Hi Y'all!
I went to my local library where I went to the reference desk and asked the librarian on duty to help me find a book that they thought I would enjoy. I tried to keep it friendly so that the librarian would respond to my attuned and respond with the same. They were super friendly asking some basic questions such as What type of genres do I typically read? Do I have a favorite author?
I told them I loved reading fantasy, YA fiction, and romance, but this time I wanted to break out of my comfort zone and get a historical fiction book. Some of my favorite authors were Sarah J. Maas and Nora Robert but again I wanted something different that did not really fall into what I typically would read. The librarian was friendly but like me didn't seem to have a good understanding of Historical Fiction. At one point they even said that they didn't know basically anything about the genre which made me nervous.
As a library professional, I can understand not having a lot of insight about a genre. For me, horror is like a black hole, while historical fiction is a distant relative (a girlfriend of a third cousin who lives in another state). But, I will say as a patron I do not want to hear, "I don't know anything about the genre." All my confidence in the librarian basically deflects.
They asked some more questions and at this point were still friendly, so I went with it. What troupes or aspects do you like reading about? Or the type that you do not like? I told them normally I liked complex relationships or (when reading romance) cozy romance with an overarching issue. Also, I made it clear I did not want to read religious or Amish books. I REPEAT NO RELIGIOUS OR AMISH BOOK. (Personal preference, no judgment against those that do read religious or Amish books.)
They started going through their catalog on their computer, reading through some descriptions of books that they thought I would like. At this point, they seem to get frustrated or annoyed. Maybe because I had not said yes to any of their suggestions yet or that they were getting frustrated that they couldn't find a book that suited my preferences yet. They ended up writing around four down: The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin, The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel, The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons, and Remember Love by Mary Balogh.
Not terrible choices but, one of them Remember Love by Mary Balogh was already on my to-be-read shelf because it is primarily a romance novel, which I said I wanted to avoid. Overall, not too bad but not great either. The only thing I can say is that I can understand wanting to find a book for your patron, but not being able to. The only thing you have at that point is your personality and the personal connection that you are building with that patron.
I appreciate your insight into about interacting with a patron about an unfamiliar genre. I will admit, I have said to patrons before, "Well that's not a genre that I'm super familiar with" but I do always try to follow up with what they like about the genre to help me understand what they are looking for. But I can totally see what you're saying where it makes you not feel as confident in their recommendations. I do like that they asked you follow up questions, but I'm sorry to hear that they seemed to get frustrated towards the end. Were there other patrons waiting or anything?
ReplyDeleteSydney, I like that you chose a genre you don't know as much about. I chose something I read all the time. I guess it made it easier to know if the librarian was finding good things, but I also knew what I liked too much - so basically I could help too much! It is unfortunate the librarian admitted to not knowing much about the genre. I have to admit that when someone asks me about fantasy. I usually try to turn to someone else - or go to an online resource. But it's good to hear your thoughts because that helps me think that the next time someone asks me about a fantasy book I should probably be careful how I respond -so they don't either feel like their interests are not of value, or that I'll never be able to find anything good for them. It sounds good that the librarian asked more about other things you like as they looked for books for you.
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