How
Far We’ve Come: A History of Readers’ Advisory
A
patron walks into the library and asks the dreaded question: “Can you recommend
a good book?” In modern day, librarians do not need to panic (although some
still do) because there is a plethora of Readers’ Advisory tools at their
fingertips. Almost every library
subscribes to NoveList, which is an online resource that allows the librarians
to do a quick search to find lists of read-a-likes for patrons. It allows
searches by title, author, series, and characteristics and it immediately pulls
up suggestions. Many libraries even provide this database, as well as others,
for patrons to use themselves. In a
world where online tools like this exist, RA requires little knowledge of
genres on the librarian’s part. Even if a patron inquires about a genre that
the librarian has never read, as long as she has a knowledge of RA databases,
the patron can still leave feeling completely satisfied. Using these databases paired with
friendliness and a thorough RA interview to find out what the patron really
wants, the librarian can help any patron.
What if it were not that easy? Imagine
a time before these tools were created, before the internet was at our disposal. How would RA questions have been handled
then? People have been wanting an answer
to the question “Can you recommend a good book?” for a long time. How was it handled by librarians before the
gift of technology? This paper provides
a look at how RA has developed over the years and how it got to where it is
today.
When
did RA services officially begin? It is
hard to put an exact date on it, but in his article “Rediscovering the History
of Readers’ Advisory,” Crowley (2005) says that as long as librarians have
talked to patrons about books, RA has existed, even if not formally. Crowley (2005) puts the dates 1876-1920 as
the invention of RA (p. 38). Saricks
(2005) gives similar dates in Readers’
Advisory Service in the Public Library, saying RA’s roots go back to the 19th
century, but that it became big in public libraries in the United States in the
1920s-1940s (p. 4).
Before
Readers’ Advisory was known as Readers’ Advisory, an essay was published in
1876 by F.B. Perkins of the Boston Public Library titled “How to Make Town
Libraries Successful.” In it, he argued
against RA, saying that it is “unreasonable” for patrons to “plague the
librarian by trying to make him pick out books” (Crowley, 2005, p. 37). In the same year, Samuel Green, a founder of
the American Library Association (ALA) published “Personal Relations Between
Librarians and Readers.” In this essay, Green gives advice for librarians about
the best way to work with patrons. His advice is to 1) earn the respect and
confidence of patrons, for it will be easier to help them if they find you
agreeable, 2) discover what the patron likes to read to be better able to judge
what to suggest, and 3) mingle and talk to users, and help them in every way
you can so that word about the library will spread (Green, 1993, p. 85). He also has advice about RA services. He says that to accommodate for patrons who
ask for recommendations for “stories,” a woman should be placed in the
circulation department who enjoys fiction “but whose taste is educated” (1993,
p. 85). This service “should not be her
whole work; for work of this kind is best done when it has the appearance of
being performed incidentally” (Green, 1993, 85). In other words, this should not be a main
service offered by the library, but librarians should take these opportunities
to provide patrons with books of “educated taste” (Green, 1993, p. 85).
Readers’
Advisory formally began in libraries around the year 1920. This is when libraries started to embrace the
service. According to Saricks (2005), Robert
Ellis Lee describes three phases of reader guidance. The first phase was
between 1922-26, where structured RA services were started in seven public
libraries: Chicago,Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and
Portland (Saricks, 2005, p. 4). Saricks (2005) explains that in the new RA
services, an advisor met privately with patrons to develop a reading plan for
them (p. 4). These reading plans are
described as “individualized reading courses for persons who wished to read
systematically to meet the practical needs of daily living” (Saricks, 2005, p.
4). This statement shows how differently
reading was viewed at this time. In
modern time, many people read to escape the “practical needs of daily living,”
which is the exact opposite of why librarians wanted people to read. It was not supposed to be for fun and
entertainment, but rather for instruction.
The
second phase that Robert Ellis Lee described was from 1927-35. The RA services became broader and more
effective services were developed.
Libraries provided patrons with the ALA’s Reading with a Purpose
courses. According to Crowley (2005),
this program offered 67 bibliographic essays on an array of subjects that gave
book recommendations, both fiction and nonfiction, depending on the subject
sought (p. 39). By 1935, 44 public
libraries offered RA services to patrons (Saricks, 2005, p. 5). Patrons were interviewed thoroughly about
their lives and reading interests, which helped to determine lists of books and
patron reading level (Saricks, 2005, p. 5).
