Mystery Shopper Readers' Advisory Experience

Using a public library where you are not known or a librarian who does not know you, ask for a good book to read. Discuss what happens: What questions were you asked? What tools if any did the librarian use to help you? Did the librarian successfully find a “good book” for you to read? If yes, how so? If no, why not?

The library I visited for my mystery shopping experience is a somewhat small library that is not part of a system. I have never visited this library before this assignment. I am usually one of those people who doesn't ask for help; I'm the person at Best Buy avoiding eye contact with the store staff because I don't need their help finding things. I've always felt very comfortable browsing the stacks without assistance and finding many books to try out. This assignment took me out of my comfort zone a bit.

Once I arrived at the library, I didn't feel as anxious as I thought I would. As I walked in, I noticed a sign posted on the window about the library cat. My library doesn't have a cat, so I was a bit envious. Entering the library, the circulation desk is immediately to the right. I did not see any staff members. As I rounded the corner of the desk, I saw two staff members at computers located toward the very back of the circulation area. No one was standing near the computers where people check things in and out. The staff did not seem very accessible. 

Feeling a bit out of place, I wandered around the library for a few minutes. The layout of the adult stacks was a bit different than I'm used to. The left section of bookcases housed the adult nonfiction, with all the new adult books located on the front section of bookshelves. The biographies were separated out and placed on shelves along the wall. The adult fiction section was on the right side of the room. Computers on tables separated the two sections. The adult fiction section seemed a bit small, which is not unsurprising since the library is not large. The Young Adult section was located in the right corner nearest the doorway. The YA selection seemed very sparse. The library was almost awkwardly quiet. There were a few patrons on the computers and only one other person browsing the stacks. A man was using one of the computers that was right in front of the YA section, so it was a uncomfortable browsing that particular section. 

I made my way back toward the circulation desk. I browsed the DVDs for a while. I then looked at the bulletin board and the pamphlets displayed near it. I did not see any sort of book lists or readers’ advisory materials. I headed back toward the DVDs and finally made my way to the circulation desk. After a few seconds, one of the librarians noticed that I looked confused and asked if she could help me. 

I told her I was looking for a book. She asked if I had looked at the new books. I told her I had glanced at them. She asked what types of books I like, and I answered that the last book I really liked was Gone Girl. She seemed uncertain and mentioned that Gone Girl is a bit of a mystery. I agreed that it was. As she led me to the new books, she said she was not really a mystery reader.

Once we arrived at the new books, she pulled out a Dean Koontz book and asked if I had ever read Koontz. It was the newest Odd Thomas book. I have not read any of the Odd Thomas books, and she did not mention it was the latest book in a series. She said I might like Patterson. She asked if I have ever read Patricia Cornwell or Mary Higgins Clark and said I might like those. I could tell she was somewhat uncomfortable suggesting books from a genre she does not read. She showed me the specialty sticker on mysteries and told me to look for those and to read the inside of the book jacket to see if any of them sounded good. She left and let me browse. 

I chose the Patricia Cornwell and Mary Higgins Clark books. (On a side note, I also chose Station Eleven, a science fiction book I have heard about recently.) When I checked out, the librarian mentioned she looked online for books similar to Gone Girl, but they were all sites that required signing up to see the results. She did not tell me what the websites were. 

While the librarian was nice, she wasn’t very helpful. It seemed like patrons must not ask for book suggestions very often. There did not seem to be a method to readers’ advisory; there was no readers’ advisory interview and the librarian did not use any print or online resources. I also doubt there is any readers’ advisory training for staff at the library. I did feel like the librarian knew she wasn't very successful, and she did look online, but failed to provide the web addresses to me. I've never read Cornwell or Mary Higgins Clark, so I am not sure if the books are similar to Gone Girl.

The library did utilize some passive readers' advisory strategies by placing stickers on mysteries. Even though the stickers are helpful, they do not tell the patron what type of mystery the book is. All mysteries are not the same. A readers’ advisory interview allows the patron and librarian to have a dialogue that can lead toward suggestions that are more than just mysteries. 

This assignment reinforced the idea that I have to be able to help all patrons find books. It is very disappointing when a patron asks for a book suggestion and he/she does not get much in return. Leading a patron to a section of books without further guidance does not help them find something to read. I know there have been readers’ advisory instances where I have dropped the ball and they make me work harder at improving. For some patrons, it takes a lot for them to ask for a recommendation. If we act unsure of what we are doing and do not utilize any readers’ advisory tools, patrons will not trust us and will not ask for suggestions again.