Prompt: Marketing your Fiction Collection

 

There are several ways to market a fiction collection for your library. A primary tool we use at our library is LibraryAware. LIbraryAware is so thorough that all three ways to market your collection can be done by using this tool. The main reason is that the program is very easy to use and saves staff time, which we all need more time for at the library. LibraryAware does a lot of the work, including book descriptions, so all we have to do is pick the book or movie.  We market our collection through newsletters, flyers, and programs.

One way LibraryAware markets our fiction collection is by emailing book choices to people through Nextreads newsletters. Patrons can pick out which newsletter they subscribe to on our website, and it emails lists of new books by genre, such as thriller or nonfiction, or by the New York Times Bestseller lists.  Another way we market collections using LibraryAware is by making flyers, which we promote on our social media, website, or display wall.  We make event flyers and book flyers on topics such as April National Poetry Month. I use LibraryAware to promote staff picks in the library.  I ask staff members if they have a good book they would like to recommend. I put the choice in LibraryAware in a template, and it is done.  

 Another way we market the collection with LibraryAware is by using it to promote the books in the library. For example, we advertised a flyer called Winter Reading Bingo.  LibraryAware assigned the Winter Reading Bingo categories based on reading, and we promoted it on social media, our library, and our website. It was very popular because it was for adults instead of just the Summer Reading Program, which leans toward children. The winner received a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a book-related sticker when they turned in the bingo sheet. LibraryAware makes it so easy to do programs!  

Prompt #14 Urban Fiction and LGBTQ+ books

 

 At first, I was all for having a separate collection of Urban Fiction and LGBTQ+ books, but the 

more I thought about it and read about it, the more I changed my mind. One reason why I 

agree with having it separate is for the ease of finding novels.  We get asked daily where 

Urban Fiction is located in our library, and we do not separate it unless it is a main category. 

We created a book list for Urban Fiction by author and title, which has helped tremendously in 

finding those books on Urban Fiction.  However, after reading the articles on the shelving 

debate caused me to change my mind.

             One reason is the othering of the collection. For example, in Yorio & Ishizuka (2018) article Melissa McBride writes, “I do have a problem with students feeling “other” by having to go to that shelf, but until a better solution presents itself, it is what we are working with,” (p. 2). Another reason to keep them together is that the separate section can be judgmental and may create anxiety by having their peers see them in the separate section, especially if they are not ready to tell the world that they are LGBTQ+. Another problem with school libraries is that librarians are worried about the parental reaction to those books that LGBTQ+ separates. For example, libraries have put these books on LGBTQ+ in the parenting section to avoid complaints (Yorio & Ishizuka, 2018, p. 3).  Lastly, with Urban Fiction, the problem is that we are separating them from the rest of the collection, and therefore, by connection to the people they represent, they do not belong with the rest of the collection, a parallel to shelving titles separately (Yorio & Ishizuka, 2018, p. 3). It doesn’t create a welcoming atmosphere in the library when patrons have to find their books in a special separate section or only on displays. I agree with having a diverse library for everyone. And that involves not having the library separate these sections. I think we should not separate them due to both racism and homophobia. For these reasons, I think they should not be shelved separately but in the fiction section, with the other books awaiting discovery.      

 

References

Yorio, K., & Ishizuka, K. (2018, October 26). Shelving debate: To separate or integrate?. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/shelving-debate-separate-or-integrate

 

Young Adult Annotation-A Court of Thorns and Roses

 

Title:   A Court of Thorns and Roses           

Author: Sarah J. Maas         

Genre:  Young Adult

Publication Date: 2021

Number of pages: 419

Geographic Setting: The novel is set in Prythian. The first setting is in the mortal lands in Feyre’s cottage, and most of the book takes place in Tamlin’s Estate in the Spring Court.   

Period:  1700-1800s

Series:  A Court of Thorns and Roses Series-Book One     

Plot Summary:

Feyre’s family is starving, so she hunts and secures food for her sisters and father.   She sees a deer and a large-sized wolf hunting it.  She takes her ash wood core and kills the large wolf. Bringing the deer and the wolf meat back home, she returns to her family’s cabin. But, little does she know the wolf is high fae, and she has to leave home and live in the Fairie World from now on.  Tamlin collects her, and she goes to the Spring Court to live out her days.  At first, Feyre worries about her family and doesn’t want to break the promise she made to her mother to take care of her sisters and her father. She doesn’t realize at first that Tamlin told them she went to a rich aunt and would be away for a time, and he took care of her family.  At the Spring Court, she learns of the curse.  The fairies in the Spring Court have masks stuck to their faces, and their magic is wonky due to a curse placed on the Spring Court.  We learn the person who caused the curse is Amarantha.  She wants Tamlin’s love, and the curse is that a woman who hates the fairies falls in love with Tamlin, and all they have to say is I love you.  Feyre’s relationship with Tamlin develops, but before she can say I love you, she is told to return to the mortal realm. Will Feyre save Tamlin and the fairies in time, and can she save herself from Amarantha's dark magic?           

