2018 Missouri Library Association Annual Conference

I will be presenting a table talk and two breakout sessions at the 2018 Missouri Library Association Annual Conference from Oct 10-12, 2018. 

(Icon © 2011)

Now seemed like the perfect time for the RAT Queen to add some new content to the Tales blog. Keeping my fingers crossed this is the start of more to come ... :-)

My co-presenter for the following programs will be Kaite Mediatore Stover from The Kansas City Public Library:

Top Ten Productions: Readers' Advisory Adventures Brought to You by LibraryReads  (Table Talk: 10/11/2018)

Talking About Reading: The Art and Soul of the Readers' Conversation  (Breakout Session: 10/11/2018)

Reading With Your Ears: Readers' Advisory and Audiobooks  (Breakout Session: 10/12/2018)

Click on the Resources tab to find out more information about these (and other) presentations.

LibraryReads Shout-Out!

LibraryReads is an monthly initiative developed and used by librarians to help connect their favorite books with as many readers as possible!

But before I get to the May 2016 LibraryReads list, I wanted to give a Shout-Out! to a fellow Gateway area librarian in recognition of her annotation being included in the current Top Ten listing!

Smoke: A Novel

by Dan Vyleta

Published: 5/24/2016 by Doubleday
ISBN: 9780385540162

“In an alternate historical London, people who lie reveal themselves by giving off smoke but the rules of how this works are complicated.There are some people who can lie and not trigger any smoke and this lends an interesting element to the story. The rules we are given are changeable. The setting lends itself well to the story.The writing is descriptive, and the tone is atmospheric. Similar authors that come to my mind were Neil Gaiman and China Mieville. This is a dark, delicious tale.”    

Jennifer Ohzourk, St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis, MO

Jennifer is Senior Subject Specialist at St. Louis Central Library's Center for the Reader. Through her posts on SLPL's Center for the Reader blog, she provides "information ... about Central's different book group discussions, author information, book awards, reading lists, and much, much more."

CONGRATULATIONS, Jen! In anticipation of a rush of requests from the customers at St. Charles City-County Library District, I placed a reserve on Vyleta's Smoke for myself!

The compete list for May 2016 can be found at LibraryReads.

KLA/MLA 2015 Libraries Without Borders Conference!

Yours truly, the RAT Queen, will be presenting at the upcoming state library conference, KLA/MLA 2015 Libraries Without Borders, being held in Kansas City, MO Wednesday, September 20 - Friday, October 2. It is a joint meeting for members of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) and the Kansas Library Association (KLA) which means double the fun and plenty of programs!

Not sure I was thinking clearly when I submitted them but had two proposals of my own* accepted, a general session program and a poster session and then volunteered (Yes, volunteered!) to be a presenter in two others, the Readers' Advisory pre-conference and a 4-speaker panel presentation about YA Lit. It's going to be a busy conference!

If you are coming to Kansas City, look for me at the following:

50 Shades of Quit Judging: Readers' Advisory, Intellectual Freedom, & Personal Taste (Pre-conference)

Developing RA Skills & Moral: Genre Studies & Team Building (general session) *

Six Degrees of Reading (poster session) *

So Your Youth Has Become Historical Fiction: Talk Up Your Era with Today's Readers (general session)


The full conference schedule is available at Libraries Without Borders. Follow the conference on Facebook and also on Twitter with @KLAMLA2015. You can even track all the readers' advisory programs by using hashtag #raBlitz15

Follow-up posts with additional information about each of the sessions listed above are forthcoming, so keep checking back for more! :-)

WESTERN Book Discussion - Question # 6

Who might enjoy this book ...

• To which of your customers, family, friends, or co-workers might you suggest The Outcasts? Why do you think they would enjoy it? 

• Many readers learn about new titles using social media ... how would you promote the book on Twitter or Hootsuite, using less than 140 characters?

Let's talk about the readers' advisory aspect using the COMMENTS: link.

RA Tip: Finding Mixed Genre Titles

Genre Blender

Do you have customers who are fans of mixed genre titles? Have trouble finding books to suggest? Wish there was a tool to help?

Well, thanks to librarian Megan McArdle there is a place where you can choose two or more genres, throw them in a 'blender' and get a list of title suggestions! 



Check out GENRIFY: Where genres mix and mingle

The blog is a companion to The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Blends by Megan M. McArdle (ALA Editions, 2014)

NONFICTION Book Discussion - Question # 7

Let's talk about similar reads ...

• What read-alike titles might you suggest for someone wishing a book like In the Kingdom of Ice?

• Would you only suggest other Nonfiction titles or could you expand into fiction? If so, what title(s) could you suggest?

