Rethinking Readers’ Advisory: An Interactive Approach

CHICAGO - ALA Editions announces an exciting new workshop, Rethinking Readers’ Advisory: An Interactive Approach with Rebecca Howard and Laura Raphael. This 90-minute workshop will take place 2:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 p.m. Central/12:30  p.m. Mountain/11:30 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

By using a form-based approach to Readers' Advisory, librarians can develop RA services that are more efficient and more responsive to patrons' needs. Do you want to connect with your readers on a deeper level than displays and general book lists? Do you find yourself experiencing the patron-asks-for-reading-suggestion-and-mind-goes-blank phenomenon during an in-person readers’ advisory interview? Form-based readers’ advisory might be the answer. Join us for an overview of this exciting RA model, from start (getting administrative and staff buy-in) to finish (building forms and training staff members).

Topics include:

• Why form-based readers’ advisory will help you better serve your library’s readers;
• What form-based RA is;
• Making the case to your library leaders;
• Crafting forms;
• How to assemble and train your form-based RA team;
• The finished product—a personalized reading guide.

Registration for this ALA Editions Workshop is available on the ALA Store at individual and group rates. 

Rebecca Howard worked as a copywriter for an ad agency and wrote grants for a local HIV/AIDS social service agency before going back to graduate school. In 2003, she began working at the Tulsa City-County Library for the Adult Literacy Service and completed a Master’s in Human Relations followed by a Master’s in Library and Information Studies. While in the Literacy department, she started book discussion and creative writing groups for adult new readers, developed a writing curriculum for adult learners, contributed to statewide training modules for volunteer literacy tutors and participated in a national “promising practices” project on nonprofit management and accountability. As a readers’ librarian, she coordinates “Your Next Great Read,” is a regular contributor to the blog Reading Addict and develops and supports Readers’ Library programming. An ALA member, she also belongs to the Social Responsibilities Roundtable and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Roundtable.

Laura Raphael is an associate librarian with the Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) with more than 10 years of public library experience. She has written for Library Journal, Public Libraries, Marketing Library Services and American Libraries. In 2011, she received the Community Leadership Award from the Oklahoma Humanities Council for co-creating and coordinating “Novel Talk: Smart conversations for serious readers”, a series of literature-based programs for TCCL.

ALA Editions Workshops are designed to give you and your staff the opportunity to participate in a hands‐on learning experience that will help you make the best technology decisions for your library.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.