#in which i answer asks

[underthetweed]

Have you ever worked in a library versus a company like your current employer? I am trying learn all of the differences about working for a vendor versus a library and I don't know anyone in person who works for a vendor.

Hi anon! 

Yes, I worked in both public and academic libraries for many years before landing at NoveList. I did copy cataloging in my college library when I was an undergrad, and I’ve worked in four different public library systems (one in Illinois, three in North Carolina) as a page, an intern, and a Teen Services Librarian. 

As for the differences between working for a library and working for a vendor, there are lots of ‘em, but I’d much rather discuss them via private messages. This is not because I have anything to hide, but because it’s a sensible social media practice to discuss one’s employer in general terms only. I’m happy to share more on a one-on-one basis.

Generally, though, I think it’s safe to say that the biggest difference between public library work and vendor work is that the former is usually publicly funded, while the latter is a business. In both jobs, you’ve got to consider your users’ needs first and foremost, but with a vendor, you also have to consider whether you’re meeting those needs in such a way that customers will pay for it. It took me awhile to adjust to this mindset, but it helps that NoveList is a genuinely mission-driven business: as corny as it sounds, our staff (many of whom are librarians) really is dedicated to making useful products that connect libraries, books, and readers. But since NoveList/EBSCO is the only vendor I’ve worked for, I can’t speak to the broader library vendor experience.

I hope that answers your question at least somewhat, anon! If you’d like to know more, please feel free to message me.

[underthetweed]

Do you have any advice for Reader's Advisory when I rarely have time to read for pleasure?

Hi anon! Yes, I do indeed have some advice on that subject:

1. First and foremost: Let go of the idea that readers' advisory should rely on your own personal reading. Is it easier to do RA if you're well-read? Yes. Do you need to be well-read to do good RA? No. After all, how often are reader requests going to align with your own personal reading taste?

2. Instead of trying to read lots of books, try to read ABOUT lots of books. Skim book review journals, see what folks are reading on Goodreads, check out bestseller lists from NYT and USA Today and Amazon. All of those things will help you keep up with what's new, what's popular, and what's critically acclaimed. Also, sign up for email updates and newsletters. If your library has NextReads, sign up for a bunch of newsletters, especially ones that cover genres and topics you wouldn't personally read. (Full disclosure: I'm a NextReads bibliographer.) Sign up for newsletters from Publishers Weekly, LJ & SLJ, Booklist, and Bookriot; sign up for daily updates from Book Pulse and Shelf Awareness. It's so handy to have stuff emailed right to you, so that you can skim it quickly to stay updated (as well as click through if there's anything especially interesting). 

3. Use resources! As I mentioned in point #1, readers' advisory doesn't have to come directly from your brain. You're allowed to use resources, just like you would for a reference question. For instance, readers' advisory is is what @novelistra is MADE for. (Again, full disclosure, I work for NoveList, but I also love it and used it all the time when I was public librarian.) Even if you don't have access to NoveList through your library, NoveList's blog, free webinars, and Secret Language of Books guide are freely accessible and full of useful RA tips and tools. Becky Spratford's blog RA for All is a goldmine, and there are TONS of other book blogs out there featuring themed lists and readalikes. Heck, you can even just follow the booklr tag here on Tumblr to see what folks are into.

4. Finally, if you're worried about doing readers' advisory with patrons, PRACTICE! Practice doing readers' advisory interviews with your friends, family, and co-workers, and ask them for feedback afterwards. Look at the recommendations you see elsewhere, and assess them for how on-point you think they are. Try browsing an unfamiliar book to determine what its most important qualities are and what sorts of readers might like it. The more you do RA, the easier it gets. And don't stress about messing up -- as long as you listen to the reader, give them diverse options, and make it clear that they have no obligation to check out your recommendations, you'll be on the right track.

So that's the short version of my tips for improving your readers' advisory skills -- I hope it helps!

[underthetweed]

Have you ever known anyone who has owned bees?

