One of the key services librarians provide is helping readers find books they'll enjoy. This "crash course" will furnish you with the basic, practical information you need to excel at readers' advisory (RA) for adults and teens. The question "can you recommend a good book?" can be one of the most daunting you face, notwithstanding the fact that recommender tools are ubiquitous. Often, uncertainty arises because, although librarians are called on to perform such services daily, readers' advisory is a skill set in which most have no formal training. This guide will remedy that. It is built around understanding books, reading, and readers and will quickly show you how to identify reading preferences and advise patrons effectively. You'll learn about multiple RA approaches, such as genre, appeal features, and reading interests and about essential tools that can help with RA. Plus, you'll discover tips to help you keep up with this ever-changing field. There is no other professional book that covers the full spectrum of skills needed to perform the RA service that is in such great demand in libraries of all kinds. Helping readers find what they want is a sure way to serve patrons and build your library's brand. You will come away from this easy-to-understand crash course with the solid background you need to do both.

One of the key services librarians provide is helping readers find books they'll enjoy. This "crash course" will furnish you with the basic, practical information you need to excel at readers' advisory (RA) for adults and teens. The question "can you recommend a good book?" can be one of the most daunting you face, notwithstanding the fact that recommender tools are ubiquitous. Often, uncertainty arises because, although librarians are called on to perform such services daily, readers' advisory is a skill set in which most have no formal training. This guide will remedy that. It is built around understanding books, reading, and readers and will quickly show you how to identify reading preferences and advise patrons effectively. You'll learn about multiple RA approaches, such as genre, appeal features, and reading interests and about essential tools that can help with RA. Plus, you'll discover tips to help you keep up with this ever-changing field. There is no other professional book that covers the full spectrum of skills needed to perform the RA service that is in such great demand in libraries of all kinds. Helping readers find what they want is a sure way to serve patrons and build your library's brand. You will come away from this easy-to-understand crash course with the solid background you need to do both.

Graphic novels have found a place on library shelves but many librarians struggle to move this expanding body of intellectual, aesthetic, and entertaining literature into the mainstream of library materials.

Perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and A Tale of Magic…, this Barnes & Noble Children’s Book Award finalist and Amazon Best Book of the Month is a charming fantasy debut that puts a new spin on the legend of Camelot Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause. Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s ancient magic foretells his family’s death if he doesn’t follow through, he travels to the knights’ castle, where he learns of a wicked curse leeching the knights of their power. To break the curse, Ellie and Caedmon must pass a series of deathly trials and reforge the lost, shattered sword of Excalibur. And unless Ellie accepts her witch magic and Caedmon rises to become the knight he’s meant to be, they will both fail—and the world will fall to the same darkness that brought King Arthur and Camelot to ruin.

Covering everything from getting to know a library’s materials to marketing and promoting RA, this practical handbook will help you expand services immediately without adding costs or training time.

In a highly readable and engaging style, this paperback edition of Mark Shipman's classic book takes readers step-by-step through every aspect of disciplined and lucrative investing. Starting with the how and why of taking responsibility for your money, it goes on to describe specific investment strategies that Shipman has used himself with great success. In the second half of the book, the commodity markets are described in detail, an area he himself predicts as a major investment opportunity that could last well over a decade. Both those new to investing and those looking to brush up their skills will find sound and solid advice on: how long-term investing works; why investing is a mental game; how to develop a personal investment strategy and why you should invest in commodities. The Next Big Investment Boom will not only show you how to avoid making bad investments, but also how to make the right investments, at the right time, and make a significant amount of money.