These days at NoveList, pivot is a word we find ourselves using more frequently than we’d like. Librarians have been doing a lot of pivoting for sure, from being open to closed; to converting from in-person programming to online programming and now figuring out re-opening in phases. For many, that means taking on new roles that maybe feel like ‘other duties as assigned.’
For those of you for whom ‘other duties as assigned’ did not mean conducting reference interviews, keeping up with the latest and greatest in a given genre, or generating a book suggestion for a child who reads several grades above level, your daily work might feel, well, a little stressful.
No matter whether you’re answering questions as your patrons begin to come back into your library, or responding via live chat or a phone call, NoveList can help quickly, right from the home page! And, if you or anyone at your library would like a deeper dive, we’re happy to help.
‘For Fans of’ Recommended Reads lists
It’s true that NoveList has a ton of curated lists on genres, a variety of subject areas, and readable nonfiction. However, For Fans of lists are the special sauce you didn’t know you needed. Perfect as you help readers who aren’t sure what they’re after, these lists pull appeals from popular TV shows your patrons have been binge-watching and movies they remember going to see before sheltering in place and map them to book choices. They’re offered at the adult, teen, and older kids’ levels and you can print or email them to patrons.
Genre browse
Who likes experiencing the ‘genre-in-the-headlights' feeling you get when you get asked for a book recommendation from a genre out of your comfort zone? No one! That’s why we created our genre browse. There’s a section for each age level, making it easy to pivot as needed. Each has forthcoming titles, and sub-genres, all easily navigated via a carousel of book jackets. (Pivot to a deeper dive, our Crash Course genre webinar series.)
Themes
Themes are a delicious part of NoveList story elements because they represent those common tropes/plot structures that readers turn to as they are seeking a specific reading experience. You’ll love being the hero of your patrons’ reading story by coming up with interesting choices for them super-quickly. Our themes are divided into genre for your ease of use; access the themes landing page from the home page.
Appeals
Along with themes, appeal language can help you easily match your reader to a book with the desired ‘feel’. Test out one of the pre-loaded appeal combos or use the drop-down to easily pivot as you learn more from your reader, such as your Romance reader who is seeking a specific level of steaminess. (Pivot to a deeper dive: learn more about diversity appeal terms.)
Search alerts/folders
Search alerts + folders = the best way of all to pivot, because you can stay prepared. When you get a question that’s tricky and come up with a great search, capture it by creating a search alert then stashing results in a folder. Example: your reader fell in love with Jasmine Guillory’s romances, and now wants other books with culturally diverse characters coupled with POW! steaminess. Easy! Type GN multicultural AND AP culturally diverse AND AP steamy into the search box, then click search. You’ll get great search results for the immediate question. For next time, click on the orange RSS feed button. Choose how often you’d like to be notified when a title meeting your search criteria is added to NoveList. Result: on-point suggestions regularly emailed to you. Notify your patron with new books as they come in. Step-by-step instructions can be found here.
Need more foundational readers’ advisory training for you and your staff? NoveList experts are available for your virtual staff days, remote training sessions, and more. We can teach you strategies for working with readers no matter your experience and comfort level. Check out our professional development offerings here or email learnwithnovelist@ebsco.com for more information and pricing.
