Blog 8, or; I'm out of "witty" subtitles

•    Write your last blog about  what you have covered in and out of class and any gaps which might need addressing .......and strategies for addressing these gaps
Everything in the unit of competency was covered in class.

Despite this, I feel that I need to improve on reading reviews. To correct this, I can look for book reviews, both by professional critics and people that have read the book and provided a short review on websites such as Goodreads.

I also need to improve on recommending books to people that make requests. For this, I intend to go through websites such as Goodreads and making lists of books in various genres that are similar to one another.

Blog 7; or, I hate this frakking keyboard and wish to smash it into a milion tiny pieces

What strategies would you recommend for the evaluation of the usefulness or success of the reading and literature promotional activities run by either a school library or a public library

To evaluate the success of promotional activities various factors should be taken into account. The most important factor is how much interest it generates. Promotional activities are, by design, meant for generating interest in whatever is being promoted, i.e. the latest popular trend (Harry Potter, Twilight), upcoming events, or just generally promoting something like a genre or series.

To evaluate the interest shown, statistics would have to be kept and regularly checked on the kind of items that are being promoted. If the promotion includes books on a display, the items on display should be noted for how often they’re out on loan or being read around the library.

Keeping record of recommendations and reservations is another way of seeing how effective promotional activities are at actually promoting reading and literature.

Blog 6; or, I give up on trying to provide entertaining titles so enjoy my Fall Out Boy-esque subtitles

Write about your views on reader advisory roles in libraries and what competencies would essential to work well in that roleI think that the reader advisory role is an important role to play in getting people to read books that they might have otherwise ignored. It’s also good for the person fulfilling the role.

As a reader advisor, a person would need to read many different books from many different genres and analyse them to a great extent in order to properly judge the various factors that might make others like the book, whether they’re looking for a book of a particular genre, from a specific author, if they want a wonderful plot, or exquisite characterisation, or any number of other factors that readers may consider when trying to decide on a book that they may want to read.

For the patrons that use a reader advisors services, they’d be able to quickly find books that they may be interested in reading from any of the factors listed above.

There are obviously many things that could fail with this service. For instance, the advisor may be unable to provide an unbiased view of certain books for whatever reason, or patrons may be unable to provide information on books that they generally like to read, or the advisor could misinterpret information that patrons do give and suggest books that the patron specifically does not want.

Readers advisors would need to be up to date with the current culture, they would need to be aware of various different formats, as well as maintain an awareness of current publishing trends. They would need to keep up with current reading trends in the library they work in and be aware of reading lists, in addition to be capable of finding and utilising information about books from a wide variety of sources.

A readers’ advisor would obviously need enthusiasm for reading, and as stated above, they would need to be willing to read books from many different genres. They would also need to be able to share their knowledge of books and sources with with members of staff and, of course, library patrons, including using electronic means such as a blog. They may also need to be capable of doing book talks, lead discussions, write annotations, and be able to develop reading lists for others.

Blog 5; or, I can't for the life of me think of a better title than that

Where do you find literature reviews?
•    Magazines
•    Newspapers
•    Literary websites
•    Podcasts (for audio reviews)
•    Blogs
 
What are some well known literary journals for adults and children?
Adults:
•    The Australian Book Review
•    Australian Author Magazine
•    Kill Your Darlings

Children:
•    The Looking Glass
•    Children’s Literature Assembly
•    Alphabet Soup
 
What literature promotion activities are on the Australian and English speaking world calendar every year or regularly at wider intervals of time?
•    Premiers Reading Challenge
•    Children’s Book Week
•    MS Readathon
 
What are two well known "book" towns - one in Victoria and one in UK?
UK:
•    Hay-On-Wye, Wales

Victoria:
•    Clunes
 
What are some well known literature promotion organisations in Australia and other English speaking countries?
•    Australian Council for the Arts
•    Love 2 Read
•    The International Board on Books for Young People
 
What are the better known literary awards or prizes in Australia, US and UK for children's books and for adult fiction or poetry?
Australia - Children:
•    Young Australian Best Book Awards
•    Children’s Yearly Best Ever Reads
•    Kids’ Reading Oz Choice

Australia - Adult:
•    ABC Fiction Award
•    Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
•    Victorian Premier’s Literary Award

US - Children:
•    Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers
•    Golden Kite Award
•    Young Reader’s Choice Award

US - Adult:
•    Amazon’s Best Books of the Year
•    Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
•    Quill Award

UK - Children:
•    Booktrust Teenage Prize
•    Red House Children’s Book Award
•    Angus Book Award

UK - Adult:
•    Man Booker Prize
•    Commonwealth Writer’s Prize
•    Wales Book of the Year

Pictures are annoying. Just sayin'

• look at some online library catalogues - school, (if possible), TAFE, university, public and some quirky special libraries (if possible) which deal in fiction such as the Atheneum Library to see what you can find out about the arrangement of their literary works on the shelves and the the subject headings they use

Athenaeum Library
The Athenaeum Library have a wide variety of fiction categories. These categories are: Adventure and thrillers, detective fiction, general fiction, graphic novels, historical fiction, historical romantic fiction, romantic fiction, science fiction, short stories, and young adult.
Some of the subject headings that it uses are: fantasy fiction, teen science fiction, secrecy—fiction, detective and mystery stories, eccentrics and eccentricities—fiction, private secretaries—fiction, and Italy.

