6 Hot Tips for Creating Topnotch Shelf Readers

The most popular Teen Volunteer Program I have at the library are Shelf Managers. I'm not quite sure why since it takes a special person to love shelf reading, but my teens come back year after year and they get really excited about it.

Have you tried this program at your library? Interested in doing something similar for your teens and/or adults? I thought I'd share what we do at my library and, to help you save time, I even included templates at the end!

1. Information Overview

• My training sessions are an hour long. 
• The teens come in and I play two Youtube videos on shelving Fiction and Nonfiction which were produced by the Parkland Regional Library system. The videos are very short, but they give a fabulous overview of how the system works. (Some day, I will make my own videos, but these work for now!)

2. Quiz for Understanding

• Next, I have my teens take an online quiz that I made via a Google Form. It asks them to put things in order and sees how well they understand the concepts. (See the end of this article for quiz templates that you can copy and modify)
• Then I use the Google Form Add-on Flubaroo, which automatically grades the quiz. In five seconds, I will get a percentage of how many they got correct!
• I've learned that if they score below 70%, they usually require a lot of supervision and never really get the system. I pull these kids aside at the end and tell them, "You didn't score well on the test... This is usually a good indicator that shelf reading will drive you crazy. We want your volunteering to be fun, so how about we just focus on having you edge and shift books?" Usually, the teens agree (and came to this realization while taking the quiz) and they're grateful for the graceful way out.

3. Do a Practice Run

There are three parts to our Shelf Managers: 

• Shelf Reading.
• Edging (pulling the books flush to the edge of the shelf and tucking the book ends tight). 
• Shifting Books (making space at the end of the shelves). I've learned that shifting is a HARD concept for teens to grasp, so I always end the session with bringing them to shelves and having them practice on one whole bay.

4. Supervision

I've run my program two different ways:

If you have pages, I highly recommend starting a Page Mentoring program where you partner each of your volunteers with a page. 

• I have my pages log when the teens come in and they direct their mentees to the areas in the library that need a lot of work. 
• They also check in on them and double check their work (which is easy to do since everything the mentee moves, he/she puts that book on its spine).

However, I know many libraries don't have pages. If you fall into this group, I've learned that it is helpful to check in on your Shelf Managers and see how they are doing. 

• Give them only one section in the library so they can become experts in those call numbers.
• Have them lay the books they've moved on the spine so you can easily double check them later (ideally, while they are still working, so you can explain any mistakes). 
• When I check twice and they made no mistakes, I give them the okay to not lay the books on their spines when they move them.

5. Schedule

• There's just so many hours one can focus on shelf reading and still remain proficient. I've learned that two hours in one shift is the super shelfer's limit. 
• Don't forget to include breaks from reading! 
• I always tell my teens that when they need a break, it is a good time to start shifting some books. 
• I also ask them to edge their section, pulling the books tight and flush with the edge of the shelf.
• I've learned that creating a schedule that works for ME is what makes this program the most successful. If you're doing the training all by yourself, you might want to pick two days and two time slots for teens to select from. I suggest starting with one hour a week, but some want to do two solid hours. I do not allow three hours at once.
• If you are working with your pages, it is important that you have a back-up plan in case your page is not in. I only allowed shifts on the times there are two pages working so if one page calls out, the volunteer can work with the other page. If you don't have this option, you can make sure your pages can contact the volunteer if they will be out.

6. Templates/Downloads for You

This is the test I have them take: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1B__5NGxz5IUXZkNlkSTR8I-oyJ3AOhvxCqbNjB7T3kM/viewform

You can make a copy of this test and edit to fit your own library!:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HX7H6qeQ3T9onbmF1nHcMTBiYMuiCvGuLg029apmQQI/edit?usp=sharing

Don't forget to install Flubaroo. It is super easy! Go to the Add-on, type in the name and add it to your toolbar. Once added, you make an answer key (which is most accurate if you only ask for multiple choice responses) and then you're done! Once answers are submitted, you make three clicks for the grade.

Conclusion

And that's it! If you use this format, please share with us how it went. If you already do this at your library, how do you run your program? We'd love to hear about it.

ALA Book Buzz 2015

I had the pleasure of attending ALA for the first time in San Francisco this year. I'll share more on my experiences later. For now I want to share the books that I'm really excited about from ALA. As a teen librarian who spends a lot of time in children's my picks are for children and teens. I didn't have a lot of time to spend seeking out new adult books.

Picks for Children's
If you only read or buy one book from this list I hope you pick up this one from Little Bee Books. It is my favorite new picture book and I'm in love with it.

Cockatoo, Too by Bethanie Deeney Murguia (Jan 2016)

Who can can-can? Find out in this hilarious book that features cockatoos, two more cockatoos, and tutu-ed toucans too! 

