by Sarah Statz Cords
One of the things I miss most about working in a library is chatting over the day with my co-workers. (When I worked at the circ desk, we would talk about patrons’ prevailing moods…”everyone’s grouchy today; holiday bills must be coming due”; at the reference desk, we talked about that week’s popular school assignments and what computers were acting up, among other issues). I’m learning, too, that these days a lot of library workers aren’t getting the time, even at work, to share much with their co-workers. So I’d like to suggest a new feature: one in which we talk with library and RA practitioners about their day-to-day jobs.
We’re kicking off the series by talking with Jane Jorgenson, a librarian and reader’s advisor in the Madison Public Library system (Madison, WI). I cheated a bit by asking Jane, with whom I used to work at a branch library in the MPL system, to submit to this interview. Currently she is working at the main downtown location of MPL; edits that library’s popular MADreads reading blog, and is working on a reader’s guide for thrillers that will be published in the coming year by Libraries Unlimited. She has also taught courses on the Reading Interests of Adults and Public Libraries at the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies.
Part 1 of our talk is below; tune in tomorrow for the conclusion, where I ask Jane some questions you’re never supposed to ask a reader’s advisor.
RAO: How long have you have worked as a “reader’s advisor”?
This is a weird one for me to answer because I feel like it’s been most of my life. Long before I worked in a bookstore and then a library, I was providing personal service for family members, my dad in particular. When I think about the process of hearing what someone has read, discussing what they liked about those reads and then coming up with suggestions for further reading, it all started with my dad. He was a big reader but relied on gifts of books for his reading material. Knowing what he’d read already and picking new books was my first RA challenge. Professionally speaking I date my RA work to when I began working in a mystery bookstore about 18 years ago.
RAO: Would you say you are getting more or fewer RA questions on a regular basis?
Because of the setup at my current facility (reference desk on the first floor, fiction room on the second) I definitely get fewer questions in person. When I work in the fiction room the number of people looking for help in finding a book is about the same as it has ever been. But when not in that room I more often get the quicker questions: specific title or author searches, or quick and dirty “I need a good book to read today.” When I worked in a branch library I spent more time on individual interactions–at least it felt that way.
RAO: What do you find most frustrating about RA work?
I think my only frustration is that we don’t focus on it more. We are providing a lot of material for readers but don’t really have an RA department.
RAO: Do you feel your work as an RA, or in general, is supported by your library and administration?
Having said what I just did about my wish for more of a focus on RA, I will now contradict myself a bit and say that my RA work is supported. While I’m not able to do as much in person work as I’d like, I am able to provide RA/book services. At MPL we have a book reviews blog (MADreads – www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads) for which I review and provide content management. I am well supported in that work. Additionally we’ve been providing online RA service and we’re about to start some Vodcasts as well. Other staff works to provide book discussion kits and booklists. So for the projects that occur to us, the support is there. And I should add that I’ve run a number of book groups as have other staff. So while we’re not able to staff a department with RA specialists, our other efforts are encouraged.
RAO: What resources, tools, or training do you wish you had more access to?
I try to keep pretty up-to-date in my day to day work and don’t feel there are too many gaps in that way. What always works best for me and is always welcome is the ability to get together with other staff and discuss RA issues. Something as simple as touching base on great reads and other ideas to do with RA service is one of the most useful tools there is. My library has 9 locations and one of our challenges is keeping everyone in the loop and feeling connected can be a challenge.
RAO: What’s one thing that would make your job as an RA, or a librarian, easier, more fun, or more fulfilling?
Easier would be what I said above about being able to share more with other staff. Fulfilling would be if all of our constituents (I use that word to describe those who actually come to the library and those who don’t) could be made aware of the fact that were a great source of something to read and that we have people who would help them find that something.
Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of this interview! And, of course, a big thank-you to Jane.
