Final Paper

LIS 763
Mary Salata

THE READER’S ADVISORY CONNECTION:

INCORPORATING OUTREACH TO ENSURE READER’S ADVISORY FOR ALL

Reader’s advisory is a crucial way in which libraries can connect with the communities

they serve. Frequently, however, it is found that all populations within a community are not

easy to access. Not everyone who needs to and wants to use their library is available to or even

capable of walking in the doors and seeking the services they deserve. For this reason,

incorporating outreach into reader’s advisory is crucial to libraries being able to offer services in

an effective, inclusive way. Many public libraries serve diverse populations – people of different

ethnicities, languages, ages, and physical abilities. In order to ensure that libraries are

maximizing their impact on their community, utilizing outreach as an opportunity instead of as

a challenge is key to truly successful reader’s advisory.

When we consider what reader’s advisory’s value to patrons of public libraries really is,

it can be summarized as the “aim to provide the right book in the hands of the user at the right

time.” (Spiteri and Pecoskie, 2016). It is more than that, though. It is a gateway through which

patrons of a library can connect and build relationships not only with the library itself as an

institution, but also with the people that work to serve that particular library. Relationships are

important, and they are the first step to building a heartily successful institution that

contributes to its community. With all hopes, this relationship ultimately becomes a lasting one,
that can grow to incorporate all of the offerings of a particular institution which have, in the

most ideal of circumstances, been thoughtfully curated to best serve a particular population.

Traditional reader’s advisory would involve, most simply, a conversation between a

librarian or other library staff member and a patron. It is important to understand that not

everyone grows up in a family that incorporates libraries into normal life. While some may grow

up being used to running through the doors and ransacking the shelves of their public library

for whatever treasures they can find there – I, myself, was fortunate enough to be one of those

kids – there are people in communities who are not aware of what a library has to offer them,

or intimidated – even scared – by the prospect of approaching it. So how do we reach these

populations, each of which has their own needs, but who are linked by the common issue of

lack of access to reader’s advisory? Creativity in problem solving by public libraries has been the

key to overcoming this. Whether through technology or old fashioned “boots on the ground,”

there are many solutions that can be offered.

Library websites have become a basic and fundamental tool for outreach reader’s

advisory. When it comes to online reader’s advisory, there are two techniques. No universally

employed terminology has been adopted for these two techniques, but Burke and Strothmann

(2015) called it “one-way” or “interactive.” Typically, the “one-way” approach would include

things that a library provides to a broad audience – things such as book lists or readalikes.

“Interactive” is a more individualized approach focusing on a specific patron’s needs and can

range from an online form to actual active communication through means such as email or

even an online chat feature. Library websites frequently feature all of these things.
 One of the most common library website reader’s advisory features is online form-

based RA. Form-based reader’s advisory has become common in the last several decades. It

increases access by offering an option to patrons reluctant or unable to approach staff, thus

promoting reader’s advisory and even enhancing it by allowing for more time for review and

the possibility that the form is routed to the best equipped staff member for that particular

request. (Hollands, 2006). These forms easily translate to online, and features of this online

form-based RA include questions similar to a traditional RA interview. For example, the

Hammond, Wisconsin, library’s online form begins with name and contact information for easy

follow-up. It then expands to ask if the patron is looking for fiction, nonfiction, or both. From

there, it looks to genres or topics a patron is interested in, books and authors the patron has

enjoyed in the past, books and authors the patron does not wish to have included in their

suggestions, hobbies or interests of the patron, TV shows they like, and what format they

prefer their books in. (Hammond Community Library, 2022). A simple Google search reveals

that this format is very common on library websites, and while it does still require the patron to

interact with library staff through the follow-up, it may feel more approachable for some.

In recent years, society as a whole has witnessed and partaken in the rise of social

media. Naturally, libraries have embraced the possibilities offered by social media as well.

Social media offers not just exposure for libraries to their communities in a different format,

but many libraries take the opportunity to utilize social media platforms for actual service,

whether reference or reader’s advisory. In the April 2021 Public Library Reader’s Advisory

Survey, 83% of libraries surveyed said that they utilized Facebook for online reader’s advisory.

Other social media options for reader’s advisory included Instagram, Twitter, YouTube,
Goodreads, Pinterest, and even TikTok. Of libraries surveyed, only 11% answered that they do

not offer any reader’s advisory via social media. A vast majority – 75% - of these libraries used

multiple forms of social media for it. (Library Journal, 2021). There is certainly a logic to this –

different social media platforms present information in different ways. By utilizing YouTube, for

example, libraries can provide videos of book reviews and recommendations. For patrons who

don’t want to sit through a video, a simple picture and description on Instagram may be more

appealing to them. Populations have evolved to include social media in their daily lives, and

studies have shown that certain populations such as students are particularly keen to utilize the

communication and information-sharing capabilities social media offers. (Kelly and Glazer,

2014). Libraries are continually finding new ways to maximize the impact of their reader’s

advisory and providing reader’s advisory in a variety of different formats is a particularly

effective way to ensure that all patrons are reached.

