How-To-Tips.net

Twelve Tips. TWELVE TIPS FOR. WELCOMING RETURNEES HOME. Dr. Bruce LaBrack and Margaret D.Pusch Create opportunies for the returnees to express their …

Tips for Creating Reading Lists for Library Use
Marketing Merchandising Training Wake County Readers Advisory Committee Basic Tips: First of all, have fun Creating Reading Lists is a unique process that combines creativity with organization and attention to detail Be original If there are already book lists on a sub-genre or type of novel, try to find a subject area for which we do not have lists, where there seems to be an interest It is also possible that one of the existing lists could be updated if that hasnt been done lately We generally try to go back and update our lists every 1 - 2 years to add new books and delete those with low copy holdings Why are you creating this list? Who is the target audience for this list? Adults, children, Mystery lovers, History buffs? Or it meant to have broad appeal to many people and age groups? Share your lists Make sure your lists are available to all employees in the library system by saving them to a shared network For WCPL we want lists on the WCPL Shared Drive under Reading Lists Adult in the appropriate category folder; also e-mail your list to the RA committee The Content: Your Reading List should definitely have a specific
focus and not be too general or vague in its purpose Just as your title should be specific, so should your content For example: Some Great Horror Novels is probably too vague Great according to whom? Perhaps a better list would be Award Winning Horror Novels or The Bram Stoker Award Winners The title should also make the content of the list as clear as possible For example: Dans Delightful List of Dastardly Devils and Dangerous Duos may be clever and alliterative, but doesnt really tell the reader what the content of the list is Be thorough and complete If your list includes series, be sure to include all the books in that series, or you could list the first book in the series and also and the rest of the _____ series Or, if you are making a list of Award Winners, be sure to include all of the books that have won that award Even if you are making another type of list, such as read alike or thematic, be as thorough as possible Check sources such as the catalog, Novelist, Kent District Library Whats Next, Amazon and bncom for more books like this But, please remember to make sure the library owns sufficient copies A brief explanation may help your reader better understand the list
Sure, everyones heard of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, but do they really know the basics of where the Awards came from, how they are judged and presented and what the criteria are? Just a few sentences at the top of your list could help educate patrons and your fellow staff How is your list organized? We recommend alphabetically by author, although one could separate by genre too If it includes Non-Fiction dont forget the Dewey call numbers Be consistent in organization and layout Wake County prefers our reading lists to have the title first underlined followed by by and the authors name, and then the annotation on the next line The Mechanics: Remember the space you have to work with generally you only have two sides of one 8 x 11 sheet of paper, either booklet or full page flyer style Lists should only be longer than this in a very rare few cases where there is no other way to include all of the needed information Remember to check the catalog for the number of copies of each title Generally speaking, five copies is a good minimum to look for, however there are always exceptions for specialized lists Wake Countys Readers Advisory committee strongly recommends
annotating lists to give the customer a better source of information Annotations should typically be 3-5 lines long Most lists should be annotated, unless there is a good reason not to Even a long list of award winners going back several decades should have at least the last five years or so annotated Annotations can be written from scratch or taken from sources like Novelist and BarnesandNoblecom, as long as you give them credit in the footer see note on footers
Wake County Public Libraries Readers Advisory Committee Marketing Merchandising Training Created: 04/05, Revised: 10/07 D Brooks

The Design: This is a very subjective area, but hopefully these guidelines will help steer you in the right direction When in doubt, always ask a co-worker or two whom you trust for their opinion MS Word or Publisher? Well, either one works, which one are you more familiar and comfortable using? What design or layout do you plan to use? Also, make sure to pay attention to your Page setup and formatting options, such as margins, etc FONTS Choose a readable yet eye-catching font Times New Roman is very readable But also plain and boring But, dont choose something too distracting, such as
Amarone BT or Cloister Black BT either You can use some unusual fonts for the list name and book titles, as long as it is large enough to be readable For the annotations you will want your font to be easily readable without straining the eye with a point size usually between 11 and 14 This font is called Tw Cen MT, but remember, not all fonts are on all versions of Microsoft Word or Publisher A great source for free, funky fonts is wwwdafontcom However, to preserve your funky fonts as well as the whole design of your list make your document into a PDF file using Primo PDF Title / Header: Make it large enough to catch the readers eye and feel free to use some COLOR as well as an interesting font GRAPHICS Who wants to look through a bunch of reading lists that are nothing but text? And how much more boring if its all black and white and in Times New Roman? Part of the design of a good book list should include an element of advertising as well to draw and hold the patrons attention Book cover images make great graphic additions to book lists You can get these from our online catalog, as well as from Novelist or BarnesandNoblecom An author photo is often added to If You Like lists
although that gets into a gray area regarding copyright Clip art graphics and high resolution photos such as those on Microsofts online clip art are also great graphics to use

Footer: Give yourself some credit In small font usually between 9 and 11 point you should include some of the following: the date created and/or date updated, your name or first initial and last name or just initials depending on your preference, the branch where it was created, and the source of the annotations Wake County requires that all documents we create for the public should include our county logo Tip: by inserting this into the footer of the document it will print out on the bottom of each page front and back We could make the most beautiful reading lists with lots of wonderful content, but if our customers dont see them whats the point? Make sure to have your lists available to the public in an easily accessible format such as binders, which are kept in a convenient place They can also be used with displays or in the stacks you can even build a display around a reading list theme Passive or active? While a piece of paper with information is a passive way to communicate with patrons, you can
also make it an active interaction by talking up our book lists with your patrons If you notice that a patron is checking out an award winner, mention our book lists of various award winners, or if they are taking home a book by a best-selling author, be sure to mention our If You Like lists as well We have lists for a variety of reading tastes but we need to promote them Book Lists Online Many of our existing Book Lists are also available online on our web page at: wwwwakegovcom/libraries/readersservices/lists

Publicity:

Wake County Public Libraries Readers Advisory Committee Marketing Merchandising Training Created: 04/05, Revised: 10/07 D Brooks

Source:odu.edu