In a preprint version of the introductory essay to Genreflecting, 6th edition, (forthcoming December 2005, Libraries Unlimited), Wiegand reviews the scholarship on the social nature of reading and connects it to the growing body of knowledge that focuses on the existence of a "public sphere," and on the concept of "place." He then links "reading" and "place" to the world of libraries we've come to know in the first part of the 21st century, and to a service in these libraries we now label "Reader's Advisory."

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Wayne Wiegand is the F. William Summers Professor of Library and Information Studies, and Professor of American Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Published widely, Dr. Wiegand has received numerous awards for distinguished professional activities, including the Herbert Putnam Award, the Justin Winsor Award, and the ALISE Research Paper Award.