Week 15 Prompt Response

An important thing that libraries can do to, hopefully, increase circulation is to market the collection. I think that the three best ways that you can market your fiction collection are by display, social media, and programs. 

Displays

Displays are the best form of marketing, in my opinion. They are incredibly versatile and can be used to market any type of book not only fiction. The best part about them is that they can either be as lazy or as intricate as you want. For example a librarian I used to work with once did a display called "There is something on your face." All of the books had covers in which someone had something on their face. She picked books with cool covers and the display did well. On the other end of the spectrum on of my coworkers did an "Afternoon Reads" display last year. The unifying theme of the display was that all of the books were around 200 pages. This display could not be filled fast enough. The themes of the display and picking books that are eye-catching are different, but important aspects of a display. They can be used to market under read genres or to promote books that the patron would not expect the library to have. 

Social Media

In our increasingly online world libraries need to make sure that they are keeping up with the times. Social media is the best way to reach people who do not use the library and to reach users who have not been in a while. The library that I work at has a presence across almost all social media platforms, but the posts I want to highlight are the staff recommendations that are posted across all of our social media pages. The posts vary from book reviews, to one sentence recommendations, and what the librarians have been reading recently. These all work to market the library to different patrons. They show books that we currently have in the system, and brief thoughts about them. 

Programs

Like displays programs can truly be anything. They are just events that the library puts on that usually have a specific theme. These can be used in truly any way imaginable to market the collection. This can be something like a book club, or something that my library does which is author talks. The library that I work for is apart of the Library Speakers Consortium. This is digital event that occurs monthly in which a author is interviewed by someone and the videos are posted to a website that we host. This works to market the books of these specific authors, and hopefully makes more patrons interested in their work. 

Week 14 Prompt Response

     Whether or not to separate out genres in a library is an interesting discussion. At the library that I work at we only have a few genres that are separated from the collection. They used to shelve mysteries separate, but during the height of the pandemic they interfiled them. The choice to separate out what they do truly makes no sense to me. We currently separate out westerns, science fiction, and short stories. I find that this only creates more confusion because patrons do not know and thus miss out on those books. For the prompt this week the conversation revolves around whether or not Urban Fiction and LGBTQ+ Fiction should be separated from the main fiction collection. I have differing opinions on both so I will talk about each separately. 

    For Urban Fiction I lean more towards either separating it out or creating a flyer with the popular authors in the genre. The main reason for this is because Urban Fiction is a genre with distinct characteristics. It is the equivalent of having a romance, mystery, or fantasy sections. I speak from experience that when patrons want these books they seek them out specifically. I have had patrons where this is all they read, so they do not usually come to our branch because we do not have it separated out. This genre is also still relatively niche. I think that having it separated with pamphlets in the aisles to explain what it is could actually help the genre rather than hurt it. The only thing that I have an issue with, in regards to separating out Urban Fiction, is that it does limit discovery. As I mentioned earlier in the post the library that I work at has things separated out and it does limit findability. I think that I have checked out only one Western, a handful of Science Fiction, and no Short Stories to patrons since I started working there close to a year ago. This is why I would personally lean towards doing what my library does do for Urban Fiction which is have lists available of the popular authors within the genre. This allows patrons who just want Urban Fiction to have a list of where to go to find it and still keeps it in the general collection to allow patrons to naturally discover it. 

    For LGBTQ+ Fiction I am vehemently against separating it out from the main collection. The main reasons for this is: it is a broad description that covers books from all genres, it segregates queerness from the main collection, and it can out people. The first reason revolves around the idea of what makes the work in question "LGBTQ+." Is the author queer? Does the book feature a prominent queer character? Does the book have queer themes and subtext? What age ranges would be in this section? What genres would this section cover? As shown by my questions this section would require a lot of thought and would require the librarian to make a ton of choices that would be influenced by their bias. This section would also be huge for the reasons listed above. The idea of LGBTQ+ Fiction is not a genre like Urban Fiction is. LGBTQ+ Fiction does not have defined tropes, does not fall within genre conventions, does not (usually) have set age ranges, and many other aspects. Just from a logistical standpoint this would create more work to do something that the reader is most likely already doing themselves if they want those books. Speaking from my own experience as a nonbinary person who loves to read books with queer characters I am used to seeking out that information on my own. The next main issue I have is that it separates queerness from the main collection. This seeks to other queer people. You are effectively shunning a specific group to one section of the library. By doing this you also limit exposure of queer authors. There are plenty of book that would fall under this classification that wont get read because they are in a special section. The last issue I have with it is that it creates a safety issue. A great thing about the library is that people can seek out materials without judgement. If a library created this section there would have to be a new call number or sticker on the spine, so library staff could shelf the materials properly. This would out people and thus you cut off most of the LGBTQ+ fiction from queer people who are not out of the closet. 

