Passively Recommending Books

  Of course there are a number of holidays this month. Please don't neglect to put up a winter/snow sort of display to balance things out for those who don't celebrate Christmas. There are a number of romance and horror titles which focus on winter and snow. Mysteries, particularly those by Scandinavian authors (Scandi Noir) are also good options if you are looking for fiction.  Consider knitting, winter decor, and travel narratives from wintery places. There are plenty of wintery DVDs which could be added as well.  Beyond Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza, there is Yule and Winter Solstice to consider. Set up displays of paranormal romance, occult horror, urban fantasy, and non-fiction books about wicca, the occult, and related subjects.  In 1997, the show Seinfeld introduced Festivus to everyone. Do you have books that are based around complaints? Titles that you think various Seinfeld characters would love? Use your imagination and even set up a Festivus pole! December 1 is ce

  People love to read suggestions from famous people. Whether it's Barack Obama's summer reading list  or Bill Gates' suggestions  or even the literary references from  Beyonce , they will be popular with patrons.  Some celebrities have book clubs (Reece Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager) but others mention them in interviews or on their social media pages. Stephen King is well known for putting books he's enjoyed on his Twitter account, for example. When you see a list pop up, take note of it and see if you can use it to market your back list.  Here are a few lists to get you started. I picked older lists because it will give you a chance to focus on your backlist. But check for year's best lists from this year as well:  39 Black Authors On Their Favorite Books by Black Authors from Penguin Random House The 40 Best Celeb Recommended Books of 2021: Picks From Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey & More from E Online.  15 Books Recommended by Celebrities in 2021   from

  There are a lot of patron-run book clubs out there. Some are part of senior living centers, homeowners associations, or clubs. It's also true that book clubs take a huge investment of staff time that not every library can afford, especially when attendance can be low. It's possible for library workers to assist local, patron-run book clubs out and to create a hub for book clubs.  The easiest way to do this is online although it can be done with a physical book display and printouts. A book club hub page on your website can be a place to collect information useful to those who run them, curated by your librarians. This will increase the value of your library to the local community, even for those who rarely, if ever, come into your building.  Among the services you can provide is to link to collections of discussion questions found online. Many publishers have resources on their websites as does Book Riot ,  Oprah Daily , and the website Reading Group Guides . When a particul

  It's November and while spooky season never ends, it is likely time to rotate your library's book displays out and feature some other titles.  There are two primary civic holidays that will be on everyone's mind - Thanksgiving and Veteran's Day.  For Thanksgiving, you can set up a display with alternative ideas for what to serve for dinner. Set up a "No Meat Thanksgiving" display with your vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. Dive into your cookbook section and pull out some options for people who want to go beyond turkey and stuffing (or dressing). Facing out cookbooks will get them checked out. It would also be nice to focus on gratitude and being thankful in general. There are youth titles on the subject including picture books so keep that in mind in case all of your Thanksgiving and fall books get checked out. Goodreads has a list of adult and youth titles. You can search your fiction collection as well for books which include characters learning about being

Here are the slides from my presentation at the New England Library Association Conference in Springfield, MA. It was a great conference. If you have any questions or would like more assistance with learning best practices when it comes to book displays or passive readers advisory, please contact me.

  So, it's October and you want a book display that isn't horror? Here are some ideas that you can use.  You could always go horror - adjacent and do a true crime or horrible history display with your non-fiction. If you pick the best readable, narrative non-fiction and put it near your fiction stacks, there are books that will get checked out. This is a display that will flow into your horror book displays and lists.  Remember that you can be funny and refuse to fall into anything! Put up a display of beachy, coastal romance and fiction. Put up a sign with a flip flop and proudly demonstrate your refusal to give up summer. There are plenty of books with beaches on the front that you can use. You could tie it into a coast/ocean horror display with books like Daniel Kraus' Whalefall.  Mean Girls Day was October 3 but a book display of the books you think that the characters from the movie would like and books that fans of the movie might enjoy would also be fun.  Other holid

  I wanted to follow up on a question I received during the PLA webinar about passive readers advisory as a way to market your collection. Don't forget that books can be approached in a lot of ways. One way you can start is by looking at subject headings. You can search a lot of library catalogs by subject. They are often hyperlinked which makes it easy to search.  If we look at the example in the last post, What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman, here are the subject headings from the MARC record: Missing children Homecoming Palmists Father and child Kidnapping Man-woman relationships Occult & Supernatural. Horror fiction Gothic fiction. Thrillers (Fiction) There are likely lots of titles on your shelves about kidnappings, homecomings, and missing children.  If we look at the publisher's summary of the book: Madi returns to her hometown and reconnects with an ex from high school, now known locally for his refusal to give up looking for his infant son who has been missi