Recently in readers' advisory Category

Easy Information Sources for ESL, Adult Learners, & New Readers
by Rosemarie Riechel
Find it in InfoSoup

Riechel recommends meeting the information needs of adults with special needs by using the children's nonfiction collection. This book contains an annotated bibliography of over 250 children's nonfiction titles that meet Riechel's criteria for use by adult new readers. These criteria include:

• Content that is clear, concise, and presented with authority
• Vocabulary that is simple and jargon-free, but not childish
• Extensive and sophisticated illustrations with captions and labels
• Adult-appropriate cover, title, print size, and dimensions
• Table of contents, glossary, index, and bibliography included

In addition to selection guidelines, Riechel also discusses the reference interview with the adult new reader, and housing and promoting the collection.

Most of Riechel's recommended titles can be found in InfoSoup. Contact Bradley if you would like a list that includes authors, titles, reading levels, and catalog links.

Join us on Tuesday, June 8th from 11:00-12:30 in the OWLS boardroom. Bring your lunch!

Books R US is a group of InfoSoup librarians dedicated to providing excellent reader’s services in our libraries. At each meeting we recommend a wide variety of books and also discuss and share books within a defined genre. New participants are always welcome!

The genre for the June 8th meeting is Satire. If you are not sure what to read, check out this list of humorous and satirical books from BookBrowse.com.

Future meetings and genres:
August 10 - Biography
October 12 - True Crime

Browse Books R Us reviews on InfoSoup. All InfoSoup library staff are welcome to contribute reviews. Contact OWLS to learn how.

Bonus Link: Jamie at NFLS just posted on Nic Bits "10 Tips for Readers Advisory" from Becky Siegel Spratford's WAPL session. Joining Books R Us is a great way to tackle tip #5, "Read Widely!" 

Please join us in the Nest at OWLS on Tuesday, February 9 at 11:00am for Books R Us. This month's genre is Romance. Not sure what to read? Check out these lists:

Bookletters Romance titles on InfoSoup
2009 Rita and Golden Heart Finalists
All About Romance
Booklist's Top 10 Romance Fiction 2009
Top 100 Romance Novels by The Romance Reader

I will be reviewing Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich.

The next Books R Us meeting will be Tuesday, October 28th from 11 AM to 12:30 PM in The Nest at OWLS. The genre this time around is Westerns. Try these links to help get you started finding some titles to share:

• The Seasoned Cowboy: Western Reading List
• Mostly Fiction Book Reviews: The Wild West
• Westerns for Teens from Denver Public Library

> contributed by Beth

The next Books R Us meeting will be Tuesday, August 12, 2008 in The Nest (room formerly known as the OWLS lab) from 11 AM - 12:30 PM.

Our genre for August is fantasy. We will be reading one adult and one YA fantasy book. The following are some fantasy lists that may aid in your selection:

• Modern epic fantasy
• Fantastic fiction
• World fantasy award nominees

Bring your lunch, your reviews, and your clever minds for stimulating conversation and readers' advisory tidbits!

> contributed by Holly

Two new booklists have been published, Easter Books, Music, and DVDs and Young Love: Teen romances that won't make you blush. Take a look!

We are also in the process of changing how we do our InfoSoup staff picks. The Readers' Advisory Group will be posting their Recommended Reads to InfoSoup, along with genre specific reading lists for adults and young adults.  The last meeting featured gentle reads and the next meeting in April will review historical fiction.  Please contact Holly or Ann Hunt at NLP if you would like to participate in the reading group. 

The Recommended Reads page is still a Work in Progress, but should go live on InfoSoup next week. Feel free to take a sneak peak while we develop the page.  If you would like to add a review to the list please contact Ann. We will be discontinuing the staff picks that we posted through BookLetters. Many thanks to everyone who sent suggestions!

>> contributed by Evan

We are going to try to start up the Readers' Advisory Group (RAG) again! This time around, we're going to try it as a joint program with NFLS libraries included, too. Ann Hunt, Director of the New London Public Library has volunteered to serve as the coordinator of RAG to get things started, and Leslie (OWLS) and Jamie (NFLS) will be lending a hand for each system. Thanks, Ann, Leslie, and Jamie!

Details about the plans so far can be found on the RAG page on OWLSweb. You'll be hearing from Leslie and Jamie soon, as we try to figure out what date and time would be best for most people, so stay tuned!

>> contributed by Beth