Subject Headings: Fairies, Young Adult Book, Young Adult Fantasy, magic, curses

Appeal: One appeal factor is the age of the heroine in the book. Young adult books feature teenage protagonists in middle school and high school. Feyre is a young adult trying to figure out the world and who she is. This leads to the second appeal factor: the book is a coming-of-age story.  Teens decide who they want to become in the world.  It is their first step into the world.  In contrast, new adults also have coming-of-age stories, but they become who they want to be or not (Brookover et al., 2014).  Another appeal factor is characterization.  Usually, young adult novels have a likable main character and a character they can support. Feyre is a likable character who would do anything for her family, even to her detriment.  As she figures out the fairy world, the reader cheers her on.          

 Storyline: The pace of this young adult book is fast. The plot drives it along. The book focuses on what happens to Feyre’s life as she navigates fairyland and her relationship with Tamlin and the other fairies. The other characters in the book drive the pace, too! Mainly because we learn about the curse as we read the book.  As the story goes along, the book contains violence toward the fairies and the humans as we struggle to find out who is evil and who is not.        

Three terms that best describe this book:  Dangerous, magical creatures, and romance

Similar Authors and Works (Why are they similar?)

3 Relevant fiction works and authors

1.     The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.   Both books are fast-paced and go through an epic adventure.  Both fall in love with their captor.

2.     Hunted by Meagan Spooner.  Both are Beauty and the Beast retellings. Both have extensive world-building.  

3.     The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Francis Long. Both books have a heroine trying to survive Fae politics they don’t understand.  Both use their wits to survive and their love interest.        

3 Relevant non-fiction works and authors

1.     21 Songs to listen to while you read A Court of Thorns and Roses by S. Wingo. Music plays a part in the plot in several areas in the book.  For instance, when Feyre and Tamlin drink fairies’ wine and dance the night away. 

2.     Beauty and the Beast and Classic Fairy Tales by Various Authors. Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses retells this classic fairy tale. Tamlin's mask covers most of his face, and Feyre has to fall in love without seeing his face. 

3.     A Court of Thorns and Roses Coloring book by Sarah J. Maas. Feyre is a budding artist. She painted her cabin when she was in the human world and later in the fairie world. https://tinyurl.com/5j2babz2

   

                                                            References

 Brookover, S., Burns, E., & Jensen, K. (2014). What’s New About New Adult? Horn Book         Magazine, 90(1), 41–45.000000

Wingo, S. (2022, November 22). Twenty-one songs to listen to while you read “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” Bookstr. https://bookstr.com/article/21-songs-to-listen-to-while-you-read-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses/

 

Prompt #13

    I remember when Harry Potter was very popular, and people hid the covers so no one would

 know that they were reading a children’s book by an adult. I know people complain that 

graphic novels are just comic books. However, I firmly believe that you should read what you 

Enjoy and do not worry about what other people think of your reading selections.  Personally, 

I love young adult books, and I am over 50.  If anyone criticized my reading taste, I wouldn’t 

listen to them.   I haven’t read much New Adult, but it is an option for someone tired of teen 

angst and has a more mature romance.   I love young adult books because they get me out of 

a reading slump from school.  It is hard after reading for school to transfer to reading for 

myself.  The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros was the book that got me out of the slump. The 

fast-paced and appealing characters grab my attention like no other.   Reading A Court of 

Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas for class also helped, and I can’t wait to read the rest of 

the series to see the change from the young adult genre to the romance genre.   As a 

librarian, I would never dismiss someone’s choice of reading materials, whether young adult, 

new adult, graphic novels, or romance.  If a librarian criticizes someone's reading choices, 

they should reevaluate their profession.     

           One way I would promote young adult books, new adult books, or graphic novels is to include them in a display with adult books by subject. For example, the graphic novel Maus and other non-fiction books about the Holocaust. When giving book recommendations, I would include both young adult and new adult graphic novels with their suggestions. 

          I wonder if it would help to remove young adult or graphic novels from Children’s 

Section.   Adults might feel angst about visiting the children’s section to find a book. If they are 

are concerned about reading a book for a young adult, it might help adults become more 

comfortable with their book choices.  When patrons come to the Reference Desk, they get 

put off if I send them to the children’s section to find a book, swearing that it is in the adult 

Section.