Hi anon! Yes, I have known, and currently know, people who keep bees. They are often cool and interesting folks -- apiculture is fascinating, and bees are crucial to human survival. I don’t think beekeeping is for me, but I’m looking forward to creating a pollinator garden once my wife and I find a place with more outdoor space. Also, I Iove the aesthetic of bees and honeycomb -- they’re so intricate and lovely. "Honey” is even part of my last name; my wife and I and two of our close friends have coordinating minimalist honeycomb tattoos: 

[underthetweed]

What percentage of a library's collection should be digital materials? I believe a local library has less than 10% of their collection in electronic materials and they are trying to buy more.

I wish I could answer this for you, anon, but it really, really depends on the library’s budget and the needs of the community they serve. The percentage may be drastically different from one library to the next. 

That said, the COVID-19 pandemic is definitely shaking things up for libraries, most of which can offer only digital materials to their patrons during this time. It’s too soon to say how this will change digital collection development in the long run, but I definitely think that changes are afoot.

[underthetweed]

Do you have any tips for finding "nontraditional" romance books such as books where the characters aren't straight or white? I couldn't think of a better word than nontraditional even though I know it's not the best word....

No worries, I know what you mean, anon. I assume this is in reference to my tags on an earlier post, in which I mentioned that I’ve been reading more romance novels this year, but have limited my reading to books in which the characters are not straight and/or not white. It’s a method that has worked well for me, a person who rarely read romance before this year, but who reads a LOT of romantic fanfiction.

But when it comes to finding reading material that meets the critiera, I have to confess something to you, anon: I am spoiled. I work with a bunch of brilliant librarians, including some who are extremely knowledgeable about romance, and I rely on their recs quite heavily. That said, I’ve started out with mostly popular authors (Alyssa Cole, Jasmine Guillory, Beverly Jenkins, Casey McQuiston, Cat Sebastian, K.J. Charles, etc.), so it’s not as if my colleagues are giving me secret insider intel; they’re just guiding me to what they know I’ll like. The next two romances on my TBR are Talia Hibbert’s Get A Life, Chloe Brown and Olivia Waite’s The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, and both were recommended by trusty colleagues/romance enablers.

So, with that background in mind, here are my suggestions for finding romances about LGBTQIA people and/or people of color:

-If you’ve got romance-reading friends, ask for recs! Tell them what you’re looking for, and they will likely be happy to help. In my experience, romance readers are among the savviest of all genre readers when it comes to finding exactly what they want (or, in this case, what YOU want).

-Consult sources more knowledgable than me. (Not that I'm not flattered by the ask, but kidlit/YA is my wheelhouse; I’m merely a dabbler in Romancelandia.) For LGBTQIA romance, try the Romance lists from @lgbtqreads. For inclusive romance in general, keep an eye out in February for the 1st annual Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction; the line-up of judges looks amazing, and they’ll surely choose a fantastic and diverse batch of winners. Those of just two resources of many, but as I said, I’m a dabbler. Perhaps some of book bloggers who see this post might chime in with their go-to inclusive romance resources? 

-If you have access to NoveList*, copy+paste this into the search bar: GN romances AND (CC LGBTQIA diverse OR CC Culturally diverse). It’ll bring up a list of romance novels featuring LGBTQIA people and/or people of color. (You can add AND AP own voices at the end of that search string to limit to your results own voices books.) You can then use the “Sort by” to sort by popularity, or publication date, or whatever, and use the Refine Results panel to hone in on subgenre, time period, etc. 

I hope that helps, anon, and best wishes for your romance-reading future!

*If you’re unfamiliar with NoveList, ask your local librarian if/how you can access it. (Full disclosure: I work for NoveList. But since library patrons can use it for free, please rest assured that I’m mentioning it because it’s useful, not because I’m trying to sell you something.)

[underthetweed]

I can't remember if you have answered this before. Do you have any suggestions for finding books where characters have disabilities? I would also like the books to be written by people who have disabilities if possible, though....

Hi anon! I do indeed have suggestions for finding books by and about disabled folks:

1. If you have access to NoveList through your public library or school library, it’s extremely useful for this sort of search. (And I’m not just saying that because I work there.) If you’re not sure if you have access, ask your librarian. There are TONS of NoveList story elements, but the ones that will be useful to you here are the “ability diverse” character appeal, the various disability-related themes, and the “own voices” appeal (applied to books in which the author and character share a marginalized identity). Here are some searches you can copy + paste into your NoveList search bar:

AP ability diverse AND AP own voices 

TH living with invisible disability AND AP own voices

TH Living with invisibile disability AND AP own voices

TH Living with visible disabilty AND AP own voices

TH Dealing with mental illness AND AP own voices

TH Dealling with illness AND AP own voices

You can also mix and match the story elements above, Boolean style (using AND, OR, NOT, etc. between the elements to get the results you want).

