Special Topics Paper: The Evolution of Readers' Advisory Services

My special topics paper is on the evolution of readers’ advisory services in the digital age. I talked about the types of RA services and how they’ve evolved, some specific examples from libraries across the country, and then, finally, I looked at where readers’ advisory might go in the future.

I believe there are four categories of digital readers’ advisory: website, social media, cataloging, and online forms. The first, website, is the use of featured lists, readalikes, blogs, displays, or similar offerings and is primarily indirect advisory. While that is important it doesn’t allow relationships to be formed. The key to good readers’ advisory (as well as the key to a healthy library) is relationships. There was a quote I used from an article by Stephanie Anderson in Research & User Services Quarterly that really stuck with me. She wrote that we have to try and “humanize the online experience.” The other three categories help humanize the online experience. What’s interesting about them is that – especially with social media and cataloging – they can be either indirect or direct. For example, a tweet, YouTube video, or Facebook post might start out as indirect but it can quickly morph into direct readers’ advisory. The same can occur with some of the more social aspects of modern cataloging. Our OPACs are turning into social media platforms. They can simply be used for displays and lists but they can, if the patron so chooses, become engaging and community building. Online forms help take readers’ advisory services to a different level because they really stress the personal one-on-one relationship that made readers’ advisory so special in a library setting.

The three libraries I looked at – Multnomah County, Tulsa City-County, and Lawrence (KS) – all have used at least one of the four categories in creating services that try to put the relationships back in readers’ advisory. I would heartily recommend taking the time to look into each of the libraries. I think they also give a glimpse of what’s to come.

A 2013 Library Journal study found that 93% of public libraries offer some sort of digital readers’ advisory service. Unfortunately, the majority of libraries limit themselves to just indirect service on the library website. Surprisingly, less than half of responders were active on social media or used their catalog to engage their patrons. Less than a third of responders had a blog on the library’s website. And less than 20% of responders offered an online form or chat to reach their patrons. I think these numbers have to dramatically increase for readers’ advisory to thrive. And I’ll admit – this is hard for me. I’m not a fan of social media. But the fact of the matter is that our patrons are involved in social media. Approximately 70% of all American adults have a Facebook page! More than three-fourths of users visit the site every day and more than half visit multiple times per day!  That’s where our patrons are. We have to reach them there or through other online avenues. Joyce Saricks described readers’ advisory as a “patron-based service” and I think that’s going to be an important reminder going forward. It’s not a library-based or a librarian-based service. It’s a patron-based service and we have to take it to the patrons, not expect them to come to us.