I
chose my local public library to complete this assignment. Before going on my quest of having a
reference librarian aid me in finding a good book, I was nervous that this
assignment could very easily become awkward. I’m not sure if people really just walk up to
the reference desk and ask for a good book.
That seems strange to me. So I
decided to bring my unassuming eleven year old daughter along as my patsy in
case things became a bit uncomfortable.
I noticed the reference desk at this
particular library right away, since it is located between the entrance and the
young adult section. As I approached the
reference desk, I noticed that there were a few flyers printed on bright yellow
paper patrons could take. There was also
a calendar that provided patrons with times of programs that were happening throughout
the months of January and February. The 2017 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award
Master List was present along with information about upcoming programs and
activities at the library. There was
only one person staffing the desk. I
asked if she had a moment to help us find a good book that we both could
enjoy. During the initiation stage of
the reference interview, the librarian was very friendly and was willing to
assist me with a smile and a hint of a giggle in her tone to establish report.
The librarian began the reference interview by
negotiating my question. She began with
asking about my hobbies and books that I have enjoyed reading in the past. We discussed The Selection Series by Kiera
Cass and Nora Roberts. She listened and
began to ask a few more open ended questions; this “neutral questioning
involves asking open questions that will help the librarian discover the true
nature of the question” (Cassell & Hiremath, 2013, p. 219). The librarian told me that had also read The
Selection Series and told me I should give the novellas a try. She pointed me in the direction of the young
adult section with the call number written on a slip of scrap paper. As I was walking away, she said I was also
welcome to use the online card catalog on any of the library’s computers if I
wanted to find something different. According
to the authors of Reference and
Information Services: An Introduction, “when the librarian refers the user
to another part of the library or to another library or information source, the
librarian should verify that useful information will be found by the user” (Cassell
& Hiremath, 2013, p. 24). Unfortunately,
this did not occur during my experience. I left the library without her asking if I was
satisfied with the book she recommended.
The interview was very brief and I felt a little disappointed
with the results. I was very hopeful in the
beginning of the interview that I would have a positive experience. The librarian seemed approachable through her
nonverbal responses, but once I asked my question I felt like she lost
interest. The quality of my interview
quickly diminished because she failed to “continually check in with the user to
determine whether the material discovered meets the user’s needs” (Cassell
& Hiremath, 2013, p. 21). I also
thought it was a little odd she did not use any sort of electronic or print
resources especially since “there is a growing number of excellent reference
tools, including electronic resources, that the reference librarian can use,
preferably along with the reader so that the readers’ advisory transaction
becomes a shared exploration of books” (Ross, Nilsen, Dewdney 2009, p.
163). This made me feel like my question
was not important enough for her to spend much of her time finding me different
options. She was successful in helping
me find a book; however, I was not satisfied with my interaction.
It is likely, this person did have some training in
readers’ advisory because the interview began well, but maybe she chose not to utilize
her training. My experience was much
like the findings from the assigned reading, conducting the Reference
Interview. In this study conducted at
the Nassau, New York, Library system, it was discovered that “a non-methodical,
informal, and serendipitous response was the norm to a patrons request for a ‘good
read’” (Ross, et al., 2009, p.163). It
would be interesting to go back and ask a more specific question to see if my
results would be similar.
References
Cassell,
K. A., & Hiremath, U. (2013). Reference and information services: an
introduction (3rd
ed.).London: Facet Publishing.
ed.).London: Facet Publishing.
Ross,
C. S., Nilsen, K., & Dewdney, P. (2009). Conducting the reference
interview: a how-to-do
it manual for librarians. London: Neal-Schuman Pub.
