You Can Judge a Book By Its Cover

I attended the workshop You Can Judge a Book By Its Cover presented by Michael Gannon and was rewarded with new skills and entertained to boot! He taught us some tips to help us help patrons find books to read. There is no way a librarian can read every book in the library (despite what some patrons may think). We learned how to advise patrons to find books when the genre is one we may not be familiar with.
The first question to ask a patron is 'What did you read lately that you liked, and what did you like about it?' From there the patron can be advised on other books that may have a similar theme, characters or settings. If we don't ask the right questions, it will be harder to assist a patron in finding a match. Of course, since we are a library and not a bookstore, patrons can take home many books for free! No risk to them!
Mr. Gannon showed us how to look at a book cover and determine what genre it might be. He went over romances, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and general fiction. I learned the subtle differences that a genre may have to distinguish between cozy and graphic subjects.
I enjoyed the slide show that was presented. I wonder why our library doesn't carry the book that he talked about called 'The Nympho Librarian'! Mr Gannon used humor and let us interact with scenarios he constructed to help us learn how to help patrons find books to read. He is a great presenter and I was glad to have attended this workshop.