Kick Up Your Readers Advisory Skills For Kids and Teens

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Kick Up Your Readers Advisory Skills For Kids
and Teens
VIP Conference May 9, 2008
BAM!
Presenters Diane Cary and Marcia Stepanek
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BAM!

• Build your knowledge base of kids and teen
  literature.
• Acquire knowledge of what kids and teens are
  reading.
• Model create tools and use techniques that can
  be used by parents, caregivers, as well as kids
  and teens themselves.

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Readers advisory

• Putting people together with the books they love.
  
• Its a science and an art.
• To be successful you must not only understand the
  literature, you must also listen to and
  understand the reader.
• Most importantly, you must be approachable!

http//www.genreflecting.com/ReadersAdvisory.html
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Dont scare the kids!

The Librarian from the Black Lagoon
Image from http//www.bigfott.com/Librarian.html
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Statistics say
When 177 students were asked Where do you get
your ideas for leisure reading?, they said

• 87 - Friends (49)
• 29 - Browsing in a library (16)
• 29 - Browsing in a bookstore (16)
• 17 - Teacher (10)
• 14 - Other (family, movies, TV) (8)
• 1 - Librarian (0.05)

(Donelson and Nilsen, 2004, p. 89)
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Be approachable

Smile, smile, smile
build a connection
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Build a connection

• Readers advisory is about connecting
• the right person with,
• the right book at,
• the right time!

Its being in the know .
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Being in the know

• Know kids and teen literature.
• Know what kids and teens are reading.
• Know your library collection.

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1 - Know the literature

Read, read, read. Document what youve read. Keep
a database of what youve read. Try a social
networking tool. - LibraryThing.com -
Goodreads.com - Shelfari.com Subscribe to
newsletters. Subscribe to RSS feeds.
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2 - Know what kids are reading
Favorite series. Favorite authors. Bestsellers. Wh
ats coming soon. School reading lists. Websites
for kids - Kidsreads.com
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3 - Know what teens are reading
Hit series. Popular authors. Bestsellers. Whats
coming soon. Award winners. Websites for teens -
Teenreads.com
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Whats hot?

• Books in Verse.
• Graphic Novels.
• Magazines.

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3 - Know your collection

Create book displays - In the stacks. - At the
computers. - At a service desk. - At the
checkout desk. Create bibliographies. Collect
booklists. Collect all formats of materials.
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Action plan

BAM!
Build - Acquire - Model
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When the rubber hits the road

• Respect.
• Leadership.
• At evaluation time you will shine!

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Location, location, location

• Collection, collection, collection.
• Get out and look at your collection.
• Shelve organize.
• Do walk abouts.
• Create book displays.
• Be out there!

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Give them something to talk about

• Co-workers as a vital resource
• Expertise.
• Interests.
• Advice.

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Dip, but dont double dip

• Eavesdrop _at_ Circ Desk, OPACCOOL!
• Interfere/interruptNOT COOL!
• L-I-S-T-E-N.

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Tie a string around your finger

• Remembering titles and subject areas.
• Psychologists and long term memory facts.
• How to encode it in your memory forever.

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Remember the 3 strikes rule

• Kids and teens will only ask us 3 times to
  recommend a good book.
• If we fail to connect one of those 3 times,
  they will not ask us again.

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Make a commitment

• Contracts work.
• Spend 5 minutes a day online.
• Review 3 books per week.
• Or, whatever will work for you!

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Diane and Marcia say