    For both I think that the best way to separate them out for discovery and to better help patrons find what they want to read is by creating both book lists and displays. Book lists effectively do what separating out items does, but allows patrons to opt into it. If a patron knows that they only want Urban or LGBTQ+ Fiction than they can seek out these lists. With displays it allows the library to call attention to these genres while separating them out for only a limited time. It works to allow patrons who want those items an easy place to get them and it allows for people to discover something new. These options have the benefits of separate shelf locations without the drawbacks. 

Week 13 Prompt Response

 I personally believe that it is the purpose of the library to carry books of all kinds regardless if some people think that they pointless. The idea that the genres of young adult (YA), new adult (NA), and graphic novels are not being read by adults is laughable. The second in charge at the library I currently work at only reads manga, Japanese graphic novels, and I myself read a fair amount of YA because I can just shut my brain off while reading them. These genres are just as important as the more traditional genres. 

Speaking from the experience as an adult who likes to read YA and NA from time to time I love them because of their simplicity. I love to read a dense fantasy novel or a heady science fiction epic, but sometimes I want to read something that I know will have a simple plot with likeable characters where the good guy always prevails. For the teen reader they serve as a place of transition. The teen has outgrown Diary of a Wimpy Kid and wants something a little more stimulating. It is good to have a place where that teen can get books that both challenge them without scaring them off. If you gave a fifteen year old the first Wheel of Time book with its slow pace and almost 800 pages they might never read again. It is good to have a place in the library where adults can go to seek out a more simple story and teens can seek out a place for them between children's and adult fiction. 

For graphic novels I feel as though the conversation is different. Here in the West we tend to see things like graphic novels to be inherently childish. The fact that the books have pictures makes them seem lesser to these people, but I would argue that the best graphic novels use the pictures to only enhance the words. I am currently reading the manga series, Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui. A coworker and I kept hearing about it on social media, so we are both currently reading it. The story of this series revolves around cooking. Each chapter features a dish being prepared and the artwork really captures the food in a way that words cannot. In a different vain one of my favorite graphic novels, Uzumaki by Junji Ito, is a horror manga about a town in Japan being haunted by spirals. The story takes so wild a bizarre turns but the art is really what brings it home. The book deals with a fair amount of body horror and it is so much more horrifying to see it drawn out rather than just being words on a page. 

I personally think that the best first step that we can do to promote this books to the library users is to put out displays. There could be a display of YA/NA books that have appeal to adults or a display of some of the best graphic novels that are in the library. I personally think that the best thing that you can do to convince someone of these genres right to be promoted is to be exposed to them. Most of the critique towards these genres is from people who are coming into them with preconceived notions of what they expect of "literature." We should work to introduce readers to their next favorite thing. 

Young Adult Annotation - The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan

Author: Rick Riordan

Title: The Chalice of the Gods

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publication Date: 2023

Number of Pages: 268

Geographical Setting: New York City

Time Period: Modern Day

Plot Summary: Percy Jackson has saved the world twice, done countless quests for the gods, fought his way out of Tartarus, and has too many achievements under his belt to count. He now faces his toughest challenge yet, getting into college. Since his is a child of the big three, in other words he should not have been born, he has to get three godly recommendation letters in order to get into New Rome University with his girlfriend Annabeth. Thankfully his father, Poseidon, has already gone through the trouble of putting a flyer up on Mt. Olympus advertising that Percy will do the gods quests in exchange for recommendation letters. To his luck he already has his first quest, retrieving the chalice of the gods that has been stolen from the godly cupbearer, Ganymede. Will Percy and friends succeed in getting the cup back?

