Reading in New Doorways

After reading the Dante Club,which is a book I would not have chosen in the past because it was very detailed and slow moving, I chose I book by Toni Morrison. I am enjoying this book called Tar Baby, and becoming drawn into it more and more even though it would not have appealed to me, because it is a language doorway. In between these two books that I usually would not have picked, I read a book by Janet Evanovich. That book didn't seem as enjoyable as her books have been in the past. Have I changed? I have a book by Louise Erdich that I plan to read next. I'm starting to think that I may have been using the wrong doorway in the past, and reading books that were given to me instead of thinking about the quality of the story. Many of the books were very predictable with characters showing very little depth. I am so glad that I attended the workshop with Linda Pearl.

I thought I would mention the new technology I discovered while waiting in the hospital for my husband's back surgery to be completed. The family waiting room now has a computer screen that shows the progress of the patient from presurgery through the assignment of a room after the surgery is complete. I was given a number by a volunteer, then was told to follow the progress on the screen. Each area was color-coded to make it easier to follow. For instance, it was pink for the presurgery section, then white for the operating room.(six hours for my husband). Next, it was purple for the after surgery care, then finally another color for the room in intensive care following the surgery. Apart from a few telephone updates from surgery, the computer screen made it easy to track the progress. I felt that was a good way to pass on information, giving the volunteer time for other duties and keeping us posted after she had left for the day.

I attended a fun workshop about new technologies. We were able to actually try out a Sony eReader. Our group downloaded a free electronic book from the Web after setting up the eReader and finding the site (Gutenberg). Later we described the experience to the rest of the class, relating what we liked and did not like. The only reason I could think of to use the device, would be for travel. You could order books to download from Sony for a charge or use the free book site. I could not see any advantage of the device over a book, since the ebooks were almost the same price as a paperback book. I did research on the Kindle reader from Amazon, and would like to try that out. It had more to it, such as a web browser and keyboard.
The rest of the class demonstrated how to use a GPS device, a digital camera, a camcorder, an iPod and the Wii system. Everyone seemed to enjoy trying out these new devices and telling us about them. It would have been better if we would have had time to try each device, but we ran out of time after six hours. What a great way to find out about new technologies.

I have been able to use my iGoogle Web site to keep up with the events of the past month or so dealing with the mortgage crisis and politics. I am thankful for my 23 Things on a Stick experience which made me aware of these sources of information. The information is constantly updated, and available from many sources, so I hear both sides of the issues. I feel that I am better informed than I have been in past elections or financial crises. Actually, this has led me to make decisions based on this information and to become more involved in these areas of my life.

My coworker made a good point of following Nancy Pearl's advice when a student told her that she stopped reading David Copperfield after fifty pages. The student had started the book in August and kept trying to force herself to read. After college started, and she had homework to do, she gave up. She told us this sounding somewhat embarrassed, but Laura to her that this was acceptable. We told her that at a workshop that we had attended, we were told that it is ok to stop after attempting to read 50 pages because you don't have to force yourself to read a book. She was surprised to hear this but seemed relieved. The student is an English major and does enjoy reading and writing. She said she is working on her first novel. I am starting to realize that I have many opportunities to advise readers that can be missed if I don't pick up on these chance encounters.
Right now I am forcing myself to read the Dante Club. I have read over two hundred pages and keep thinking that I'll start liking it. It must be a style of book that I usually would not pick to read. I keep telling myself that I am stretching out of my usual comfort zone for reading.

I brought up Nancy Pearl's idea of suggesting books rather than recommending, and it caused quit a stir at our break table for a few days. I felt we had a good discussion about considering new ideas for working with library patrons. A few of my co-workers were very skeptical about suggesting books based on doorways and discussions with the patrons. They felt they knew better what books should be recommended because of their experience and knowledge. I told them it is not about you, it is about them. (Nancy told us that.) They stopped their disagreeing at that point. I also explained about the shoe salesman routine of offering three book choices. We had a few laughs, when Al Bundy was mentioned (Married with Children.) When he was compared to us, we had to agree we are somewhat like him in our lives.
I also selected a book by Toni Morrison to read, because I would never have chosen this type of book on my own. This will be a language doorway instead of my usual story or character doorway.

Readers' Advisory Workshop

I attended a workshop today with Nancy Pearl as the presenter. We talked about books and how to suggest titles to patrons. The idea is to get the patron to talk about what type of book they would like to read. There are four doorways to books which we enter, with usually one that we favor. They are story, setting, character, and language. According to what the patron tells us, we can suggest books that fit each doorway. I even have a list of titles that we discussed for each doorway. We also want to get the reader to use different parts of the library, so she gave us the model of a shoe salesman to "sell" the books. For example, we can suggest three books, one that is like the doorway that they pick the most, the second that is like that book but by another author, and the third from another area of the library such as nonfiction. If a patron likes books that come from the story doorway, they may say they like books that they can't put down or that they sat up all night reading. This person may like books by Dan Brown or John Grisham. For the third book, they might try true crime stories, outdoor adventures, or history. She told us we should stretch our own reading habits and read one book that we usually would not at least once a month. We were told to suggest books and not to recommend. We need to let the patron tell about what they like because it is about them, not about us. It was very interesting and informational to take part in the workshop. I also bought her action figure doll for my granddaughter. She already loves to have books read to her.