Marija Dalbello

Reading Interests of Adults

Reading in Institutional Contexts

Publishers and the Literary MarketplaceRutgers

School of Communication and Informationdalbello@rutgers.edu

Image credit: Victor GAD

Overview _______________________________________ Introduction - “suppliers” of reading in focus

The Public Library Movement and attitudes about reading

Reader Advisory Principles Tools Interview

Genre constructions in publishing and the literary marketplace

Conclusion

The public library movement _______________________________________

The other side of the reading revolution - managing the reading tastes of the public

Role of libraries in upholding cultural authority

Attitudes to fiction reading and collection development

Paternalism - library as an educational institution

Mass support at the center of debates

The role of librarians as reformers

The objectives of the public library _______________________________________

Reformative

Educational

Recreational

Democratic

The objectives shape attitudes of the library community over time, and dominate in some periods more than others

Overlap during the Progressive Era

The Progressive Era (1890-1920) _______________________________________Pivotal years

Pre-1890 PATERNALISMApostles of Culture

pastoral tendenciesconventionalconservativelibrarian as arbiter of taste and cultural

authority

Post-1890 LIBERALISMpeaks in 1895-1896 tied to activities of maverick librarians John Cotton Dana, Melvil Dewey - to uphold democratic principle in librarianshiprecognition of recreational readingemphasis on management and “library science” rather than social control (access)

Practices for regulating reading _______________________________________ Paternalist - Liberal tensions and associated practices

Paternalist

lists and bibliographical aids for recommended readingtwo-book system of lendingtesting periods for fiction

Progressive

open shelves common in most public libraries in 1900

Reformers’ voices upholding the “democratic principle” _______________________________________ “Is a free public library justified in supplying to its readers books which are neither for instruction nor for the cultivation of taste; which are not … good literature; which are books for entertainment only – such, for example, as the ruck of common novels?” (J.C. Dana?)

“the librarian should not carry his head so high in the clouds as to forget that the vast majority of people are bowed down by their cares and burdens, and care more for mental relaxation than instruction” (G. Cole)

“Look at your position as a high-grade business one, look after the working details, have things go smoothly, know the whereabouts and classification of books, and let people get their own meat or poison.” (M. Dewey)

The Progressive Era (1890-1920) _______________________________________

Democratization

The “fiction problem” fizzles out in years prior to WWI

Widespread acceptance of mass reading

But, the fiction debate persists and continues

Objectionable fiction

PAUSE HERE Find examples that still point to the unresolved tension about the role of libraries and reading materials

The therapeutic ethos (1920-1930) _______________________________________

Surge in reader advisory services and increase in the number of professionals

Reading at the center of life-enhancing activities counter the disillusionment of the Great Depression era

The democratization of reading and accessible classics

J. Haldemann’s Little Blue BooksThe Book of the Month Clubpublic evening schoolscorrespondence courses

The scientific librarianship (post-WW2) _______________________________________

Focus on information and documentation

Emphasis on technical aspects of librarianship

Idea of guidance into certain forms of literature discredited

Affirmation of free access but not directed educational service

Agnostic librarianship - facilitating rather than evaluative

Reading constructed within the context of information behavior

Reader advisory not relevant in that context of practice - reading constructed within utilitarian framework

Readers’ advisory today _______________________________________

The renaissance of reader advisory in the 1980s

And still growing and developing as noted by the development of reader advisory tools and increased knowledge about the readers’ advisory interview

publication of genre guidesdevelopment of online resourceslibrary school offering of adult reading advisory courses

RA under-resourced, awareness of skills needed to advise low

Librarians not properly trained

Need to increase training opportunities for reader advisors (especially for work with adult readers) in library schools

Readers’ advisory history in brief _______________________________________

Historically, scorn for pleasure reading and even today not advertised

From didactic activity aimed at moral transformation, to fiction guidance with no attempt to improve reader’s reading tastes

Periodization of readers’ advisory services Public Library Movement and associated programsPre-WW2: adult education programPost-WW2 disappearedRecent years: renaissance

Readers’ advisory programming methods_______________________________________Passive