Enter your responses using the COMMENTS: link below.

NONFICTION Book Discussion - Question # 6

Now lets discuss how to 'sell' the book to potential readers ...

• Using no more than 4 sentences, how would you give a book talk for In the Kingdom of Ice? Try applying the PRES technique listed under the RA Resources tab.

• What about using social media ... how would you describe the book on Twitter or Hootsuite, using less than 140 characters?

Use the COMMENTS: link below to provide your answers.

NONFICTION Book Discussion - Question # 5

Let's discuss the book from a readers' advisory point of view ...

• To which of your customers, family, friends, or co-workers might you suggest In the Kingdom of Ice? Why do you think they would enjoy it?

Please enter your response by using the COMMENTS: link.

RA Tip: "RA as a Technical Service" - a Training Opportunity

On Thursday, October 9th, during the 2014 Missouri Library Association (MLA)  Conference, Kaite Stover (Kansas City Public Library) gave a great program called: Readers' Advisory for a New Age of Readers. The Powerpoint presentation and handout for her program can be accessed online at: http://kaitestover.pbworks.com  Click on Conference Presentations, then Missouri Library Association for 2014.

During her program, Kaite mentioned an upcoming training which will be provided by RUSA-CODES (Reference and User Services Association-Collection Development and Evaluation Section of the American Library Association). The training will be email based and will begin Tuesday morning, Oct 14 and run through Wednesday afternoon/evening, Oct 15th. This CODES conversation is free and open to any library staff with an interest in readers' advisory.

RA as a Technical Service

A new CODES Conversation begins October 14th  and will run through the 15th. 

RA does not just happen in the stacks and at the public service desk. It happens in the catalog, in collection development, and in materials processing. Join a community of over 500 librarians interested in all things RA as we discuss how to make sure that the RA service that happens behind the scenes of public service gets the attention and focus necessary to make all of RA as robust and useful as possible.

Some of the topics we will address include:

• How best to calculate, and what factors to consider in setting, holds ratios?

• Genre Headings: How (if at all) do catalogers/patrons/advisors agree to what constitutes a genre? How many headings do we want/need in an age of genre blends?

• What features of the catalog support and enrich RA?

• How can the collection development staff help the public services staff keep up with new titles and genres?

• What use are stickers on books? How do they work with genre blends?

• Should we interfile or have divided collections?

• How do we ensure the best access to paperbacks? And speaking of paperbacks has the format flipped to some degree to ebooks?

***
CODES Conversations are focused electronic conversations on current issues facing collection development and readers’ advisory librarians—or anyone interested in those areas. The free, moderated discussions are open to all - just subscribe to the discussion at http://lists.ala.org/sympa/subscribe/codes-convos, then follow and contribute (or lurk!) as you wish.
 

Audio Readers' Advisory Workshop

LISTENING ADVISORY! WHAT'S THAT AND ARE YOUR EARS BURNING?

A Readers' Advisory Training workshop with special guest presenter Kelly Fann

Listening to a book is a different kind of experience 

from reading a book and advising customers in 

finding that next good audiobook requires different 

techniques. The St. Charles City-County Library 

District Reader's Advisory Training program is hosting 

an audio readers' advisory workshop for all library staff. 

The workshop will be presented by special guest speaker Kelly Fann from Tanganoxie Public Library, Kansas. Kelly will give advising tips and tricks, discuss appeal factors and trends, provide external resources, and review marketing and packaging techniques. Hot titles, mid-list titles, and key narrators will also be explored.

Presenter: Kelly Fann is the Director of the Tonganoxie Public Library in Tonganoxie, Kansas. She is a regular workshop presenter on readers' advisory practices, trends, and topics--her specialty being the horror genre and the incorporation of digital mediums for enhancing and invigorating library readers' advisory services. Kelly is also a reviewer for AudioFile magazine. Glued to the Internet, her iPhone, video games and audio books she is constantly seeking out new avenues and methods for finding the ultimate readers' services guides.

The Listening Advisory workshop will be held at the Spencer Road Branch in the Community Commons, Room 240. There will be two presentations of the workshop in order to try and accommodate as many attendees as possible. 

The dates and times to choose between are:

Tuesday afternoon, July 29 - from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM 

- OR -

Wednesday morning, July 30 - from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

LIBRARY / LOCATION :

St. Charles City-County Library District

Spencer Road Branch  - Community Commons, Room 240

427 Spencer Road

St. Peters, MO  63376

Click here for Directions to Spencer Road Branch

You can enter the Community Commons from the Boone Hills entrance on the North side of the library.

There will be handouts, light snacks, and possibly even some door prizes.  :-)