2. Lists! A quick Google of “own voices books with disabled characters” will turn up quite a lot of lists, of varying quality, but as long as you check the sources (who made this list?), check for currency (how old is the list?), and keep in mind that appearing on a list isn’t a hard-and-fast guarantee of high quality, you should be able to find some good stuff.

3. Follow authors on social media! Once you find a self-identified disabled author whose books you enjoy, look up that author on Twitter, Instagram, whatever–they might have good recommendations for further reading. (Obviously, this won’t be true of all disabled authors, but those who are outspoken about disability and disability representation are quite likely to lift up the voices of other disabled folks.)

Those are my top tips, but I’m sure there plenty of other methods–if anyone else has suggestions, please add them in the replies!

I hope that helps, and happy reading!

[underthetweed]

15, 18, 19, and 21. Please.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

Yes, I definitely did, though I’m not sure I could exhaustively list them all? Short version: I read Courtney Summers’ Sadie, read by a full cast & winner of the 2019 Odyssey Award; Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, winner of the 2019 APALA Award for Children’s Literature; and a bunch of National Book Award nominees, specifically Akwaeke Emezi’s Pet, Jason Reynolds’ Look Both Ways, Colleen AF Venable’s Kiss No. 8, Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated, and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Shout. I enjoyed each and every one of them. (For the purposes of my job, I try to read potential award-winners BEFORE they win, so this list will likely expand after 2020 awards are announced.)

18. How many books did you buy?

Not many...maybe 10 or 12? And all of them gifts, because I’m SUUUUPER picky about adding books to my personal collection. I’m a librarian with access to 3 library systems and lots of ARCs, so nearly all of the books I read & listen to are library copies or freebies. It’s an huge privilege, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

19. Did you use your library?

All 3 of them, all the dang time. Print, digital, audio, streaming video, everything. (One thing I miss from back when I was a librarian who actually worked in a library is the ability to waive my own late fees!)

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

I try not to, because I find in exhausting, but sometimes I couldn’t help but watch it as it unfolded before my eyes (see a few posts earlier, about the RWA meltdown).

Thanks for the asks, anon!

[underthetweed]

Hi! Do you have any recs for LGBTQIA baby books? I know this isn’t the normal age group you work with, but thought something fun might have passed your way.

Hello, friend! Yes, I’d be delighted to recommend some LGBTQIA baby books. Here on Tumblr, I tend to carry on about books for older readers, but at work, I do readers’ advisory for ages 0-18, so baby books are still squarely in my wheelhouse. Anyway! Since board books for babies (y'know: small, sturdy, drool-proof) only make up a tiny percentage of the picture book market, there aren’t a ton of LGBTQIA baby books to choose from, but here are a few that might fit the bill:

Pride Colors, Robin Stevenson (a board book introducing the colors on the rainbow flag)

Daddy, Papa, and Me and Mommy, Mama, and Me, by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Carol Thompson (exactly what the titles describe)

Baby’s First Words, Tessa Strickland, illustrated by Christiane Engel (a vocabulary book about a kid with two dads)

Love Makes a Family, Sophie Beer (not specifically LGBTQIA focused, but includes families with same-sex parents)

A is for Activist, Innosanto Nagara (an alphabet book about activism—to be honest, it’s not really geared toward babies, but it’s available as a board book, and it includes LGBTQIA activism)

Aaaand that’s about it, at least as far as I know. (If other folks have suggestions, feel free to chime in!) Once you get into picture book territory (for preschoolers and up), there are waaaaay more options. For instance, my most recent favorite is When Aidan Became A Brother, by Kyle Lukoff & Kaylani Juanita—it’s a charming, colorful, #ownvoices story about a trans boy awaiting a new baby sibling, and I love it with my whole heart.

I hope that helps! Thank you for this lovely ask.