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.
