Secret Shopper Assignment

In her article, “From book appeal to reading appeal: Redefining the concept of appeal in readers’ advisory,” Dali states, “The advisory process, by definition, is complex and involved.  It entails an ongoing back-and-forth interaction, negotiation, consultation, and opinion exchange between the librarian and the reader (2014, p. 24).  My Secret Shopper experience was extremely pleasant and followed this type of process.  I entered the library branch and began by looking for a staff member at one of the Information Desks.  I approached Kyle and stated that I was looking for a book to read.  I decided to use this opportunity to find a book for the horror genre. 

Kyle’s initial question was, “What were the last four books that I read.”  I mentioned that I recently finished The Girl on the Train, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t great and I had preferred Gone Girl’s plot twists.  He followed-up by asking me what elements I liked about Gone Girl.  I mentioned that I liked the unexpected nature. He wasn’t asking me specifically about horror, so I volunteered the information myself.  I mentioned that the only horror book that had ever scared me was The Shining.  He asked what I liked about that book.  I shared that I tend to like horror that has elements that are believable—not necessarily supernatural or creature-driven.  I then mentioned that one of the few horror movies to really scare me was Paranormal Activity, and I liked the realistic nature of the plot. 

As he was asking questions, he was typing the information, but I wasn’t able to see his computer screen.  I asked what he uses when someone is looking for a book to read.  He mentioned that he uses NoveList, and asked if I had ever used it.  I was trying to hide the fact that I am an employee and a student, so I fibbed and said that I hadn’t.  He elaborated and said that the likes to base his recommendations off of what I am telling him, not just the top of his head.  What he has enjoyed is not important.  He said that if he is desperate, he will use Amazon because the patron wants a recommendation quickly.  However, he doesn’t like this resource as it is based on “purchases” and not necessarily recommendations.  Wesley states, “Learning and utilizing electronic resources as well as taking advantage of the wealth of professional reading available to help make reader's advisory fun and easy should become an integral part of a librarian's job” (2006, p. 8).

He said that he also has a form that he will have someone complete if they seem totally lost, and he is looking for more information to base his advisory recommendations.  Filling out the form takes extra time, so he only uses it when he knows the person won’t mind spending the time on finding a book to read. 

He found four recommendations for me to start with by walking with me through the stacks, pulling each book, and providing a brief description for each one.

·      The Breaker by Walters

·      In the Blood by Unger

·      House of Leaves by Danielewski

·      Starter House by Condit

I found a table to sit at and examine the recommendations.  I used my iPad to connect to NoveList and see how each one was categorized in relation to the horror genre, their rating, and their descriptions.  As I was looking through the books, he brought several more for me to look over, providing a description for those as well.

·      The Silent Wife by Harrison

·      The Ruins by Smith

·      And three books by Simmons

o   The Abominable

o   The Terror

o   Drood

He let me know that he was available if I still needed more assistance, and not to worry about placing the books back on the shelf because he would take care of that later. 

            After examining the selections, I decided to check out three of the recommendations that caught my interest.

·      House of Leaves by Danielewski

·      Starter House by Condit

·      The Ruins by Smith

When I had time later, I tried to recreate the same type of search Kyle performed to see what types of results I would find.  I used NoveList and started with The Shining.  The read-alikes list did provide many of his recommendations.  However, he either also had to search specific elements to find the other titles, or he pulled them from his own knowledge and experience.  Dali states, “A face-to-face RA interaction will also introduce a much needed conversational element and flexibility into the process, whereas a static web-based form will always convey a feel of formal questioning” (2014, p. 45).  I could easily use the same website that he used to find books to read, yet his personal conversation allowed me to have more of a direction and personal connection to my choices.  I work at the main branch of my library system, and I asked one of the Reader Advisors for the form that they use to perform extended advisory recommendations.  She let me know that Kyle created his own form, but they do not use it system-wide.  I realized that I was very fortunate to work with Kyle for this assignment (with no hindsight that he would do a good job).  He definitely made an effort to ensure that I was happy with his choices, and made me feel that he was available if he needed to explore further. 

Works Cited

Dali, K. k. (2014). From Book Appeal to Reading Appeal: Redefining the Concept of Appeal in Readers' Advisory. Library Quarterly, 84(1), 22-48.

Wesley, H. (2006). Reader's Advisory: A Continuing Education. Alabama Librarian, 56(1), 7-8.