Readers’ Advisory Interest Group

February 8, 2007

Northglenn Public Library

Present: Mary Jones, Westminster PL, Lynn Sigman, Douglas; Amy Gornikewicz, Eagle Valley; Dedra Anderson, Douglas; Carol Wagstaff, Douglas; Laurel Seppak-Etra; Beth Armstrong, Boulder; Katharine Phenix, Rangeview; Ann Tomas, Rangeview; Becky Spilver, Douglas; Alice Kober, Arapahoe; Dodie Ownes, independent

1. Introductions – Mary  Jones and group; list of members is large, over 80 at this point; if someone needs to get on the list, email Kathleen Noland at CAL (Kathleen@cal-webs.org)

2. DISPLAYS: Westminster – has lots of display bays, one very popular one is “nearly new” – books coming off of 1 week circ; use mixed fiction/nonfiction display, as well as genre displays; BPL has a readers advisory “center”, staffed by RA specialists – used to be part of reference; Douglas has an RA “perch” at their neighborhood libraries; in conjuction with RA, merchandising is key to get patrons to books; Roxborough has done a lot of analysis on circ of display books, and it is evident that display boosts circ; some of the best circing displays have been things like “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” with yellow books; RA tools are placed at critical areas as well, like on endcaps for shelves in childrens area; Douglas – some patrons don’t even know that RA services might exist, it is important to go to them

3. CIRC RA – a lot of great circ clerks can do RA, but privacy issues can be a concern; discretion is advised, but why clamp down on knowledge? – Arapahoe – shelvers do a lot of RA, want more training in customer service; at one time, shelvers were not allowed to do RA or even provide simple directions to patrons encountered in the stacks; Douglas has a great training program for paraprofessionals, including training on when and how to “refer”

4. RA Programs for patrons – Becky mentioned that there is no longer a statewide adult summer reading program and suggested that this group might want to take that on in the future; Westminster does a “What do I read next?” a couple times a year; similar to book talks; Rangeview – passive RA, focused displays; Douglas – read-alike bookmarks, placed right in the book;  Westminster did endcap read-alike flyers that were very popular; bookmarks are really useful and have a long shelf life

5. WIKIS – at CAL meeting, it was brought up that a RA wiki would be useful; RA lists could be posted; Westminster – Mary benefits best from personal training, but needs stuff for “on the spot” patron gratification; Katharine (Rangeview) has put together a non-public wiki, this group will get passwords; had a Web site and blog last year but it wasn’t that active; will transfer CoRAZone (old site) to wiki; should be most useful sites for real-life RA; Dodie suggests that lists by genre could be ranked by group, re: usefulness, last update;  the interest group will look for organic growth in the wiki by specialty.  The wiki url is http://c-rad.pbwiki.com/FrontPage .  (We hope to get the wiki url changed to corazone.pbwiki, but that seems to be taking some time.)  Mary is putting together tips to send out for people who haven’t wikied (is that a word?) before.  Basically go to the page where you want to add something, click on Edit Page, put in the password readers, and you’re set to go.

6. Alice – Ahh … Romance

Notes: paperbacks – fall apart fast, making romance RA a challenge; average age for Silhouette/Harlequin readers – 45; new chick lit readers do not read the classic romance, yet; interesting to see where the trend leads; example of end of Jerry Maguire (movie) as how a classic romance ends – after strife, reconciliation; romance fiction structure is fairly tightly controlled because readers have certain expectations – romance does not push the envelope on societal matters, readers do not want it there; this genre is a comfort read, a quick read; there is more fiction genre blending (example: Navy Seal, Viking, time-travel romance!), making it harder to categorize; young readers of romance may drive changes in structure – gay romance, for example; for gore and violence, check romancereader.com “gore-o-meter”. 

7. RAIG – Alice Kober will be taking over as chair of RAIG in the fall, post-CAL.

8. Future meeting dates:

    May 10, 1:30-4:30 pm – Roxborough Library (Douglas County)

    August 9 – time and place TBD

    November 8 – at CAL, time TBD

9. Brief discussion on if this group would like to put together a preconference or workshop(s) for CAL 07; in process, welcome ideas, suggestions, etc …