Building on a Firm Foundation

Abstract

For the past quarter century, we have seen a revitalization of readers' advisory (RA) services in the public libraries in the United States. The 1980s saw three major events that re-established the value of working with readers: the publication of the first edition of Genre-flecting under the editorship of Betty Rosenberg (1982); the establishment of the Chicago-area Adult Reading Roundtable (ARRT) (1984); and the publication of the first edition of Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library by Joyce Saricks and Nancy Brown (1989). Although not the only markers for the RA renaissance, each of these three events defined a crucial segment of RA practice. Rosenberg's book was the first RA tool that examined the intricacies of genre fiction. Many more books would follow this pattern. The establishment of ARRT brought like-minded readers' advisors together to talk about their work, both the theory and, particularly, the practice of connecting readers to books. The success of ARRT has generated a multitude of other reading-centered groups across the country, fostering a spirit of professional inquiry that has enabled readers' services to grow in scope and magnitude. Saricks and Brown developed and promulgated the concept of using appeal to make connections between authors and titles. The idea of appeal has been at the center of RA practice ever since and continues to be applied and shaped in new ways. After twenty-five years it is, perhaps, a time to look at what the challenges might be for readers' advisors in the next quarter century. In his book The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Donald Schon notes that a reflective practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation.... When someone reflects-in-action, he becomes a researcher in the practice context. (1) As we look toward the future of readers' advisory with the goal of becoming reflective practitioners, there are numerous areas that offer us both challenges and opportunities to expand our practice into new areas and to do so in a thoughtful way, responding to new opportunities by considering past practice and applying the lessons learned there to our future practice. Doing so will certainly assure us of the continued success of readers' advisory services. The following pages describe some of the potential challenges and opportunities that exist for readers' advisors in all types of libraries. Some of the items discussed are already being addressed by librarians and libraries in various ways, others less so. In all cases the intent here is to offer these items as a stimulus to further conversation and debate among readers' advisors. For it is in this sort of professional discourse that new paths can be forged that will keep RA work vital. It is hoped that future entries in this column can examine some of these topics more deeply and make recommendations on directions for the profession. Readers who might be interested in taking on the challenge of writing about any of these topics are encouraged to contact the column editor. FORMAT-BASED READERS' ADVISORY The initial focus in the late-twentieth century readers' advisory renaissance was on fiction reading, and in particular on genre fiction. Next, readers' advisors began to look at ways to apply the concepts of appeal and the practices developed for working with fiction readers to working with readers of narrative nonfiction. In the past couple of years, RA practitioners have started to consider how to apply these same skills to working with audiobook listeners. In addition to the concerns of story, setting, mood, language, and character, audiobook advisory requires a knowledge and sensitivity to things such as the narrative voice, reading style, where the auditor plans to listen to the recording, and what sort of media format the auditor needs and desires. …