: A Fuse #8 Production by Elizabeth Bird
- Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Jules
Websites:
- Review the updates books list on ALSC.
- For example: Comforting Reads for Difficult Times or Graphic Novels
- Bookish: Articles, reviews and lists with the goal of providing more information about books, authors and genres.
- PLA provides a list of books and websites on readers’ advisory.
- Evergreen Audiobooks: The Quicklist Consulting Committee has developed a book list to remind book-lovers that listening to a book can be a great way to enjoy the story…
- Explore the Library Journal Book Pulse by Neal Wyatt: A daily updated designed to help collection development and reader’s advisory librarians navigate the never-ending wave of new books and book news.
- Novelist: Recommended Reads Lists, Browse Genres, Featured Read-alikes, Keeping Up and more.
- Publishers Spring Previews – Scholastic Spring 2019 Online Preview
The best websites to explore before the New Year:
- Publishers Weekly Best Children’s and YA Books of 2018
- The New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books
- ALSC Notable Children’s Books: One of the best places to explore the best of the best from each year. My go-to list for teachers looking for new books and school librarians who have a limited budget.
- Jen J’s Starred Book Titles by Year
- Library Journals Review +
- Publishers Weekly: New Kids and YA books – Hot of the Presses or Featured Reviews
I always appreciate the time librarians take to create book lists, work on committees and share book information on ALSC Matters, blog posts and other social media platforms. Discover more ways to share new books and pair library customers with books they are going to love!
This post addresses the following ALSC Core Competencies: II. Reference and User Services and IV. Knowledge, Curation, and Management of Materials.