Secret Shopper

I chose the library in my area to look for a new read. I personally thought it was a comfortable chat with the reference librarian. When I first walked into the library I could tell it was an obvious slow day, which was great for me cause of no lines. I went to the adult reference desk and just greeted the librarian on duty and asked if she could help me find a new book. She asked me what type of genres I liked to read and I responded by saying Science-Fiction. I’ve read most of the popular sci-fi and told her so. After this she asked what my favorite book or, if I had one, author in the genre. I mentioned how much I enjoyed reading stand-a-lone novels from both Ursula K. Le. Guin and Octavia Butler. I could tell she was using a reference database to find similar books or authors for me. The only part that I would have some issue with about the reference interview is that she only spent a little time, probably a minute or two, asking about what types of books I liked. I think having a little more conversation about what type of situation I enjoyed reading about, like if I would like the story to take place in space or on land in the future, could have made the interview a little more personal. 

After about a few minutes passed the librarian had a list of five books, some from the same author and some that were similar to their works. The ones I could remember were, In Other Words by Margaret Atwood and a few other novels from the same authors. After the librarian told me a little about each book, I decided to be more specific to what I wanted for my next read. I wanted a book that was focused on the distance future and wasn’t about space or encountering different intelligent beings. Something that focused more on an evolved culture instead of space.Once the librarian came back to engage in the readers’ advisory interview, she had a few books that actually looked really interesting to read. One of the novels recommend was The Uploaded by Ferret Steinmetz, which is about how the elderly have moved online and the young people have to stay in the real world to maintain the servers for the dead. A great recommendation that focuses on the specification of the book being in the distant future and not being about other worldly beings.