Opening doorways to reading

On April 11th, Neill Public Library and the Pullman community were honored by a visit from author, NPR commentator, and Library Journal’s 2011 Librarian of the Year Nancy Pearl. During a three-hour workshop that morning, library staff from all over the Palouse and LC Valley learned about how to give suggestions to readers of all kinds. In the evening, over one hundred people came to hear Nancy talk about some of her favorite books of the moment. It was an exciting day for all! I would like to thank especially the Neill Public Library staff, the Friends of Neill Public Library, the staff at Gladish Community and Cultural Center, and the folks at Northwest Public Radio. All of these groups tremendously helped make the day a success.

During the staff workshop, Nancy spoke about changing how we look at a library’s collections to move beyond the classic subdivisions of fiction and non-fiction. Nancy asserts that the kind of books we are drawn to is based on which particular reading style “speaks” to us. There are four different types of reading styles people appreciate: story, character, setting, and language. And, while there is the occasional book in which all four styles have equal representation (To Kill a Mocking Bird, for example), most books have a dominant style. Since these styles can be applied equally to fiction and non-fiction, readers who have traditionally “stuck with” one genre or classification of book can now feel comfortable, guided by the reading style of their choice, to search out books across collections and all over the library! In other words, indentifying the reading style you like offers you increased reading options and helps remove perceived barriers like “fiction” and “nonfiction”. In removing these barriers, doorways are opened to new reading experiences! This is why Nancy appropriately refers to these four reading styles as “doorways to enjoyment”.

During Nancy’s evening presentation, she opened doorways to new reading pleasures by introducing the audience to some recently published books that may have escaped their notice. All of the books that Nancy raved about are either already owned by Neill Public Library or are on order. I am looking forward to reading some of these titles myself and e-mailing Nancy to tell her what I think of them!



Nancy’s visit was made possible by a $10,000 grant Neill Public Library received from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The grant was designed to find new ways to connect communities to their libraries using reference and readers’ advisory services. We at Neill are so pleased to be able to bring an enhanced level of readers’ services to our patrons through this grant and through the hard work of our staff, who have been inspired by Nancy’s presentations. One example of this inspiration can be seen in our Youth Services department, where staff members are working on creating “doorway bibliographies” for readers. These bibliographies will reflect lists of book choices based on the four styles and will encourage readers to explore parts of the library’s collections they may not have otherwise considered. Neill has many more exciting changes to readers’ services in store; stay tuned and get ready to read!

 

Cheryl Brinkley

Adult Services Librarian