2. A flowchart to get you
started…
http://teach.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/07/Summer-
Reading-Flowchart-Young-Adults.gif
3. Take a look at your community
What are they reading?
Based on what they are
reading, what can you order
that would appeal to them?
Cater to their interests
4. In Yuma County…
YA Stats - October 2014
Dateland Foothills Heritage Main Roll San Luis Somerton Wellton Total
BIOGRAPHY 0 1 3 5 0 2 2 0 13
NONFICTION 0 23 26 115 0 37 21 0 222
YA-FICTION 14 125 49 466 10 154 46 26 890
YA-GRA-FIC 7 184 40 844 0 415 132 0 1622
YA-MYSTERY 0 13 1 11 3 4 6 0
YA-SC-FI 16 36 18 82 1 49 19 7 228
6. My teens…
Play video games
Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
LOVE (like, really) love superheroes and
comics
Pulse by Patrick Carman
Super Human by Michael Carroll
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
7. My teens…
Watch Supernatural
Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Watch Marvel/DC movies and shows
The Green Arrow comics
Batman comics
The Flash comics
8. Average teen reference
interview…
“Can you help me find a book?”
“Absolutely! What kind of book?”
Potential responses:
“Something with vampires.”
“Something like The Fault In Our Stars (or
insert book here)”
*Blank stare, a little drool*
9. Questions we can ask them
“What was the last thing you read and
enjoyed?”
“What kind of books have you liked in the
past?”
“What shows do you watch/games do
you play?”
“What books do you hate?”
10. Ten Rules of Basic RA Service
by RA For all
1. Betty Rosenberg: “Never apologize for your reading
tastes.”
2. Suggest don’t Recommend.
3. Everyone reads a different version of the same book.
4. Write down adjectives about what you read; plot you can
find.
5. Read widely (at least speed read widely).
6. Read about books (RSS feeds).
7. Share what you read- with staff and patrons.
8. Never let a patron leave unsatisfied.
9. Get out from behind the desk.
10. Bridge the physical-virtual divide.
http://raforall.blogspot.com/p/beckys-ten-rules-of-basic-ra-
service.html
11. Resources to help bridge that
physical-virtual divide
Pinterest (For you)
“20 books if you liked “The Fault In Our Stars”
Flow charts
Library Pinterest pages
Snapchat (for them)
Snap a pic of new books and anyone who is
‘friends’ with you will see
Twitter (also for them)
The “New Facebook”
Tweet a 140-character book talk/snippet
Goodreads
12. Know your audience! (Again)
Teens are always changing! They change
interests and styles and fads. Stay ahead of
the game!
Don’t underestimate them. They’ll question
you and fight just because they can. Be
patient with them!
Know your collection. If you have to search
for ten minutes to locate something, you’ll
lose them.
DISPLAYS!!
13. Think about your Space
If you have a teen room, that’s
automatically reader’s advisory. Have
the books shelved there so while they’re
playing games, watching movies, etc.,
they see the books.
If you don’t, make a space! Even a corner
with a display or bulletin board. Draw their
attention and keep it!
Every community is different. My teens love graphic novels. Adults here love graphic novels. The snow birds in Yuma love romance and non-fiction books about quilting, knitting and history. It’s also so important to understand what they’re interested in outside of reading so that you can find that bridge between books and real life. If a teen realizes that hey, there’s a book about video games? Cool! They’ll want to read it. They like knowing that other people like the same things they do.
A total of 1,622 graphic novels circulated in October. That’s almost double the circulation of the next highest, YA Fiction. I don’t read graphic novels; but I HAVE to make myself aware of them or else I’m behind and they don’t get the best service I could offer them. Luckily for me if they read graphic novels or manga they almost always already know what they want in an established series, but I have to make sure I’m on top of the ordering.
This goes back to knowing their interests. It’s important with teens, if you are able to, to build a relationship with them. Let them know you’re there for them, that you understand their needs and that you can actually help them. Let them talk about their obsessions with Batman or Deadpool and Super Smash Brawl and actually engage in the conversation. Building relationships with the teens is, in my opinion, one of the biggest and most important aspects of Reader’s Advisory for Teens.
Whether you know them or not, this is usually the average reference interview with a teen. Sometimes they’ll know exactly what they want and your job is easy peasy. Other times it’s like pulling teeth to get them to tell you what they want. As much as I wish I was a mind reader, I’m not, despite what they think! So try to ask as many questions as you have to in order to figure out what they are looking for. Start broad and then narrow it down.
How many times have you heard negative things about Twilight or Vampire Diaries or any books that are popular? We must make sure that the teens know not to be ashamed or embarrassed about their reading choices. I’m tired of getting ‘those looks’ when I tell people I actually enjoyed Twilight!
Suggest: to mention or introduce; to prompt the consideration, making, doing, etc
Recommend: to present as worthy of confidence, acceptance, use, etc.; commend; mention favorably:
Interpretation!
Scary, funny, love, adventurous, mysterious
Step out of your comfort zone and read out of your genre (I know, it’s hard for me too). If you don’t know all the genres’ most popular authors/titles, how can you know what to suggest?
Research. Goodreads is a great place to see what everyone’s reading, what’s coming out, and find lists.
Blogs, Staff picks, Pinterest, displays
Make sure they leave with –something- even if it’s to help them weed out what they don’t like.
Make yourself presentable and available
Use everything and anything you can!