Eliciting reader tastes (circulation, surveys) Book recommendations Consultation with colleagues New fiction racks, book displays Book reviews, patron popularity Posting best sellers lists Genre shelving Book displays Bookmarks Booklists Annotated bibliographies Newsletters Sponsored book clubs

Active Readers’ advisory interview (in-depth process,

follow-up, use of tools)

Readers’ advisory _______________________________________Tools Collection development and current awareness,

historyLibrary Journal, Publishers’ Weekly

Genre guides follow list from syllabus page

Databases (by subscription)Reader’s Advisor Online, NoveList

Library portals and enthusiast sitesReader’s Robot

And beyondsocial networking, bookmarking

sitesInterview Neutral questioning technique and reader advisory

probing Closing the interview with invitation for feedback,

longitudinal (reader histories), librarian’s knowledge of fiction genres and titles essential

Reading in applied contexts - implications _______________________________________

Role of libraries in promoting reading improve reader advisory servicesProgramming for readersUnderstanding readers and their uses and gratifications from reading

Role of LIS programs in teaching about readingInformation allows to avoic complexities involving matters of race, class, sexual orientation, age and gender distinctionsContent of information vs. access to information (library as reading institution)

Role of research in understanding the process of reading

a form of behavior operating as a complex intervention in the ongoing social life of actual social subjects

Library Journal

PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with the latest issue of the Library Journal online; access Wikipedia article.

Publishers’ Weekly

PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with the latest issue of the Publishers’ Weekly online; access Wikipedia article.

Genre Guides

PAUSE HERE Access guide list from course syllabus page …

Genre Guides

PAUSE HERE and, familiarize yourself with organization of Genreflecting.

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NoveList

PAUSE HERE Familiarize yourself with NoveList online

The Reader’s Advisor Online

PAUSE HERE Explore The Reader’s Advisor Online

Neutral Questioning _______________________________________ Sense-Making (B. Dervin)

SITUATIONS - GAPS - USES users resolve uncertainty information-seeking situation methods of questioning neutral questioning technique

Closed questionsIs this for a project?Do you want American or Canadian author?

Open questionsTell me more about X.

Neutral questionssubset of open questions that guide conversation along dimensions relevant for information seeking situations - uncover expected and unexpected uses

Neutral Questioning _______________________________________ Examples of neutral questions Use neutral questioning early in the interview

TO ASSESS SITUATIONS Tell me more how this problem arose?

What are you trying to do in this situation?What happened that got you stopped?

TO ASSESS GAPS What would you like to know about X?

What seems to be missing in your understanding of X?What are you trying to understand?

TO ASSES USES How are you planning to use this information?If you could have exactly the help you wanted, what

would it be?How will this help you? What will it help you do?

Questions related to reading _______________________________________ Examples of neutral questions regarding FRAME (with the

following elements: setting, atmosphere, background, tone, special interests)

TO ASSES tone Tell me about the mood of the book you would like to read.

(to elicit suspenseful, light, romantic, humorous, upbeat, dark bleak tone)

TO ASSESS setting Do you like novels in specific time or place?

TO ASSESS atmosphere

Tell me more about a memorable character or setting you have enjoyed in a previous book.

TO ASSES special interests Do you like books with incidental information?

(to elicit whether they are interested in medieval life, gardening, cooking, …)

Other techniques in readers’ advisory _______________________________________ Librarians may ask questions related to genre dimensions

(guided, not closed)

Consult Genreflecting (Ch. 3 - Catherine Sheldrick Ross) for further guidance on specific questions:

To dentify previous reading patterns To determine current To probe using standard reference techniques in a

reference interview

Map your knowledge structure and tools to what you learn from readers to search in reader advisory tools

Genre in the Marketplace

_______________________________________

How genre is negotiated in the making of literature

Materiality of the book

Branding

Imprints

Bookstores

Literary Prizes

Conclusion

_______________________________________

Debates about fiction reflect institutional history (of the American public library)

Evolution of reader advisory from moral guide, to reader guide, to provision of reader access to books they wish to read (from paternalism to democratic approach to literacy)

Reader advisory work (tools, guides, interviewing techniques)

The taxonomies of genre shaped and articulated through negotiation of meaning between the providers of reading (libraries, publishing industry), readers, and authors