Secret
Shopper Task: visit a library where I was not known, and act as if I’m
patron looking for suggestions for a good book.
Purpose: Evaluate reader's advisory experience.
Experience: I chose a library
that I had only visited once before - which happened to be last week when I
popped in to get a book that my library did not have at the time. I was
returning this book on the day I visited for the second time, and since I
wasn’t crazy about it, I used it to segue into the conversation with the
librarian. I told the librarian that I was having a hard time finding a good book, and that the book that I was returning had been recommended to me by a friend and it wasn't for me. He asked me to name a book that I had read and enjoyed. I told him, and using his computer, he found several read-alikes for me, most of which I had already read, but a few I had not. He walked me back to the shelf to find the first book, then asked if I'd like a few more. I told him maybe just one more. He found another read-alike for me and I told him I could find it on my own.
Evaluation: In the full paper, I mentioned that in “At Leisure: Rethinking the Readers’-Advisory Interview”, Joyce Saricks states
that only two questions need to be asked in a reader’s advisory conversation:
“’Tell me about a book you’ve read and enjoyed’ and ‘Are you in the mood for
that or something different?’” (p. 24). The librarian in my experience did ask a
variation of the first question and since I told him that I was looking for
something similar, he did not need to ask the second question. I left with two books that were already on my "to-read" list, so I felt that this experience was a good one!
Suggestion: One thing I might have done differently if
I had been the librarian in this situation would have been to share my screen
with the patron. Whether the librarian was using NoveList or a built-in feature of their online catalog, it would have been a good teaching moment to show the
patron how to use the tool so they could search for books on their own. When I
show patrons how to use NoveList, they are usually amazed at the ease of use, and
excited at the prospect of using this tool to find new books to read.
(To view full paper, click here.)
Saricks, J. (2007). At Leisure: Rethinking the Readers'-Advisory Interview. The Booklist,105(15), 24
(To view full paper, click here.)
References
Saricks, J. (2007). At Leisure: Rethinking the Readers'-Advisory Interview. The Booklist,105(15), 24
It sounds like the librarian was quite helpful to you. I'm glad you were able to find something you want to read. I agree that sharing the screen could have been a teachable moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary. I was pleasantly surprised with the service. It's a pretty contemporary library, but not super warm and fuzzy, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
DeleteLike Mary said it sounds like you had a good experience. Sharing my screen with patron when I am helping them find a book or if I just looking something up on the web for them is something I try to do. I have had experience in the last week though when I went to show my screen my monitor went out and I had to fix that. The patron and I both had a good laugh about technology not always working like we want it to.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura - I try to share my screen as much as possible, too - but I have a different problem - the secondary monitor that I turn on to share my screen faces the patron - and sometimes I forget to turn it off. Which can be embarrassing, like the time a patron sent an email request for the book "Whore" by Willow Aster and I was looking it up on Baker and Taylor - and my screen was on and viewable by everyone who walked in the front door. Yikes. I wish it had an alarm on it that would sound if it's been on for more than 5 minutes. Librarian struggles are real. : )
DeleteShawn, I do stuff like that ALL THE TIME. I had a big ol' article on erotica blazing on my screen (I was looking for some read-alikes for a friend). And I thought nothing of it until some middle schoolers started snickering... Oops
DeleteI like how your suggestion is concerned by the 'teachable moment'. While I felt like I had a great experience, I have no clue how my librarian recommended the books she did, it honestly seemed like they were from memory. This was cool from a conversational standpoint because the recommendations seemed organic, but if I was a patron who was not aware tools existed to help with this situation, I still would not know!
ReplyDeleteAt one library I worked at, it was nearly impossible to share or turn the screen and it always drove me nuts when I wanted to explain or show someone how to use a resource. The first library I worked at had screen that could easily be turned, and I didn't realize how nice the feature was until I didn't have it anymore! I'm glad you had an otherwise positive experience though, even if there wasn't much transparency as to where the suggestions came from.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary on your interaction! I'm so happy it was great and you picked up some things to improve on!
ReplyDelete