Some libraries are embracing the trend of “social catalogs” – online catalogs that include

patron input such as tags. In a way, this is low maintenance online reader’s advisory. This

concept of social cataloging is interesting because though this form of reader’s advisory is

facilitated by the community, it requires absolutely no actual interaction from any parties.

Library staff simply maintain the tags and make sure they are appropriate, but don’t necessarily

generate them. There are, however, drawbacks. Most notably, when tags are created by the

public, the tags tend towards an individual’s vernacular instead of towards a controlled,

navigable vocabulary, which can hinder the exploratory aspect of tags. (Mendes et al, 2009).

Some online catalogs go beyond simple tags and allow patrons to post their own reviews and

more extensive thoughts on a particular item within the collection, which can then be accessed
by other patrons browsing the collection online. This opportunity for engagement creates a

community through technology instead of allowing technology to be isolating. (Kelly, 2000).

When considering how the library by nature is a physical place, one of the main

hinderances to access can be fundamental mobility. Physical disability or even simply lack of

access to transportation can prohibit a person from being able to take advantage of any in-

person library services, including reader’s advisory. Beyond that, not all patrons who lack the

ability to have physical interactions with their library are comfortable and familiar with online

communication. While much modern outreach is done with the assistance of technology, some

libraries take advantage of the old-fashioned option of bringing the library directly to their

patrons instead of having patrons come to them. This is, in fact, an old-fashioned approach

because it has more than one hundred years of history in the United States – in the early 1900s,

a librarian on horseback famously delivered books to people that she would carry in her

saddlebags. (Molloy, 2010). We have since evolved substantially in methods of delivery, but the

spirit of this outreach remains the same.

The important part about this form of outreach is it engages patrons who otherwise

might be neglected or overlooked entirely. Quite simply, home delivery services literally get

books into the hands of these populations. While one library, the Elmhurst Public Library in

Elmhurst, Illinois, does offer delivery to people that meet a certain criteria of need, this delivery

is usually carried out by volunteers with no formal reader’s advisory training. (Blank, personal

communication, 2022). This means that it is unlikely that any reader’s advisory can take place

during the book delivery process. With a little creativity and flexibility, however, there are still

ways to offer reader’s advisory to these patrons. Telephone, for example, is an easy way to
have a complete reader’s advisory conversation without the need for someone to come into

the library. According to the April 2021 Public Library Readers’ Advisory Survey Report,

telephone is the third most common contact method with patrons for reader’s advisory. (Public

Library Readers’ Advisory Survey Report, 2021). Additionally, online reader’s advisory forms

were mentioned earlier, which can easily be offered instead in a printed, physical form that

could be sent along with the books being delivered. As with the online forms, these printed

forms allow patrons to express their interests, likes, and dislikes, and allow for follow-up via

email or telephone depending on the patron’s preferences and capabilities.

Providing books is the most basic service a library can offer. However, in order to get the

right book to the right person at the right time, quality reader’s advisory is key. When

traditional reader’s advisory interviews aren’t an option, libraries have a duty to go above and

beyond to find ways to connect. The single mom who can’t find time after work and taking care

of her kids to have a conversation at a library, the person who is intimidated by face-to-face

interactions with public institutions, the person who doesn’t speak English and is afraid of not

being heard, those who lack the physical mobility to actually get to a library due to age or

impairment, are all populations deserving of the connections that reader’s advisory fosters.
 REFERENCES

Blank, B. (2022). Personal communication.

Burke, S. K., & Strothmann, M. (2015). Adult readers' advisory services through public library
websites. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 55(2), 132-143.

Hammond Community Library. (2022). Reader’s Advisory Form. Retrieved from

https://www.hammondpubliclibrary.org/readers-advisory-form/ on December 11, 2022.

Neil Hollands, “Improving the Model for Interactive Readers’ Advisory Service,” Reference &
User Services Quarterly 45, no. 3 (Spring 2006): 205–12

Kelly, J. M. (2000). Promoting fiction: readers' advisory and the use of public library web sites.

Kelly, K., & Glazer, G. (2013). Get@ us! Using social media to market libraries, assist patrons and
revitalize outreach efforts. The New Academic Librarian: Essays on Changing Roles and
Responsibilities. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 18-26.

Library Journal. (2021). Public Library Readers’ Advisory Survey Report April 2021. Library
Journal.

Mendes, L. H., Quiñonez‐Skinner, J., & Skaggs, D. (2009). Subjecting the catalog to
tagging. Library Hi Tech.

Molloy, J. (2010). Bookmobiles as a method of outreach to poor communities.

Spiteri, L. F., Pecoskie, J., & Tarulli, L. (2016). In the readers’ own words: how user content in
the catalog can enhance readers’ advisory services. Reference and User Services
Quarterly, 56(2), 91-95.