LIS 505B Readers Advisory
This course is designed to teach students how to meet the popular reading needs of adult public library users. Genre fiction, literary fiction and non-fiction titles along with readers' advisory resources and tools are explored. The relationship of readers' advisory services with reference, and other library programs, research on adult reading, and with popular reading in an information society will be examined. While the course introduces the basic principles of reader's advisory work, subjects or genre, because of the immense body of literature available, will be covered in a brief, introductory manner. The fiction genres included are adventure, western, mystery/crime, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, Christian fiction, and horror. Non-fiction subjects include how-to-do-it, biography, self-improvement, and consumer health. Readers' advisory services including the interview, book lists, and book discussion groups are examined. Relevant research, trends and issues related to readers advisory are discussed. In order to supplement Readers' Advisory, the course will also review trends in popular culture. Books and short stories have always been an excellent resource for movies, televisions shows, Internet memes and other media. Libraries no longer deal with just printed materials. Users come into our organizations looking for a variety of media, including movies, music, and online materials. In addition, it's important to note, this use of popular culture is not limited to just public libraries. Many academic libraries include a section for 'pleasure reading', the ability to check out or stream movies, and/or unrestricted Internet access. In order to serve our patrons, librarians need to have a strong familiarity with popular culture as it is becoming a growing part of patrons' needs.