What do you currently do for a living? I'm a library manager.
What three words would you use to describe your role? Problem fixer.
What is your biggest achievement to date - personal or professional? I find this hard to answer. My life feels like it's a long continuous attempt to improve all aspects of my life. Currently I'm trying to learn te reo so if I can achieve level 3 & 4 I'll be pleased with myself.
I need something to read for a weekend away, what would you recommend?
The classic librarian response would be… what do you like to read? It will depend on what kind of weekend it is.
Are you relaxing by a pool with an umbrella drink and want your mind to be exercised even if your body is not? Try my favourite book from last year’s reading haul, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. His writing is lovely and his subject matter poignant and thought provoking.
Are you on a dirty weekend and want a bit of priming but nothing too distracting? Try the Bidgerton series by Julia Quinn. Her heroines are feisty and heroes have character. Plus they’re funny.
Are you holed up in some basic holiday home where the wharepaku is out the back yard, potentially infested with spiders and the rain is lashing the windows, but you’ve got a snuggly rug, hot beverage and accompanying suitable bikkies? Then try some of my favourite crime writers like Val McDermid, Elly Griffiths or Stuart McBride. If you’d like an antipodean flavour to your crime, add in Jane Harper or Chris Hammer.
Going on a roadie with the family and need something to listen to in the car while the kids trash the back seat with their cheezels and your partner won’t stop until you’re there? Try a travel audiobook like Nala’s world by Dean Nicholson, or Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith. Or any of P.G. Wodehouse. Or The land before avocado by Richard Glover. No embarrassing sexy times to make the teens cringe.
What about fantasy? Ben Aaronovitch, Sam Hawke, Janie Chang, Brandon Sanderson.
What about historical fiction? I have so many but The promised land by Martin Fletcher or Miss Benson’s beetle by Rachel Joyce are two I have enjoyed in the past few years.
What about non-fiction? Yep, I can suggest a few of those as well.
Reader’s advisory is a skill that tends to be lost in the drive for KPIs and relevance to local governments concerned with frugality. There is a disturbing trend to value events and programmes that get people through the doors over the more subtle value of engagement through reading. It isn’t as alluring as makerspace activities, dance classes or baby goat yoga. Those things have their place too. Yet readers advisory is still highly relevant to the communities we serve and ties in with positive experiences in literacy. For many of our customers, having a librarian recommended read gives them a way to explore other thoughts, viewpoints, worlds, experiences. It connects them to society from the safety of their own home. And we know that a good book can contribute positively to our mental health and well being, something sorely needed especially at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment