THE READERS' ADVISORY CONVERSATION

What is the RA Conversation?

The Readers’ Advisory Conversation is an interaction that takes place between a reader (ie. a library customer) and a library staff member about books and reading recommendations. In the Readers' Advisory Conversation the library staff ask questions, gather information, determine what factors of the book appeal to the reader and offer reading recommendations of what the reader might like to read next.

RA Conversation vs. RA Interview

The Readers' Advisory Conversation is sometimes also called a Readers' Advisory Interview. At MPL, we prefer the term 'conversation' as it aligns with the customer service interactions we want to achieve with our Customer Service Philosophy.

An interview is commonly associated with a one sided, question dominated transaction. Our goal with Readers' Advisory and providing excellent customer service is to create an interaction. An interaction occurs when two people are engaged in a dialogue or actively participating in the process, that's why we frame this service as having a Readers' Advisory Conversation. We are still going to ask questions and gather information but we are also going to respond to the customer so that they know that we recognize that their reading choices are valid and worth our consideration. By having a engaged, two way conversation with the customer we can put them at ease, improve the flow of the information and allow them to feel confident in returning to the library and following-up with you because of the interaction itself not just its outcome.

Conducting an RA Conversation

The objective of the RA Conversation is to gather enough information from the reader to suggest to them a variety of titles based on their preferences. From these choices the customer can select what title they feel is right for them. In order to do this you need to use effective communication skills, these skills include asking open ended questions that will get you the information you need to make recommendations as well as asking clarifying questions to discover what motivates them when making their reading selections.

The Readers' Advisory Conversation and providing exceptional customer service go hand in hand. The Readers' Advisory Conversation is a great way for library staff to build professional and supportive relationships with customers, exceed their expectations and create a rewarding library experience.

Steps to the RA Conversation

1. Greet the Customer

2. Gather Information

3. Clarify

4. Consult your Resources

5. Offer Recommendations

6. Get Customer Approval

7. Offer Ongoing Assistance

1. Greet the Customer

Greeting the customer is as simple as a 'hello' and a smile. All staff need to ensure that they are acknowledging the presence of every customer by greeting them in a friendly way. Approachability is key. A greeting should include welcoming behaviours and open body language that communicates to the customer that you are available to assist them with their reading, research or technology needs.

Greeting the customer is an essential customer service skill. Refer the MPL Customer Service training for more information on this skill.

2. Gather Information

We want to begin to gather as much information as we can from the customer in order to suggest titles, determine their needs and avoid showing them something they already have read.

This is where the conversation model greatly differs from an interview. The pattern of an interview is question, answer, repeat. The pattern of a conversation has an added step where you show that you are listening and supportive by acknowledging the customers response.

Ask open ended questions (questions that start with 'who, what when, where how and why') as they will provide you with the most complete answers. Open ended questions cannot be answered with a simple 'Yes' or 'No' they always require additional information and that is why they are the best.

It’s great to have a list of go to questions that you can use on consistent basis and get you the answers you need. Knowing how to phrase things so that they are understood by everyone is an important communication skill.

Be careful though as some questions assume that the customer has an in-depth understanding of reading terminology and behaviours. For example not everyone knows what a character driven versus a plot driven story means. The solution is to ask more character or plot based questions and figure it out for yourself. Of course, this always depends on the customer. As you ask questions you will start to understand how they understand what they read and what their reading preference.

Example of Information Gathering questions for Readers' Advisory:

Who are some of your favourite authors? Why do you like them?

What have you read lately that you disliked? Why?

What was the last book you read? Why did you choose it?

What are some titles or authors that you have not enjoyed? Why not?

What do you prefer to read: fiction or non-fiction?

What format do you usually read (print, eBook, audiobook, etc.)?

One of the questions you need to ask is "How much time do you have right now?"

Whether you provide an in depth Readers' Advisory research session or find a great book from them on the fly depends on the answer to this question. Adjust your RA Conversation to the customers timeline, if they don't have time get them some quick recommendations and invite them back or show them a RA tool that they can try on their own. Demonstrating an understanding of this one customer needs is essential for providing exceptional customer service.

3. Clarify

Good communication skills require you to always clarify with your customer that you have the facts straight before you proceed. A good way of doing this to quickly paraphrase the information they have given you and get them to assert that it is correct. You should continue to do this as you go along and it’s a good habit to maintain. Get the customer to agree or clear up any facts that you may have gotten skewed. This also demonstrates your listening skills, if you weren’t listening to the customer then this can be a bit of trial and it will let you know that you may need to improve in this area.

Example of a clarifying statement:

“So you read 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' and like the 17^th Century setting, the descriptive language, the artistic tie-in, the strong female character and leisurely pace? Is that correct?”

4. Consult your Resources

Researching readers' advisory recommendations using online tools and resources requires library staff to apply search skills. These search skills are developed over time with experience and through ongoing professional development, training and knowledge with the online resources.

As you search for recommendations you should walk the customer through the resource you are using and the ways that you are searching. These resources are available for customers to use themselves and this is a great opportunity to introduce them to some of the resources the library has to offer.

Talk about where you get your information, demonstrate for them the tool and your search strategies so you can help them perform this type of research themselves.

Also, talk about what you are finding. Its okay to mention flaws in the search parameters or when you might disagree or agree with a recommendation. This is simply offering the user more information to consider and is good practice.