The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Sept 2015)

Two seemingly unrelated stories - one in words, the other in pictures - come together in spellbinding synergy.

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (Sept 2015)

Jackson's family has fallen on hard times and his imaginary friend, Crenshaw, a large outspoken cat, returns.

Home Alone: The Classic Illustrated Storybook by Kim Smith (Oct 2015)

Kim Smith re-imagines the Christmas classic movie of Kevin who finds himself without his family at Christmas time and must defend his house from burglars. 

Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri (Oct 2015)

A special sauce turns a boy into a robot, and then he transforms everyone and everything into robots, including the book.

Switch by Ingrid Law (Sept 2015)

This companion to Savvy, follows Gypsy Beaumont as her thirteenth birthday approaches.

Wait by Antionette Portis (July 2015)

As a boy and his mother move quickly through the city, they're drawn to different things. It's a push and pull, but in the end, they both find something to stop for.

Picks for Teens

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young (Nov 2015)

On the way to spend a summer with her grandmother after the sudden death of her mother, seventeen-year-old Audrey, her older brother Daniel, and their father happen upon the Hotel Ruby, a luxurious place filled with unusual guest and little chance of ever leaving.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Oct 2015)

The planet Kerenza is attacked, and Kady and Ezra find themselves on a space fleet fleeing the enemy, while their ship's artificial intelligence system and a deadly plague may be the end of them all. Written in transcripts and found documents. 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Sept 2015)

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction - if they don't kill each other first. Although this is set in the same world as the Grisha trilogy you don't need to have read it.

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston (Oct 2015)

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, so when she is taken to the king's dangerous court she believes death will soon follow, but night after night Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listen to the stories she tells.

Winter by Marissa Meyer (Nov 2015)

The fourth book in the Lunar Chronicles series, can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Did you attend ALA? What books are you excited for?

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Two

NoveList, You Have So Much to Offer! 

Two weeks ago, we began our NoveList journey by looking at the menu bar on the top of the page, but we've only scratched the surface of what this amazing database has to offer. There is so much more to see!

Tutorials and Online Help

Before we dive in, I want to mention that NoveList itself has extremely helpful How-To videos and articles, and you can even sign up for NoveList training. The menu (screenshot below) is located at the very bottom of the screen. The videos are a wonderful way to get to know the database. This post is just a quick overview of the database, but I highly recommend checking out these videos for intensive assistance. Also, in the interest of clarity, I have added a multitude of screen-shots to this blog post. I know they are small, but when you double click them, they become much larger.

Keeping Up...

This is such a great feature, because even the best librarian in the world can't keep up with everything. Click on this to read articles about what's new in various genres. Each category (YA, Dystopian, Romance, Fantasy, etc.) will give a brief summary of the topic, suggestions of book lists for fans of the genre, and recent titles for adults and teens. Scroll to the bottom of the page to get help with RA (particularly helpful if you're just not personally a fan of the genre) with articles written about the subject.

There's also a section called "Grab This," which has reading maps and posters that you can print out to hang up in your library. Why do the work when the work has already been done for you? Bonus: they look fantastic.

I grabbed this from the "Grab This" section.

Plot Searches

At the top of the main page, there is a keyword search bar, which will bring you to any book you choose. If you can't remember the title of your book, typing in a few keywords about the plot will search the database for books that match your description. Typing in "Japan 1930s women" brings up several titles, each with a quick plot summary and book cover for easy identification. As a bonus, take a look at the left side of the results page that I've screen-shotted here.

You can refine the results by audience publication date, genre, and other criteria. I've used this many times for those kinds of reference questions where, "I know I read this when I was a kid in the 1960's..." Simply change the publication date and the audience, and you're golden.

Book Summaries and Metadata

 Once you find the book you're looking for, you'll be directed to a page for that specific book. This will include reviews from major reviewing publications (Kirkus, BookList, Publisher's Weekly, etc.); information about the author and links to their websites or interviews; a list of awards won; a list of NoveList articles that mention the book; a list of subject headings that could be used to describe it (all of which are click-able!); a perma-link so that you can always get back to the same page; and icons that let you print, email, save, or add this book to a folder. (Note: if you create a log in and password, you can save your folders - and whichever books, lists, etc. you would like - between uses.)

How is this different from GoodReads? The image on the left is from NoveList, and on the right is from GoodReads; double-click the image to see it larger.

As you can see, they both have the author, description, publication, and all the usual metadata. However, NoveList also includes reviews from many major publications, awards won, Lexile scores, etc. This is not to put down GoodReads! I use it all the time, and I love it, and you can even see that the reviews on NoveList are actually from GoodReads. It's just that NoveList has a lot more to it, which is useful for librarians and other professionals who work with literature and not particularly needed for those who are looking for pleasure reading. (Myself included: I use NoveList for work, and GoodReads for fun. You don't have to choose one and hate the other. I promise, your loyalty will not be tarnished.)

