I
would like to say that my secret shopper experience was a glowing success,
however that was not the case. It was successful in the sense that I found a
book to use for my new adult fiction genre, but it wasn’t really at the help of
anyone at the library, sort of. Let’s just say that the reader’s advisory
skills of the lady I spoke to at the library were not the greatest. I don’t
want it to sound absolutely horrible. Based on the exchange I had, the
reference lady was either new or not really from the reference department,
however, there was some error on my part. I realized as I was speaking to the
reference librarian, I forgot to mention that I was looking for a book from the
new adult genre. I just said new adult fiction, which are two different things.
One of the signs that the reference librarian was either new or not from that
department is that she didn't know what "new adult" genre was. I
can't really blame her too much for that because I didn't know either until
this class. The second sign was that she kind of looked at me like a deer in
headlights when I was talking about books I liked. She did ask, but once I
started talking about it, it's like she realized she was in over her head. The
third sign is that she didn't know where to find Novelist in the databases.
Overall, it wasn’t the best experience. However, I did find a book for my new adult
genre thanks to Novelist. I also now know why I am not familiar with the genre,
because it’s not the type of books I like to read. Most of them are about love,
romance, or sex. Not my thing. Now, not all of them are like that. There are
some about career struggles or college woes. Relatable, but severely
depressing. I am not the kind of person to read about situations that can happen
in real life (unless it is true crime) because it feels all too real. I want to
read something that’s different. Something that takes me away and makes me
forget the world, not relive it.
P.S.:
Those curious to what book I chose, A
Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
I enjoyed that series. It was technically published for YA, which I think is risky. lol That's where my library shelves it, but we don't have a NA section, to be fair. And it wouldn't circulate in adult. So there you have it. ;)
ReplyDeleteIf you're ever interested in trying some NA that doesn't have *all* the stuff you described (as it turned me away at first), you should try AG Howard's Haunted Heart's Legacy series. I love it (and her writing). You should check it out and if it sounds like something you're interested in (story wise) give it a shot. :) I don't read a lot of NA, but that's my favorite.
It was in the adult section of my library. So I am going to count it lol. My library also doesn't have a NA section. It would have made this process a whole lot easier than it was. Although, thank you for the recommendation. I will look into it.
DeleteHi Hufflepuff! I feel sorry for the librarian you interacted with. She clearly hasn't conducted many reader's advisory interactions. In her defense my library has had novelist for as long as I've worked there, seven years. I didn't know we had it for at least two years and the only training I received was experimenting with it on my own. That has changed. Initially, I conducted readers advisory based on my personal reading experience. If I had no experience with the genre / style the patron was interested in. I went and found someone who did. Novelist makes things much easier.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Novelist is a useful tool. However, like I stated, I'm not entirely sure she was from the reference department. She didn't even have a name tag or anything. Wish she did so I could use her name instead of constantly referring to her as the reference librarian. lol I'm not trying to dog the librarian or anything like that. I think overall she did a good job, assuming she didn't know what she was doing lol.
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ReplyDelete