Here is a brief summary of my Secret Shopper experience:
I visited a branch of my hometown library on a Wednesday around lunchtime. It was much busier at that time than I had been expecting, and I ended up having to wait a bit to have someone help me. I requested help finding an adult historical fiction book. The librarian helping me seemed flustered by my request, like he didn't often get requests from patrons for help finding a book. He proceeded to look in the library catalog online, and recommended a few different titles to me, all without asking what time period I wanted to read about, or without asking about books I had read in the past and liked/not liked. I was expecting a RA interview with a conversation about appeal, as we've been learning about in this class, but that wasn't my experience.
The first few titles he recommended were not good choices (one was a juvenile book, and the other he first thought was historical fiction, but then said it wasn't.) Then he suggested a few additional titles, all of which I have read before. Finally, another librarian (who was helping out different patrons at the desk) looked over at us and asked if I wanted a book recommendation. She suggested the book below, which I have not read before:
I think perhaps the original librarian who was helping me doesn't recommend books very often, as he seemed slightly panicked with my request. I was glad the 2nd librarian was there to offer a suggestion. I think my secret shopper experience would have been totally different if the 2nd librarian was the one who helped me initially. However, because it was so busy at that moment, she was helping other patrons and a line was building up behind me. I'm happy to have this book recommendation, but I honestly think I could have found this on my own through a google search.
I'm sorry it didn't go well! I think RA interviews, like many things in life, are a lot different in practice than they are in the academic literature. Also, I think different librarians have different comfort levels with book recommendations and it sounds like the it was definitely not the first librarian's strong suit.
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a bit of a rough time. Maybe, as you said, that librarian wasn't very experienced in giving readers' advisory.
It's interesting that you mentioned his panicked response. Most people who have done RA can relate on some level to that visceral panic, but it's important to overcome that to help the patron find a good match. I have found that it becomes easier to rely on my skills as I develop them through practice, but there is still that initial jolt of anxiety.
You give some good advice to find out what the patron likes or dislikes when recommending a book. Sometimes it can be reassuring when I suggest titles that they have already read because it means I'm headed in the right direction! I can also ask what they thought of it and use the response to help me navigate further.
Hello, Sara.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathize with how your experience went. Mine could have been better, as well. I find that one of the best ways to plan out one's approaches in such a position is to remember the bad of previous experiences and do the opposite.
I understand that it can be shock when you receive a question you're not prepared for, but making these seemingly-random assumptions was very sloppy, even for a slight panic. He definitely could have at least asked about the age-level you wanted. I do hope it was all just being surprised or inexperienced and not a half-effort.
Keep up the good work.
James
Hello Sara,
ReplyDeleteDo you think since it was so busy the first librarian was just worried about the line becoming overly long or having disgruntled patrons? I know lunch time is the busiest at my library but we have the fewest staff members available to call for assistance. It does seem odd that he did not ask any questions about your interests. I hope next time you will have a better experience!
-Abby Abbott
I have noted the above responses towards participation.
ReplyDelete