Subject Headings: 

Mythology, Greek - Fiction

Mythology, Roman - Fiction

Friendship - Fiction

Young Adult Appeals:

Story Line: The story line of YA books in incredibly important. We want to see our character succeed while still facing struggles that the average teen would deal with. In this book we see Percy struggling with a relatable topic to most people, trying to get into college, but it is taken to the logical extreme of the setting. 

Characterization: The characters of a YA book are, in my opinion, the most important part. The thing that defines this readership/genre for me is the characters. For a successful YA book the main character has to feel relatable. The audience has to be able to see themselves in the character. For this series that idea holds true. Percy is a likeable, relatable character. Even though the reader has not slayed monsters or has a Greek god as a parent; Percy is still written in a way that makes him relatable to the audience. 

Language: The language is crucial in YA. The author has to toe the line between writing a book for children and a book for adults. It has to be adult enough to not seem as if it is talking down to the audience while being still child enough to be both relatable and appropriate for the genre. This book, and the series as a whole, achieves this by grounding the books firmly in Percy's perspective. The book is written in the first person and feels as if you are reading the main character's internal thoughts. This allows for the book to use teen language without it feeling forced. 

Three Terms to Describe This Book:

• Adventure
• Fun
• Relatable

Young Adult Fantasy Read-Alikes:

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

This book focus on Simon Snow and him ending his magical journey at school. He has worked for all of his schooling to defeat the Humdrum, but what comes after he defeats the big bad?

Common Appeal: This book, and series, focus on what happens to the protagonist after they fulfill the prophecy. This is similar to The Chalice of the Gods and the other two books that come after it. They are meant to show us the main character living his life outside of world-ending events. 

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao 

This book is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reimagining of China's only female empress. The story follows the rise of Wu Zetian as she avenges her sister. She does this by becoming a piolet of a giant mech in order to fight aliens that threaten their society.

Common Appeal: They are both YA books that are adaptations of different mythologies. The Chalice of the Gods focuses on Greek and Roman mythology while Iron Widow focuses on Chinese Mythology. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This book focuses on Sophie, she is the eldest of three. This causes her to think that she is stuck with a life of misery. She expects that she will inherit the family's hat shop and never seek out her own fortune. When she makes an enemy with the witch of the waste that all changes. She is transformed into an old lady and must seek out her own path to fix this. She seeks out the only place she knows of the wizard Howl and his moving castle. 

Common Appeal: They both focus on a main character who had, prior to the events of the story, never felt quite right in their own world. It is their forays into the magical world that allow them to full actualize themselves. 

Other Genre Read-Alikes:

Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui (Graphic Novel)

This series focuses on Laios Touden and his, and his friends search, to get his sister back. Falin was swallowed by a red dragon deep in the dungeon. The party of Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck are spit back out of the dungeon after this encounter. The need to immediately go back into the dungeon in order to save Falin, Laios's sister. They do not have time to pick up supplies, so they plan to eat the monsters they slay as they make their way through the dungeon. They struggle with the creation of their first meal and catch the attention of Senshi. He joins the party and shows them how to create a meal from the monsters. The party then begins their trek to save Falin from the dungeon's depths. 

Common Appeal: This series and The Chalice of the Gods are both satires of fantasy. The Percy Jackson series is a satire of Greek Myth as a whole while Delicious in Dungeon is a satire of more traditionally fantasy. 

Circe by Madeline Miller (Adult Fantasy)

This book is an adaptation of Greek myth with a specific focus on The Odyssey. It tells the story from the perspective of the witch Circe. Circe is a child of the Titan Helios who is banished by Zeus to a deserted island. There she works on her magic and crosses paths with many figures from Greek mythology. 

Common Appeal: This story and The Chalice of the Gods both focus on Greek mythology. The Percy Jackson series is written for young adults and thus is lighter in tone. It tends to remove the more mature parts of Greek mythology from its story. Circe on the other hand is an adaptation of Greek mythology meant for an adult audience. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Young Adult Science Fiction)

This book tells the beginning of the story of Katniss Everdeen. A young woman from the poorest district in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem. She volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games a fight to death battle that takes place yearly as punishment for the districts rebelling 74 years ago. 

Common Appeal: This story and The Chalice of the Gods both feature a main character who at the beginning of their series are thrust from normalcy into being a chosen one. Percy is a chosen one by literal prophecy and Katniss is a chosen one by pure luck. Both series sees our main characters fighting to make the world a better place for people like them.