Readers' Advisory

The first idea that comes to mind for marketing the fiction collection is the tried and true method of displays. Just the act of facing book covers out on little display areas increases the chance of patrons interacting with the books and possibly finding new reads. We have a dedicated "marketplace" section at my library, with on side featuring new release adult books and DVDs and the other side featuring rotating displays. These displays tend to be switched out monthly and often correspond to things like Women's History Month, Pride Month, etc. as well as some new and fresh themes chosen by the adult librarians. Displays are a simple way to provide some passive readers' advisory to patrons and market specific sections of the collection. It's an old method, but it works! Another great way to market the fiction collection, probably tied to displays, is shelf talkers. We don't use them at my library currently, but I love the thought of them! Shelf talkers can pr...

I find this to be a very difficult question. It’s especially hard because I know what I’d want in a perfect world but alas, we live in a deeply flawed world where homophobia, transphobia, and racism are all too prevalent. And while it’s terrible that these hateful thoughts and ideations have to affect how we conduct our work, the harsh truth is that they do.  As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I absolutely prefer to read books with protagonists of the community as well, specifically sapphic protagonists. There are so many queer books out there anymore (far more than when I was a teenager and coming out) and I can connect with those protagonists and storylines far more than some heterosexual ones. So in a perfect, idealistic world I think it sounds great to have a curated little section of LGBTQ+ books that I would be specifically interested in rather than have to sort through the entire collection. Catalog tags and subject headings do make this lots easier online, but in branch i...

As someone who is a Real Adult (just turned thirty), I personally think it’s crazy to feel like young adult or even middle grade books are off limits! There was a time in my early 20s that I did feel a bit embarrassed to still be looking in the teen section of my library, but I got over that pretty quickly, especially when I realized it’s so much more common than I thought. I read a ton, and it’s probably about 50/50 young adult and adult titles. What’s important to me, as to most readers, are the appeals. I want something character-driven with a diverse cast and a decently fast pace. I’m just as likely to find those desires in each age group. There’s lots of discourse online about the merits or faults of adults reading young adult fiction. There are still the people out there who condescend about adults reading YA literature, like this article by Ruth Graham for Slate. And certainly some people in real life have expressed negative and condescending opinions about adults reading books...

  Author: Brooke Lauren Davis Genre: Young Adult Thriller Publication Date: October 4, 2022 Number of Pages: 352 Pages Geographical Setting: The fictional town of Whistler, Indiana Time Period: Present Day Series: None Plot summary: After Dark with Roxie Clark follows teenage horror and ghost-story enthusiast Roxie Clark. Roxie lives in the small town of Whistler, Indiana with her sister Skylar and her grandmother Gertie. She also runs a ghost tour based primarily off of ghost stories and legends about the Clark family, specifically the women who seem to face tragic and early ends.  At the start of the novel, it’s been about a year since Skylar’s boyfriend, Colin, was found brutally murdered in a cornfield. Once Yale-bound, Skylar has seemingly given up on her life goals after his death. Roxie is desperate to get her sister back, but the plan goes awry when new details of Colin’s death and the secrets surrounding it come to light. Skylar throws herself full force into a murde...