In the 1980s, the publication of Betty Rosenberg's first edition of Genreflecting (Libraries Unlimited, 1982) and the first edition of Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library (ALA, 1989) by Joyce Saricks and Nancy Brown, heralded to the library profession a new focus on readers' advisory service that had not been evident since the 1940s. Then RA training really took off in the 1990s with public library practitioners and a few dedicated library school professors presenting workshops on the topic. Some library schools began offering courses in the subject during what Connie Van Fleet calls a "readers' advisory Renaissance" in her article "Education for Readers' Advisory Service in Library and Information Science Programs" in RUSQ (v. 47, no. 3, Spring 2008, p. 224-229).
As Van Fleet points out, RA education and training presents challenges, not the least of which is the marginalization of readers' advisory services as a focus in library school education. In a quick scan of 2008's spring semester, she found that about half of the 56 library schools listed a course related in some way to readers' advisory service. While, as she says, this is better than the 25% found by Kenneth Shearer when he did a survey in 1999, it still raises a question about why more schools don't directly address RA service when there has been such an astounding growth in attention to the field not only in public libraries, but also academic, school, and even special libraries, over the past decade or two.
The abovementioned Shearer article ("Partly Out of Sight; Not Much in Mind: Master's Level Education for Adult Readers' Advisory service," in The Readers' Advisor's Companion, Libraries Unlimited, 2001) listed 17 library school professors who taught RA-related courses in 1999. A check of those same names today finds that of those 17, only six remain active in the field of adult RA services. Five are retired or deceased, four seem to have moved away from RA to specialize in youth services or other areas, and one is now listed as an adjunct. While adjuncts and part-time instructors are a crucial force in the library school curriculum (only 63% of library school classes are taught by full time professors, according to the latest ALISE Statistical Report, http://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/), they have little or no voice in the curricula or focus of their schools—regardless of the quality of their teaching skills.
So even finding a library school to learn the basics of RA service is difficult for current students, who quite likely will face interview questions on the subject if they apply for positions in public libraries of today. But, added to the gaps in LIS education, what about keeping up with the field once you've graduated?
Since the early 1980s, the changes in reading tastes, the book industry, and how libraries deliver service have affected the scene dramatically. In 1981 when Betty Rosenberg's book came out, there were no eBooks, no graphic novels, no downloadable audiobooks, no DVD movie versions of books, no huge glut of self-published books, no World Wide Web for that matter, and no way for patrons to know in advance the upcoming titles from their favorite authors. The landscape and its demands are entirely different now, and practitioners must keep up with it.
In addition, genres and popular interests continue to evolve. Publishing trends, reflecting reading interests, clearly demonstrate this constant change. While some genres, such as Westerns, have fallen out of favor, we've witnessed the emergence of vibrant new genres and subgenres, such as Urban Lit and Chick Lit. Meanwhile, genre blends like Paranormal Fantasy and Literary Historicals keep turning up and blurring the boundaries, ensuring that good readers' advisors constantly struggle to keep up with head-spinningly swift changes in trends. One example of this is the Literary Monster Mashup fad, as evidenced by two titles that came out of nowhere and hit the bestseller lists in just the past five months—Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters—with other titles like Queen Victoria: Demon-Hunter and I Am Scrooge: a Zombie Story for Christmas on the way.
Tools and resources to help with RA have changed too—for readers as well as librarians. They have multiplied, diversified, and improved. Web 2.0 tools and RA databases have proliferated. Whereas in the 1990s, only two RA databases existed (NoveList and What Do I Read Next), there are now four major ones (Reader's Advisor Online, Fiction/Nonfiction Connection, and the previously mentioned two), with tools like LibraryThing, GoodReads, Shelfari and others also actively pursuing market demand.