Cranbourne Secondary College
The library at Cranbourne Secondary College separates their fiction collection into five groups: general fiction, senior fiction, quick reads, graphic novels, and picture books.
Some of the subject headings that it uses are: fantasy fiction, science fiction, and animals.

Casey-Cardinia Library
Casey-Cardinia Libraries generally split their fiction collection into young adult, general fiction, romantic fiction, science fiction, and children’s fiction.
Some of the subject headings that it uses are: adventure stories, love stories, supernatural fiction, thriller fiction, and humorous stories.

• Find some pictures (Google iImages might be a good place to start) of shelving arrangements in libraries and shelving arrangements in bookshops - how do they differ
Libraries

Bookstores

Differences
Library shelving is much more orderly than bookshops, with everything neat and lined up, whereas bookshops are a bit more flexible with their shelving, with books on display, and shelves spread around a bit more randomly.

• find isome pictures on signage practices in libraries especially school and public libraries and some information or pictures on the use of special stickers or lables on book spines

• Do some research on the use of genre arrangment in libraries or bookshops" Does genre arrangment encourgae an interest in borrowing or buying fiction?
Most of the libraries that I’ve been too haven’t separated the books by genre. Cranbourne Secondary College does put genre stickers on their books, but they’re still shelved with the rest of whichever collection they belong to, be it fiction, quick reads, or graphic novels.
Bookstores on the other hand generally organise their books by genre, and in my opinion it works pretty well. It makes it easier to find books that may interest you if you want to read books of a certain genre.

Reading promotion thingies; or, I should just start numbering these by weeks or something instead of coming up with Fall Out Boy-esque titles

• Find some examples of  the promotion of reading by different organisations - libraries, schools, bookshops, book councils, associations etc.

Scholastic book fairs:

http://www.scholastic.com.au/schools/bookfairs/

Premier’s Reading Challenge:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/prc/

Hampton Park Library:

Thursday, 12 September
2.00-3.30 pm

Love2Read Reading Hour:

http://www.love2read.org.au/readinghour.cfm

Get Reading!:

http://www.getreading.com.au/events/

·         Has there been any research done on the success of any promotional activities or programmes? (perhaps an article or two in some scholarly journals)

Scholastic:

Reading for pleasure: A research overview - http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/i/Reading_for_pleasure.pdf

The International Board on Books for Young People:

School Libraries and Reading Promotion - http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=726

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions:

Using research to promote literacy and reading in libraries: Guidelines for librarians - http://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-professional-reports-125

Literature thingies; or, I'm bad at titles

Picture books:

1. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John.

2. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Readers:

1. Matilda by Roald Dahl.

2. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.

3. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

Children’s fiction:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling.

2. The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer.

3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.

Children’s classics:

1. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

2. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

3. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

Non-fiction:

1. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

2. Bossypants by Tina Fey.

3. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.

General fiction:

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Young adult fiction:

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

2. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Poetry:

1. The Odyssey by Homer.

2. Paradise Lost by John Milton.

3. Inferno by Dante.

Fantasy:

1. Eragon by Christopher Paolini.

2. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.

3. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Crime/detective:

1. Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell.

2. The Kill Room by Jeffrey Deaver.

3. Joyland by Stephen King.

Historical:

1. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

3. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.

Horror:

1. The Shining by Stephen King.

2. World War Z by Max Brooks.

3. Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Mystery/adventure/thriller:

1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

3. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

Western:

1. The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

2. True Grit by Charles Portis.

3. Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry.

Literary fiction:

1. The Age of Ice by J. M. Sidorova.

2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

3. Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Humour/comedy:

1. Night Terrors: Sex, Dating, Puberty and Other Alarming Things by Ashley Cardiff.

2. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

3. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

Science fiction:

1. 1984 by George Orwell.

2. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

3. Dune by Frank Herbert.

Drama:

1. Dead Sexy Dragon by Lolita Lopez.

2. Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

3. Shooting Stars by Karina Halle.

Romance:

1. Too Fast by Alexia Haynes.

2. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin.

3. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Short stories:

1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling.

2. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman.

3. Tenth of December by George Saunders.

Graphic novel:

1. Naruto vol. 65: Hashirama and Madara by Masashi Kishimoto.

2. One Piece vol. 17: Hiruluk’s Cherry Blossoms by Eiichiro Oda.

3. Fairy Tail vol. 12 by Hiro Mashima.

Translated fiction:

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.

3. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

Biography:

1. Night by Elie Wiesel.

2. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff.

3. A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen.

Autobiography:

1. High Price by Dr. Carl Hart.

2. Is It Just Me? By Miranda Hart.

3. The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry.

Memoirs:

1. The Boy who Lived with Ghosts by John Mitchell.

2. Dear Life by Alice Munro.

3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Travel accounts:

1. The Longest Road by Philip Caputo.

2. Apologies to my Censor by Mitch Moxley.

3. To the Moon and Timbuktu by Nina Sovich.

Literary Essays:

1. Shut Up, You’re Welcome by Annie Choi.

2. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach.

3. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.

Scholarly books on literature:

1. Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion by Andrew Delahunty and Sheila Dignen.

2. Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations – Edited by Susan Ratcliffe.

3. The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature – Edited by M. C. Howatson.

Other useful reference books:

1. A Dictionary of Critical Thinking by Ian Buchanan.

2. Aesthetics of a Multicultural Age – Edited by Emory Elliot, Louis Freitas Caton, and Jeffrey Rhyne.

3. Criticism and Modernity: Aesthetics, Literature, and Nations in Europe and its Academies by Thomas Docherty.

4. Elements of Literature – Edited by Robert Scholes, Carl H. Klaus, Nancy R. Comley, and Michael Silverman.

5. Ethics, Evil, and Fiction by Colin McGinn.

Readers Advisor job description

Summary

This position provides reader’s advisory, reference, research, and technical support services for the Talking Book Program. This position provides service via telephone, email, postal correspondence, and in person to patrons with visual, physical, and reading disabilities that prevent them from reading standard print. Work is performed in a call center environment. Works under general supervision, with moderate latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

Essential Tasks

Provides reader’s advisory service to patrons with visual, physical, and reading disabilities, assisting in the location and selection of reading material in accessible formats.
Participates in organizing and supports patron participation in reading activities, such as book talks, reading clubs, discussion groups, and written reading advisory handouts; assists in evaluating the success of these activities.
Participates in developing and implementing outreach activities, both in cooperation with the Public awareness Coordinator, and separately; assists in evaluating the success of these activities.
Provides technical support to patrons on matters related to use of TBP and NLS equipment and services, such as BARD and the DTBM. Assists with BARD registrations and other BARD administrative tasks.
Provides basic reference services, including online research, in accordance with departmental service policy.
Maintains personal service statistics and creates monthly reports of activities. Assists in developing policies and procedures for reader’s advisory services in TBP.
Recommends acquisition of materials for the Reader Services professional collection and provides input regarding the circulating collection.
Assists in orientation and training of new Reader’s Advisory Librarians.
Monitors discussion listservs and other online resources that contribute to knowledge of reader’s advisory.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Attends work regularly in accordance with agency leave and attendance policies.
Complies with all applicable agency policies and procedures, including safety, dress code, and standards of conduct.

Minimum Qualifications
Master's degree in library/information science from an ALA accredited program.
Experience working in a library or bookstore.
Experience providing service to the public.
Experience using a computer for word processing, email, spreadsheets.
Experience using a computer for database/Internet searching.
Extensive knowledge of books and general public reading interests.
Personal interest in reading and ability to discuss books effectively.
Excellent communication skills with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Demonstrated ability to handle complaints and resolve problems with tact and diplomacy.
Enthusiasm and interest in promoting library service for readers with disabilities.
Hearing acuity and ability to understand speech in order to interact with co-workers and patrons by telephone.
Ability to complete job tasks accurately and neatly, with attention to detail.
Ability to manage concurrent assignments.
Ability to work in a call center environment, including ability to sit for long periods of time, to block out noise from nearby work stations, and to wear telephone headsets with earpieces and mouthpieces.
Ability to work as part of a team, including taking the lead on some team projects.
Preferred Qualifications

Work/volunteer experience or coursework in reader’s advisory, collection development, and/or reference services.
Experience working in a talking book program library, or other experience working with persons with disabilities.
Experience in a call center environment.
Experience providing technical support by telephone or email.
Experience using Microsoft Office suite in a PC environment.
Experience creating bibliographies, pathfinders, or other finding aids for library patrons.
Experience using an integrated library system (ILS) or other automated records system to update and retrieve information.
Experience creating and maintaining web pages, blogs, etc.
Experience with or knowledge of assistive technology, especially screen readers or magnifiers.
Experience writing business correspondence.
Knowledge of Spanish language (written and oral).
Ability to read Braille and/or experience producing materials in Braille.

Interview Requirements

Interviewing applicants will be required at time of interview to successfully complete an oral exercise demonstrating ability to discuss books effectively.

Other Requirements
Writing samples required.
College transcripts required.
Occasional travel may be required.
Occasional evening and Saturday work may be required.
Supervision
Reports to Manager, Reader Services; works under team leadership of the Reader Services Librarian.

https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/jobs/ral.html