There was more judgment at the time based on reading interests than
there is today. Certain things were
considered less sophisticated and things were still suggested based on their
considered appropriateness. After the
interview, patrons were mailed list of books to their home, and from there they
would return to the library to read these books (Saricks, 2005, p. 5). In his article “Regulating Readers,” Luyt
(2001) explains that after the in depth interview and after the patron read the
books suggested, there would be a follow up interview to find out how
successful the list was at meeting the patron’s needs and possibly set up
another reading plan (451).
The
third and final phase described by Robert Ellis Lee was from 1936-1940. At this point, along with a readers’ advisor,
a subject specialist helped to create a list of books for patrons (Saricks,
2005, p. 5). Librarians needed a
comprehensive reading background in order to provide annotated books lists for
these patrons. During this time, there
were many articles and books being published describing the RA process to help
librarians with this service. Possibly
more important than the difference in how the service was provided is the
reason behind the suggestions. There was
a “moralistic, didactic tone” not seen today (Saricks, 2005, p. 6). Librarians would make judgments about a
person’s character, and then suggest books that they thought the person would
benefit from. The overall goal was to
improve the patron in some way (Saricks, 2005, p. 6). Eventually, librarians were not able to keep
up with the increasing demand for RA services.
They became unable to spend so much time with patrons individually and
they created more standardized book lists (Saricks, 2005, p. 6). After this final phase, WWII saw a decrease
in the need for RA services due to less leisure time than they had before, and
many public libraries stopped offering these RA services (Saricks, 2005, p. 6). Crowley (2005) says that from 1984-present is
considered the reviving of RA (p. 39).
This is the time that interest in RA services picked back up again and
began progressing to where it is today.
According
to Luyt (2001), “Fundamental to the relationship between the readers’ advisor and
patron was the belief that people needed help both in choosing what to read and
how to read it” (p. 451). That is
perhaps the biggest difference between past and present RA services. The goal for librarians today is not to find
books for patrons that you want them to read, but books that they want to
read. Patrons tell the librarian exactly
what they want, and the librarian tries to find it for them. Today, it would be hard for a librarian to
get away with telling a patron that they should read something more morally
sophisticated. However, back then,
librarians felt it was their duty to provide books that would improve the
patrons in some way. Book lists were
given for education, not recreation.
Adult continuing education was considered important by librarians;
hence, their feeling that they knew what was best for patrons to read (Saricks,
2005, p. 6).
Despite
the differences in RA services today, Saricks (2005) acknowledges that there
are still several fundamental aspects that remain the same. Librarians must still perform a thorough RA
interview to discover exactly what a patron is looking for to be able to find
them appropriate titles and authors (p. 7).
Librarians need a general knowledge of the collection, both fiction and
nonfiction, to be able to locate appropriate books (p 7). It is important to have the ability to
describe books well and to evaluate the quality of books (p. 7). Finally, Saricks (2005) acknowledges the
importance of the personal relationship between librarians and patrons (p.
7). This connection will help build
trust and it will help the librarian to get to know more about the patron,
allowing them to choose books to the best of their ability.
Of
course, it does also help that librarians now have the use of RA tools on the
internet. Instead of taking information
about the patron’s reading interests and spending a few days putting a book
list together, the librarian can now find immediate results to the patron’s
questions. With everything from
read-a-like sources (NoveList, NextReads, What Should I Read Next?) to book
review websites (Kirkus, GoodReads, Amazon.com), it is much easier to find
books for patrons quickly and more accurately.
It is important to have an understanding of the history of Readers’
Advisory, because we can learn valuable lessons and appreciate how far we have
come. The next step is to make sure all
librarians are familiar with online RA tools.
Many librarians are still blindsided by requests for
recommendations. This need not be the
case, with so many valuable tools at our disposal. If all librarians are given a course in RA
services, libraries will be able to help patrons in ways that they have never
been able to do before.
References
Crowley, B. (2005). Rediscovering
the history of readers advisory service. Public Libraries, 44(1), 37-41
Green, S. (1993). Personal
relations between librarians and readers; originally published in October 1, 1876. Library
Journal, 118S5.
Luyt, B. (2001). Regulating readers:
The social origins of the readers’ advisor in the United States. Library
Quarterly, 71(4), 443.
Saricks, J. (2005) History and
introduction. In Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library. Chicago: ALA. Pp. 1-13.
