Secret Shopper Success

For the secret shopper assignment, I went to a large public library in my area, complete with cafe and self check out. I had only been there a couple of time, and neither time did I look around very much. When I first got there, I walked around for a few minutes, trying to locate everything. I had already decided that I would ask about fantasy books. I finally located the science fiction section, but I didn't know if fantasy and science fiction were categorized differently at this library.  I approached the information desk. There were two older ladies there. As I approached, one of the ladies greeted me in a friendly manner. She asked if she could help me and I told her that I was just in the science fiction section and I was wondering if she could suggest a book for me. At first, she looked a little concerned by this request. I told her that I have read the Lord of the Rings series and would like something similar.

She started the interview by getting up and walking me over to the science fiction section. She pointed out that the fantasy books were on the next row over.  First she walked me down to Tolkien's books and said that if I wanted to stay with Tolkien, that he wrote other books.  Then she asked me what it is I like about Lord of the Rings. I replied that I like that they take place in another world with magic and all sorts of creatures. I also told her that I have read a few young adult fantasy series, but that this time around I was looking for adult books. She then walked me down the row and pointed out the Redwall series. I have had friends say they liked this series before, so I already felt like things were going pretty well.

I won't lie, I expected this to be the end of our interview. However, she said that if I wanted to browse the shelves, she would go and look up more information for me.  While I was browsing I could hear her talking to another librarian.  When she came back about 5 minutes later, she had printed a list of read-a-likes from NoveList and had written down some personal recommendations from a librarian that reads fantasy.  The recommendations from the librarian were Watersmeet (a teen series) and author adult Jim Butcher, who had many books in a series.  She walked me to Jim Butcher's books, found the first in the series, and then told me she was going to go see if the Watersmeet books were checked in.  Before she did this, she explained NoveList to me and showed me how the author's on the list were like Tolkien.  She talked about a few of the author's on the list, including Robert Jordan who wrote the Wheel of Time series, which is another series that I have heard friends talk highly of.

I browsed some more as she found the Watersmeet books.  When she came back, she gave me the first two books in the series and a flier for a fantasy book club that meets on Thursdays at the library.  She said that it was a small group and that they would love to see more people come. She asked me to let her know if I needed anything else and I thanked her for her help and time.

I left feeling really great about the experience.  I was nervous about asking an older woman about fantasy, because I thought that she might not be very familiar with the genre.  However, she turned out to be more than helpful. Not only did she find personal recommendations, but she also used NoveList to find Tolkien read-a-likes.  She left several times to do more research to make sure that I had many options and was completely satisfied.