Read-Alikes

On the NoveList main page, they have a list of books that are currently popular, and read-alikes for that particular title. Personally, I find this helpful not only for RA, but also to know what people are looking up recently, since I am not able to be active in all corners of the library at once.

On the right side of a book's NoveList page, there are links for "Title Read-Alikes."  Clicking these links opens up a printable list of books that may appeal to fans of the original title. Each book is listed with author and a couple sentences about why readers may enjoy it. Each of these suggestions is reader-submitted; if you like, you can click the thumbs-up or thumbs-down buttons, which lets you offer feedback on whether you agree with the recommendation or not. If you are looking at the author's page, you will see a list of author read-alikes, instead.

Recommended Reads Lists

Back on the main page again, you can find lists by genre (and sub-genre!), for all ages. Let's say that I have a patron who wants "a nice cozy mystery." Clicking on "Mysteries" will open a new tab with sub-genres... and look! There's a category called "Getting Cozy."

What makes a mystery "cozy"? When in doubt, clicking on the sub-genre will open a page giving you a description of the category.

That DOES sound cozy!

On the right side of the chosen sub-genre's page, you'll also see "Additional Lists," which may give you similar titles. For example, the "Cooking Up Crime" list will have just those mysteries that feature chefs, bakeries, catering businesses, etc. (As a bonus, cooking mysteries often include recipes in the back of the book, which thankful patrons are welcome to bring to their favorite librarians.)

NoveList vs. NoveList Plus

From the EBSCO website.

We just got the fantastic news that our library system is upgrading from NoveList to Novelist Plus! What's the difference? Novelist Plus includes both nonfiction titles and audiobooks. Fabulous!

In Conclusion

I think I've hit on most of the awesome things that NoveList can do, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few; there are just so many great corners of this database. Did I miss your favorite part? Tell me in the comments!

Want to Read More About NoveList?

Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part One (Overview)
Why I Love NoveList, and You Should, Too: Part Three (New July Features!)

Ready to Go Book Display: Letters

Welcome to our series, "Ready to Go!" Book Display. Once a month, we'll highlight the latest or greatest for every age group (Adults, Teens and Children) that you can promote within your library or order for your collection. 


Recommendations for Adults:

Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher (May 2014)

 Collects over one hundred letters providing a glimpse into famous events and people in history, penned by such authors as Ray Bradbury, Katharine Hepburn, Galileo, and Flannery O'Connor.

 

If You Find This Letter: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers by Hannah Brencher (March 2015)

 A memoir of love and faith from Hannah Brencher who has dedicated her life to showing total strangers that they are not alone in the world.

 

To the Letter: A Celebration of the Lost Art of Letter Writing by Simon Garfield (Nov 2013)

An ode to the dwindling art of letter writing explores its potential salvation in the digital age, chronicling the history of letter writing as reflected by love letters, chain mail, and business correspondence, while surveying the role that letters have played as literary devices.
 

A Letter to My Cat: Notes to Our Best Friends by Lisa Erspamer (Oct 2014)

Collects celebrity letters of love, whimsy, and gratitude to their feline companions, including contributions by Dr. Oz, Mariel Hemingway, and Jackson Galaxy. Also check out A Letter to My Dog.

Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See by Bill Shapiro (Oct 2007)

 A voyeurist look at modern romance brings together an assortment of actual love letters, written by a diverse cross section of people, that appear exactly as they were originally written, offering candid insights into how people think about love. Also check out Other People's Rejection Letters.

 

Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed (and Other Heartwarming Letters from Kitty) by Jeremy Greenberg (April 2013)

Provides a humorous collection of letters from cats providing excuses and suggestions for their human companions. Also see Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe.

Recommendations for Teens:

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira (April 2014)
When Laural starts writing letters to dead people for a school assignment, she begins to spill about her sister's mysterious death, her mother's departure from her family, her new friends, and her first love.

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka (April 2015)
Chronicles the friendship between an American girl and her pen pal from Zimbabwe, discussing how a class assignment was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two loves.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (April 2014)

Lara Jean writes love letters to all the boys she has loved and then hides them in a hatbox until one day those letters are accidentally sent. 

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves by Miranda Kenneally and E. Kristin Anderson (Oct 2012)

 A collection of advice and reflections by young adult authors who reveal personal experiences from their teen years shares recommendations on topics ranging from abuse and relationships to bullying and body issues.

 Recommendations for Children:

A Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier (Nov 2014)
When Leo, a weasel mailman, rescues a young bird that was separated from his flock, the two become friends and Leo's dream of one day receiving a letter of his own may finally come true.

 

Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague (Sept 2003)
Gertrude LaRue receives typewritten and paw-written letters from her dog Ike, entreating her to let him leave the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy and come back home.