The point of Readers' Advisory is to have the customer leave with a book in their hand. This is where being knowledgeable about your library's collection is important. It is okay to place a title that the customer is interested in on hold but they really came in to take a book home today. You might just need to go to the shelf and skim some book jackets for appeal elements that match your customers Readers' Advisory needs.

Resources can include a well read co-worker, the library's online databases, reading websites, print resources, staff picks lists, the library catalogue, your own reading experience, your library's current collection, etc.

Some suggestions include:

5. Provide Recommendations

Show the customer what titles you have found and let them decide if they like the or not. Try to suggest at least 3 titles for the customer to choose from.

Once you have identified a few authors or titles go to the shelf and pull the selected items. Show them to the customer and let them know why you thought they might like them.

6. Get Customer Approval

Once you have shown the customer your suggestions get their thoughts and approval. If they are still unsure, re-evaluate the information you received from them, ask more questions and try again.

Experimentation, trial-and-error and failure are all parts of problem solving which is an important part of Readers' Advisory service. Look for ways to turn your failure into a learning experience that can help you grow your RA skills. Apply MPL's Failcamp philosophy to your Readers' Advisory.

Readers advisory takes time and research, its okay to ask the customer for more time to look for titles or use your RA tools and then follow-up with them later if you have to. Good customer service is full circle and persistence is the key. A good book is better late then never.

Asking for the customers approval shows that you care if the work that you did benefited them or not. It also demonstrates ownership over your work and allows you to receive valuable feedback. It is as easy as asking the customer to, "Please, let me know what you think!" It is a great way to invite the customer back and build a relationship.

When they return you can use the information you already know and continue to hone your RA skills, ask more questions and select better recommendations that can address their needs. Readers advisory is meant to be an ongoing service and practice makes it easier each time.

7. Provide Ongoing Assistance

Ongoing assistance is simply the continuation of your interaction. It is making sure that every issue the customer came into the library to resolve has been dealt with.

You have gained their approval with the Readers' Advisory service you provided and now you want to see if there is anything else they need help checking off their list. Remember to still avoid close ended questions. "Is there anything else you need help with?" is like asking them to go away and quit bothering you. (Can you hear the sigh after the question?) Whereas, "What else can I help you with today?" has a friendlier and helpful tone that sounds like you are ready to assist. It also cannot be answered with a 'Yes' or a 'No'.

If the customer is happy with the service they got then let them know one more awesome thing about the library and send them on their way with a "Thank-you!"

"Thanks for bringing me that question today. I was happy to help. And just so you know we have Hoopla, you can stream the movie for that book after you read it."

Promote what else the library can do for them and tie it to their needs. For example, connecting the customer with a library program like Markham Reads, Book Clubs, author visits, etc.

It's a win/win for customer service and library advocacy.

Tips for Providing Better Readers' Advisory

TALK BOOKS

Practice talking about books. Talk about books everyday. You also may need to read about books so you can talk about them and build your book knowledge. Check out bestsellers or award winner lists, read book reviews, read the back of books and the inside flaps of books look for the appeal elements in what you read and listen when others are discussing their current reads. Try to find multiple perspectives on a book, remember a lot of the information on a book or provided to retailers are from the publisher. Visit sites like Goodreads.com to read reviews that might provide a broader perspective. Join a book club and practice having discussions about the books you read. Follow along with something like Canada Reads and listen to how they discuss books and how a winner is chosen.

RA YO' SELF

Do Readers' Advisory for yourself. Ask yourself the same questions that you would ask a customer to find out their reading interests and use the same tools (like NoveList, Bibliocommons, etc.) to see what recommendations come up. Finally, evaluate those recommendations, (this may involve reading them) go through them and ask yourself if these suggestions align with what you would like to read. If the recommendations are not in line with what you like try to figure out different questions to ask that will get you to the recommendations that work for you. Go through this cycle again and again to get better at narrowing down your own reading interests and honing your Readers' Advisory research skills.

EXPAND YOUR READING

Expand your own reading interests, try different genres that you might not normally read. Look for appeal elements you enjoy that travel across genres so you can find reads you like in genres you never thought of trying. Read classics to find ideal examples of what a genre exemplifies and so you know what to expect when reading it. Or simply just try something new! Challenge yourself with something like Bookriot.com's reading challenge that gives you a series reading tasks to complete which include reading new genres, new authors and introducing you to new worlds, both real and imaginary.

KNOW THE COLLECTION

Readers' Advisory is meant to not only support the customers and their reading tastes but to also support the library collection, increase circulation and fill in gaps. There is no point suggesting something if you can’t provide it so it is important to be knowledgeable about the library's collection. If a customer is looking for a bestseller that currently has a long holds list then knowing what other titles that can be checked out today is very important. We want our customers to leave with a book in their hands, even if it is not the book they came into the library to get.

What do you have on the shelves? What can you go to directly and pull out for the customer.

PRACTICE INDIRECT RA

Use your merchandising skills and create a Readers' Advisory display. Find a popular title and create a read-a-like display of all the titles that are available in branch. When the display needs filling use your RA skills to keep it full.

Get creative, you can also create displays around appeal factors, books that have been made into movies, create a book map (books set in various parts of the world), staff picks, etc. Ensure you follow the Merchandising Guidelines.

Quiz

To complete this MPL EDU onboarding section and collect your badge select the image for the quiz to the right and complete the questions.

You must pass the quiz to collect your badge. All the information you need to pass the quiz is either on or connected to this page.

Once the quiz is successfully completed an email will be sent to the Learning & Growth Department. You will receive an email notification when your badge is issued and can be added to your Badgr account.