Meanwhile, back at the library, technological improvements have totally changed patron expectations. With access to up-to-the-minute information about new books, readers now often expect to log on to their local library's catalog from home the minute they hear about a new book, search for and find it far in advance of publication date, place a hold, and have the book arrive on the shelves at or near its street date with a convenient text message or email informing them that it's in and waiting for them…an impossible expectation in the 1980s when it was difficult to even identify forthcoming books. But with the modern library catalog and improved attention to patron service from technical services departments and directors, libraries increasingly meet this demand and have to worry about new problems like making sure not to put books out before their publication dates. Other patrons take the new technology for granted, using their Internet capable phones to simply access the library's digital collections and download them immediately from the airport or wherever they are.
Throw into this mix a few other current developments such as online social networking sites centered around books, automated reading logs, podcasts of author visits, twitter teasers from authors and people like Oprah Winfrey…well, how can RAs and teachers of RA keep up with the ever-changing possibilities? It's no longer enough to read Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, the bestseller lists, and the RA column in RUSQ. With the increased expectations from the public, readers' advisors need to know at least as much as the demanding patrons who show up at their desks on Monday morning looking for something they heard about over the weekend. And most good RAs will feel embarrassed for their library system if the catalog doesn't yet contain a listing for a hot new title that's in the news.
While the above mentioned journals have reacted to this new pressure by producing online versions like LJ Express, Booklist blogs and PW Morning Report, some new tools have been developed to help with this proliferation of information.
One example is the Readers' Advisor Online blog, which I have been privileged to edit and does an "RA Run Down" every Monday morning to digest the information RAs need to know—news of the past week, titles new to the bestseller lists over the weekend, and new books whose street dates fall into the upcoming seven days. Nora Rawlinson's Early Word, another blog, concentrates on forthcoming and newsworthy books as a tool for collection development librarians. RAs today also have a plethora of other sources they can and should be checking on a regular basis including tools aimed at the bookselling industry. There are no easy answers, but one thing is certain: RA classes and workshops—whether in library school, or as training for practitioners — need to be updated and revised often to be successful.
Even as the focus in public libraries moves more and more toward providing full readers' advisory service, new librarians can only be expected to have taken one or two classes in the subject in library school at most (except at Western Ontario, which, at last count, offers seven different courses). So how can library school education keep up?
Obviously, many readers' advisors would love it if more library school educators would take up the torch. But another solution might be for practicing RA librarians to continue to share their knowledge as adjuncts, but to also consider obtaining a Ph.D with the goal of becoming full time professors. Meanwhile they can do their part to spread the word about the need for more RA courses in library schools. Practitioners could partner with library school faculty and perform research or write articles together. Library directors could make it clear that they want new graduates with a course background in RA services. With the graying of the profession affecting both practitioners and professors, now is the time for younger librarians to capture what has been learned in the length of the careers of those retiring soon, and advance it even further in the future.
Practicing RAs need to take every opportunity to keep abreast of the field themselves by keeping up on research and publications, trying and evaluating the technology, learning about new tools and resources, inventing new ways to offer service, availing themselves of workshops, webinars, formal education and conference programs, and using the results of what little research there is to try to improve their services. This self-directed learning is vital for the future of the field. And, as RAs develop their skills, it is imperative that they pass on their knowledge by publishing, teaching, and conducting research.
That's my plea. Please pass it on.
CINDY ORR has over 30 years of experience with four different library systems in the areas of collection development, public service, management and readers' advisory service. She is the former Collection Manager at Cleveland Public Library and has also been Fiction Selector and Director of Technical Services at Cuyahoga County Public Library. She consults with libraries and book industry companies, speaks frequently at library conferences, teaches Readers' Advisory Services for Kent State University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and writes on library-related subjects.
Cindy worked on the team at Cleveland Public Library which debuted the first library digital downloadable eBook and audiobook service using OverDrive's platform. This system is now used in hundreds of libraries worldwide. She was also on the committee that planned Read This Now, the first 24-hour-a-day 7-day-a-week live readers' advisory service on the Web, which has since gone statewide as part of Ohio's Know It Now 24x7 suite of services. Cindy was awarded the 2004 American Library Association Margaret E. Monroe Award for service to adults, is a member of the advisory board for Libraries Unlimited's The Reader's Advisor Online, and editor of its blog.