I don't know everything, but...

Dear Boss,  I know that Valentine's Day is behind us, but if you're serious about getting a circulation bump in our stagnant reads, I think I have an idea.  What about treating the books like hot dates and wrapping them up for check out??  I've seen other libraries do this thing called, "Blind Date with a Book" where the titles are wrapped up in wrapping or butcher paper and labeled with just a number and a brief synopsis.  This could be just the genre or a little paragraph teaser to strum up interest.  We could even make it a little more interesting by including chocolates with the check-outs or hold a drawing for a date night for those who participated.  I also thought we could pair up popular movies with books that patrons might like... kind of an, "If you  liked _____, you should put your nose in this," display.  If you'd like me to head this up, let me know.  I think it might be wise to wrap up some kid books too since we all know child...

Galbraith, R. (2013). The Cuckoo’s Calling. New York, NY: Mulholland Books. Goodreads. (n.d.). The Cuckoo’s Calling . Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16160797-the-cuckoo-s-calling?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RqotMb7flr&rank=2 Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

Reviews… I love reading reviews before buying materials because it gives me some opinions (both good and bad!) about something I might purchase for the library, but haven't read.   It’s handy when patrons want a recommendation because I can’t physically read everything, but I can give them some general idea of what readers thought and they can form their own opinions.   I might be booed for sharing that I rarely read Kirkus.   It arrives and I let it sit on my desk for a couple days (or hours) before tossing it.   Shhhhhhh … Here’s the thing, my book budget was around 6k last year.   I spend 1.4k on a youth subscription.   Kirkus will review so many books that I can’t even consider buying, so it gets overwhelming and feels pointless.   Does that make sense?   Same is true for ebooks.   I read the reviews for myself, personally, but I’m not involved in the purchasing of those titles so there hasn’t been much point, professionally.   Add...

Brown, S. (2019).  Outfox.  New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing. Goodreads. (n.d.).  Outfox.  Retrieved from  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43211810-outfox?from_search=true&qid=onTcayXAn8&rank=1 Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J.G. (2019).  The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction  (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.

By: Robyn Carr KIRKUS Style Review Growing up, the Hempstead family lake house was the setting of love and joy until tragedy struck and ripped the fabric of their family apart.  Now, twenty-nine years later, the baby of the family calls them all back to reconnect, find out what happened that summer, and try to stitch the pieces back together before it's too late. The Hempstead sisters did the thing close sisters dream of growing up: they married brothers, they had all daughters, they retreated each summer to the lake house to reconnect and let their six girls run wild in the summer sun.  Everything was beautiful and steady, right up until the unthinkable happened- one of the girls drowned.  Broken, the sisters parted ways to never return.  The daughters, with their family divided by pain, split as well to branch out independent of the steady framework that had supported them. The house sat empty and neglected, falling apart just like the girls until cancer-str...

In college, I wanted to make some extra side cash and a popular job at the time {that I thought I'd get rich at [eyeroll]} was being a secret shopper.  You logged onto a website and saw opportunities in your area with specific instructions: go here, ask this, do this, return this, etc., then get paid for the write up. Sadly, I never made much money.  This experience was the the same LOL!  Being a patron felt strange and unfamiliar.  Walking into a library and having some idea of what I want or enjoying perusing is usually such fun for me so putting on my game face and asking for assistance felt entirely false.   That said, t he value of having a person who can be our right-hand escort through a collection really can’t be measured.   Not every patron feels that they need this service, but sometimes we “just want to talk to a person!”   This current time period is so unique in that we don’t want to interact with people, but sometimes you just want a hu...