Reading in Translation

The world has shrunk in many ways in the past few decades. It is now easier and more affordable to travel to far-flung places. Unlike many of our ancestors who came to North America expecting to never return to their homelands or see family left behind, we can go back and discover our family's origins. Or we can travel somewhere completely foreign to our own cultural experience and learn about other cultures (or just stay at the resort and enjoy a laid-back vacation).
We can use Skype or Facetime to talk to people anywhere with an internet connection, going beyond the audio experience of the telephone to see who we are talking to and the environment around them.
Depending on where we live, we may have access to other cultural experiences within our own communities through attending festivals, parades, ethnic restaurants, or just talking to our neighbours.

But reading takes you into the experiences of another in a way that is difficult to do in other ways. You get inside the head of the characters, understand their thought processes and the emotions that they feel. There have been studies showing the increase in empathy and emotional intelligence that comes with reading fiction.
There are many writers who write in English and yet have different experiences and outlooks than ours that we can read and enlarge our worlds through that reading, whether they be from other English speaking nations such as New Zealand, or countries where English is a primary language like India, or an immigrant to one of those nations, or our own, who has taken on English as his language for writing.
But what about those that don't. How much do read that was published first in another language and then translated into English? It's a small percentage of what books are available to us, and many readers miss it altogether.
In 2007, the University of Rochester started Three Percent to help change that. The name reflects the fact that only about 3% of books published in the United States are works in translation. They share information on international literature including news, book releases, reviews, samples of works in translation, and those that haven't yet been translated. The university offers a program for translation wanna-bes, and a press for translated works, Open Letter. It is helping increase the availability of and awareness of translated works and we are seeing more interest.
A recent article on Flavorwire highlighted women writers in translation, recommending 22 women to read. As they say in the article only 30% of works in translation are by women, which for the US market comes out to around 1% of all published books.
I've been reading more and more translated books, which I've heard about thanks to sites like Three Percent and articles like the one in Flavorwire. And I'm glad of it, finding wonderful books in many genres that I both enjoyed and learned from. In 2014, I read 12 books in translation from eight different original languages, and I'm already at 8 books from 5 languages. My favorite so far this year is The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles, translated from the French. What about you? Have you opened your reading to translated works? We'd love to hear about what great books you've enjoyed thanks to the work of translators.

RA in a Day 2015

The program for the 2015 RA in a Day is now available https://www.accessola.org/web/OLAWEB/OPLA/RA_in_a_Day/Welcome.aspx

The committee chose to focus on the most read genre - romance!  With most library staff reluctant romance readers, it is critical to offer a professional day which allows us to know the genre more deeply and what our readers find within it.

I hope to see you there!

Displaying Other Formats

While focussed on serving readers through print materials, it is also worth considering displays which focus on other formats. Customers may not be as familiar with items in other formats and your display will provide an opportunity for discovery.  Often, these displays can help to turn over inventory which may be overflowing and it is important to think about what your motivation may be.

Summer is a great time to promote DVDs, especially genres such as horror or action.  Everyone identifies with the "summer blockbuster" - there is a lot of these films released in the summer.  Your users will be primed to expect these and may be more likely to pick one up on a display.  Currently, we are featuring "Summer Scares" which features horror films.  We had to refill it about once per hour - you may run out of films before you run out of interest.

Audiobooks are popular with cottage-goers and promoting them in the summer is also a great option.  Feature them near the shelves which contain them and make sure that staff keep them filled.

Outstanding Books for the College Bound

I remember finding a printed copy of this list, as a teenager, at the library where I work now.  That pamphlet was fate as it exposed me to works that I was not finding on my own or in the youth section.  I read my fair share of high school romances but I was destined to read books with more substance.  I remember reading "Jane Eyre" and thinking that libraries held such a wealth of human experience and, once I read a book of this caliber, there was not turning back.

I just helped a customer who has a ten year old who is reading at a grade twelve level.  This young reader is reading far beyond her peers and we need to nurture that curiosity and capacity rather than advise that we don't really have anything for her.

I turned again to the American Library Association's YALSA list of Outstanding Books for the College Bound.  The books selected for these lists often have young people featured in the stories or are situations that young people can understand or relate to.  The writing is top-notch and these are the books that form the "education" before the formal education of a college or university experience.

Adult Reading BINGO

After a successful few years offering a BINGO reading encouragement program for youth, my library is now offering an adult reading encouragement program.  While it is important that readers' advisory staff and services attend to those who are already reading, it is a worthwhile activity to encourage people to read or to read outside of their regular comfort zone.

Random House continues to offer all of the supplies needed to begin offering this kind of program.    This is program features all Canadian content so it will be a challenge for readers who may not be familiar with national offerings.

For our program, we encourage readers to complete one line of BINGO squares to receive a bookmark.  Bookmarks were purchased from the Ontario Library Association Store and the selections were actual American Library Association designs.  We offer 4 different prize levels for youth but only the bookmark for one line of adult reading and a book for the completion of the full adult card.  Books have been provided from donations.

This program is more labour-intensive as staff have developed lists of books to meet the requirements of each square and specialty bookmarks created to indicate what square the book relates to.  We have created printed cards where readers can keep track of their reading.

We are promoting the program within the library on two different displays and I think we will have to do some more internal marketing to get more participants.  So far, we haven't given away any bookmark or book prizes but it does take adults longer to read than teens!

http://www.retreatbyrandomhouse.ca/2015/01/reading-bingo-challenge-2015/

Staff Meeting Activities

To improve readers' advisory skills in staff, it is advisable to stay away from the dreaded staff meeting synopsis.  There are people who can booktalk and then there is the rest of us - doomed to relay pieces of plot out of order with a lot of "um" and "i can't remember" sandwiched in the middle. I often recall sitting through too many minutes of detailed plot reconstructions, "and there was a dog, and he had a spot and he had a hat and his hat was blue except when he went to parties and his hat was purple."  This really does not improve someone's readers' advisory skills since boring someone with plot details is not the goal.  Staff should be able to identify appeal factors and be able to promote the book to a customer in a few seconds.

At staff meetings, try to develop activities which will better promote discussion of appeal factors and book talking skills.  Spend time to develop these activities in advance and allow your staff the opportunity to prepare ahead of time.  Set a time limit for people and have one of your more experienced staff go first to set a good example.  Encourage everyone to participate and have positive comments for everyone.

Here are some activities to try:

Reader Interview - give the interviewer a list of questions of which they pick a random five to ask the reader about the book.  The questions should focus on appeal factors and allow the reader to think more deeply about the reading experience.  Example questions: What food does this book make you want to eat?  What would be the best place to read this book?  Who might you suggest this book to?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - Invite your favourite author to dinner.  What would you serve him/her?  What would you ask him/her?  Who else might you invite?

I'd Never Read Those - Talk about the genres that you don't and never read.  Tell the group why you don't like this genre.  Have you tried to read any of the books?  Why might people enjoy these books?

Best Summer Reads

These lists are popping up everywhere!
Easiest way to find these lists is a Google search: best summer books 2015

Here are some of the better lists:

Publisher's Weekly
http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2015

Harper's Bazaar
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/g5736/top-female-writers-pick-summer-beach-reads/

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/02/beach-reads-summer_n_7699708.html

Good Reads
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/summer-2015

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2015/05/27/25-summer-books-preview/27722667/

CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2015/05/cbc-books-2015-summer-reading-list.html

Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/06/26/summer-reads-35-books-you-wont-want-to-miss.html