Ten Thank-You Letters by Daniel Kirk (Oct 2014)
While Pig is trying to finish a thank-you note to his grandmother, his best friend Rabbit repeatedly interrupts to borrow supplies for a series of his own notes, thanking all of the special people in their lives.

The Jolly Postman by Allan and Janet Ahlberg (Sept 2001)

A Jolly Postman delivers letters to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears.

Herman's Letter by Tom Percival (Nov 2014)
After Henry the raccoon moves away from his best friend, Herman the bear, their promise to be pen pals becomes difficult.

Dear Princess by Disney (Sept 2014)
Stories featuring princesses are told through correspondence received by each princess, including a letter from an evil stepmother, a positive review from a restaurant critic, and a message in a bottle from a mysterious undersea writer.

Recommendations for All Ages:

P.S. I Hate It Here!: Kids' Letters from Camp by Diane Falanga (May 2010)

The experience of being away from home for the first time creates hilarious and lasting memories. Here are more than 150 delightful and heartwarming real-life letters, covering all the imaginable scenarios of sleep-away camp. Also check out the sequel P.S. I Still Hate It Here!

Why I Love NoveList, And You Should, Too: Part One

Librarians are expected to know everything, and that can be a little intimidating. Luckily, I find that you don't have to know everything... you just have to know where to find it. This can be particularly tricky when doing readers' advisory, because no matter how many books you read, shelve, and hear about, there are always more that are just out of reach: there are just too many books in the world for any one person to know them all. As such, please allow me to introduce you my personal favorite RA database.

What is NoveList, and why do I care?

In short, NoveList is a reader's advisory database. You care because it will make your librarian life easier by orders of magnitude, and if you geek out about stuff like this (like I do), you can have a lot of fun with it, too.  There's a lot to it, but no need to be intimidated; we've split it into two parts to make it more manageable. (Don't have NoveList where you work? Check the library in the town where you live; it might surprise you!)

Here's what NoveList has to offer you:

The Toolbar

For this article, we're just going to focus on the toolbar at the top of the page. I think we can get through this without too much worry, right?

 Lists & Articles

The "Lists and Articles" tab of the menu bar offers:

• Author Read-Alikes - For those who love a certain author and have no idea what to pick up once they've finished reading their entire body of work
• Book Discussion Guides - Why reinvent the wheel for your book club, when you can get the questions here? You may even see things you hadn't thought about. ("Wait, there's symbolism in the rain? I just thought it was lousy weather!")
• Feature Articles - Read about topics and recommended titles from a variety of genres. More on that in a moment.
• Grab and Go Book Lists - Planning a lesson or program, or need a new display? Grab a list and go for it!
• Picture Book Extenders - Ideas and activities to make your picture books last past story time. Includes summaries, discussion questions, related titles, activities, grade levels, author information, etc. (Helpful hint: When a parent complains that they just can't read The Princess and the Pig one more time, print out this page to give them more to do than just reading it again and again. Great book, by the way.)

Articles

This section of the database is truly impressive. Each article has been written by a contributor to the database; credentials are listed at the bottom of the article, so you know that they know their stuff. They may be very specific or fairly broad in scope. For example, the wonderful "#SherlockLives: An Investigation into the Enduring Appeal and Many Sides of Sherlock Holmes" by Jennifer Brannen goes into detail about the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes, a couple sub-genres of Sherlockian literature, and commentary about its broad appeal. This is obviously very focused, whereas "Sesquicentennial: The American Civil War in Fiction" by Bethany Latham is a "Civil War Round-Up," much more broad in scope, and recommends books that may appeal to a wide variety of readers. There are as many articles as their are topics, all lovingly-written by people who have a real interest in their particular topic.

 Professional Toolbox

This tab is the librarian's gateway to becoming amazing at Readers' Advisory. Here, find:

• Readers' Advisory - There is so much stuff here! Book display ideas, discussion guides, lists of award winners, lists of books that have been made into movies, genre overviews, articles about using social media for RA, success stories of what other librarians have done... and so much more! If you're going to play around with NoveList, I recommend you start here.
• Working with Youth - This page includes sections on reading for pleasure, reading for school, ideas for educators, matching readers with books, programming, and more. There is a newsletter called "Kids & Books" that can be accessed from this page.

Spotlight On... 

 

• Award Winners -You can easily see lists of award winning books and the year they won, and search books by genre.
• Genres - Sure, we all know what a romance novel is, but what exactly is a "paranormal romance?" Find all the genres and sub-genres you could ever need here, with reading suggestions.

And so much more!

We're just scraping the surface of what this database has to offer. Check back in two weeks to read part two of Why I Love NoveList, And You Should, Too. July Update: NoveList rolled out new features! We have the scoop on what's new!