Passively Recommending Books

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

  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