Passively Recommending Books

  As we are about to enter spooky season, I thought I would put up a quick post about using one of this season's most anticipated horror titles, What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman. The idea is to show how you can assemble these book displays in a variety of ways. Books can become book friends by pairing them together using different approaches. There isn't one answer.   This book is about parental grief, hometowns, and being haunted by the past. It's also a southern gothic folk horror book with a healthy dose of body horror. The sense of dread and overall creepiness builds as book progresses. Fans of domestic suspense who are open to some horror will love this book.  The plot? From the publisher's ( Quirk Books ) website :  After striking out on her own as a teen mom, Madi Price is forced to return to her hometown of Brandywine, Virginia, with her seventeen-year-old daughter. With nothing to her name, she scrapes together a living as a palm reader at the local f

If you are visiting from today's PLA webinar, Using Passive Readers Advisory to Market Your Collection, welcome!  Here are all of the links from today's presentation: https://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/ https://horror.org/category/seers-table/ https://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/ https://simmonslis.libguides.com/NontradWesterns https://wccls.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1350633061/1911579069 http://diverse-romance.com/ https://bookriot.com/queer-historical-romances/ https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1953821989/2039340739 https://bookriot.com/books-like-lord-of-the-rings/ https://ppld.org/sites/default/files/readinglists/epicfantasy.pdf https://www.wired.co.uk/article/best-fantasy-books-novels-series https://www.briankeene.com/store https://beverlyjenkins.net/books/ http://www.ala.org/rusa/sites/ala.org.rusa/files/content/sections/codes/section/rusacodes2013formbasedreadersadv.pdf https://www.spl.org/programs-and-services/authors-and-books/your-next-5-books https://libgu

  National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15-October 15 every year. According to the many US government agencies who take part "It traditionally honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latin[e] Americans." Every year a theme is chosen for the month. This year it is: L atinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America. Regardless of where your library, it's a great way to showcase some of your backlist and remind patrons of the authors and books they may have missed. In addition to fiction, you can display non-fiction like travel, cooking, and history. Remember that your patrons are as curious as you are so don't decide in advance that they won't be interested  For your social media, blogs, and online lists, here are some links you can use. Remember to vet any site before you suggest it to your patrons.   One thing you can do is curate a page of virtual tours and exhibits for your patrons. They can also be used by l

Crime fiction is very popular but lists and displays often have the same best selling authors on them. You could likely name 5-10 of those authors easily if asked. One way to dig into your backlist and help patrons find series and authors new to them is to look at crime fiction in translation or international crime fiction.  The Petrona Award -Awarded to the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year. Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation - The Crime Writers' Association Dagger Award This award is for crime novels (defined by the broadest definition to include thrillers, suspense novels and spy fiction) as long as the book was not originally written in English and has been translated into English for UK publication during the judging period.  Translated Crime Fiction Books - Goodreads Lawrence Picks: Best Mysteries

September is a big month for library celebrations! It is Library Card Signup Month which makes for easy active programming and in-house promotion. Don't forget to reach out to those people in your area who don't use the library but who would be interested in your digital services including eBooks and eAudiobooks. As always, don't assume that everyone knows they can checkout digital titles from their libraries; not everyone knows about our collections and services.  The theme of the official ALA merchandise is Elemental - a Disney/Pixar film. You can tie the theme of that movie into online booklists and book displays. Fire, water, land, and air could each become a separate display for youth and adults. Interpret the theme broadly - titles can include one of those words or the theme can be included more broadly in the book or movie. The goal is to market your collection's backlist. No one will be grading you.  Ask  patrons if they would like to have their pictures taken

  Libraries aren't the only places to find great book displays and book lists. Independent book stores often have staff who are passionate about the books they love and clever at coming up with compelling book displays that put the focus on getting great books faced out so their customers can discover them. Take a look at your local indie bookstore or check out the websites and social media accounts of stores across the country. See how they use humor and unexpected combinations to promote and market the books in their stores. Give them credit if you borrow their ideas and include details about how your patrons can find them.  One of my favorites is Gibson's Bookstore in Concord, NH. You can view their displays on their Instagram account for some inspiration. Their displays are book focused, clever, and memorable. One of their more genius ideas is that their past displays and curated book lists are available on their website. If a customer saw a title on a display but missed

I think that it's always easier to plan out your book displays and lists in advance. That gives you time to see what will and will not work with your collection as well as time to develop some of them into passive programs. Some will work better as online lists or social media posts depending upon your physical and digital collections. But don't forget to mention your digital collections in your library on the book displays. Never assume that patrons are aware of all the services you provide.  First step is to consider the basics that come up every month. Read this post for a list.  August doesn't have big national holidays to consider. But there are some fun celebration weeks and celebration days that can lead to great displays.  LibraryReads has released their August list. Voted on by library workers, it's a great way to have a regular display with upcoming titles that are diverse and which will include a variety of genres. You can expand it with other books by the a