Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts. It’s supposed to be posted on Friday, but being on time is hard and it’s better late than never.
This week’s topic is: how to encourage others to read.
Now that I’ve worked in a library for almost a year (at the end of this month), I feel like I can safely say, this is my thing. You know, everyone has a thing in a library, right? You’ve got the programmers who are great with kids. You’ve got the techy people. You’ve got the outgoing people who will gab with patrons. Then you have the bookish people. Tricking people into reading might as well be on my name tag. In fact, I might just petition my director. Sammie, Queen of Labels, Trickster of Readers. It’s perfect.
Even as a parent, most of my life consists of tricking my offspring into reading. Well, that and eating her vegetables and not dying, but those seem easy in comparison.
Sooo … how do I do it? Well, sit awhile, summer child, and let me regale you with some of the ways I’ve convinced people to read over the years.
Show an interest in what they’re reading.
This is probably the easiest one. Just ask what they’re reading. Ask what they like. Tell them what you’re reading and invite them to share in return. Eventually something truly magical happens: you stop needing to ask! They see you and immediately think, crazy book lady, and just tell you what they’re reading.
There’s this weird thing with adults especially where it almost seems like they need permission to like the things they like. So give it to them. Even if, for a month in a row, they tell you they’re reading the same book, just ask what they think of it so far.
TL;DR: People like to talk about themselves. So give them a reason to do so in regards to books.
Let them know it’s okay to read … well, anything.
Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was this woman who participated in all our adult reading program events but never actually turned in reading sheets. Every time I saw her, I asked if she was participating and about her reading and she insisted reading wasn’t really her “thing.”
Finally, one day she asked if adults had to read adult books for the reading program. And I, properly aghast, said surely not, and told her about the middle grade book I was currently reading. Y’all, for the next few weeks, this woman read more than anyone had seen her read in years. She confessed, almost abashedly, that had a learning disability that made it hard for her to read, so she just … didn’t. I helped her pick out some books that she might enjoy based on her interests and off she went, picking out her own books after that, and coming in at least every other day to read. When she started, she was reading really easy children’s books, but as it went on, she got a little better and moved into early chapter. She even ended up winning a prize from the program!
First, everyone working in the library knows this woman and considered this a big win. But second, it shows how important it is to encourage people where they are, rather than where you think they should be.
TL;DR: When we become gatekeepers, even unintentionally, we put up yet another barrier to reading. So knock that mess off.
Give them “permission” to read what they want.
Again, we go back to this weird thing that people sometimes need to be told it’s okay to read what they like. Why? I don’t know. I’m not a psychology major. I barely understand my own brain, let alone anyone else’s.
There’s a giant stigma around adults reading young adult and middle grade novels, though, for example. I’ve even sometimes put these books on display in the front of the library and had adults pick them up as something interesting and set them back as soon as they realize they’re for “younger kids.”
I actually had a patron once who loved John Grisham books, but had read all the adult books we had. So I nonchalantly mentioned that he had the Theodore Boone series, too, that he might like, and he said sure, he’d give them a shot. This middle-aged man absolutely loved the series and asked why he hadn’t heard about them before, and of course, it’s because they’re young adult. I’ve seen him in the YA section since then grabbing some more YA mystery books, and I couldn’t be happier.
There’s a similar stigma around here when kids want to read graphic novels. Some people don’t consider them “real” books, even though kids tend to love them, and kids seem thrilled when they ask for recommendations and I ask if they like graphic novels.
TL;DR: Encourage people to read whatever they actually like, and if they seem hesitant, maybe recommending they read a book in that category can break the ice.
Continuously wave books in their face.
Maybe gently toss them in their direction? Watch the pointy edges, though. This is something I do a lot as a librarian, especially, but it can work in other settings, too. Someone tells me about a book they enjoyed? Oh, if you liked that, you should definitely check out this book! If someone tells me they’re looking for something scary for the fall. Well, if you want something scary, check out this author. When people return books (when we were open, at least), I tried to pick one of the books and ask people what they thought of it and just listen to what they say.
One of the best things about displays, I’ve found, is that people will check out books when they’re in their face, without fail. Books that we’ve had in the library foreverrrr that they’ve probably passed by a million times. Sometimes it’s just a matter of choice paralysis, and narrowing it down to “staff enjoyed these 10 books” makes it easier.
TL;DR: Choices are hard. Make it as easy as possible for people to read a book and remove as many barriers as you can.
Encourage their interests, whatever they be.
There’s so many different ways this can look. For Minion, as a parent, I buy whatever she expresses a keen interest in, because she doesn’t often fall in love with series. I know for sure that when there’s a new Bad Kitty or Amelia Fang book, I should make sure to buy it for her, because those are books she will immediately read, every time, without fail. I’ve basically become her supplier at this point. Any time she finds a series she loves, I encourage it by placing more of that series in her hands as often as possible.
For patrons at a library, it’s similar, but a little different. Instead, I just pay attention to what they like and then recommend things to them. If I know this person particularly likes this author or this kind of book, I might specifically point out to them when we’ve got a new one available. Or I might recommend similar books if I see they’ve read all that we have by so-and-so. Basically, it just comes down to recognizing what they like and making it easy for them to get.
TL;DR: You need to basically become a dealer, man. You peddle that bookish good stuff.
Read books together with them!
This may not always be an option, but if it is? Go for it! With adults, it can be called a book club or a buddy read. I absolutely love buddy reads, and if it’s taken me awhile to get to a book I’ve been meaning to read, I like to find someone to buddy read it with.
For kids? Kids get excited so easily about books, so if you’ve read a book they enjoyed, it’s exciting. If you ask them about a book they read and let them talk about it, that can also be exciting. But I’ve found that kids especially get excited when they’re telling me a book and I can be like, “Oh yeah, my favorite scene was when this happened!” I don’t know if it doesn’t happen often that the adults around them have read the books they’re reading, but kids really enjoy it.
TL;DR: Reading books together can be super fun, however that ends up looking.
Talk to them about what you’re reading.
This is probably the simplest yet most underrated trick ever. Just share your passion with them! The nice thing about passion is that it’s contagious. Even if they don’t read a lot, if they realize that reading is something you enjoy and like to talk about, they’ll sometimes try to meet you at your level.
I’ve made it clear to patrons that I love talking about books, so now they sometimes seek me out to tell me about an interesting book they’ve just read or to recommend something to me. And I do something magical in return: listen. I don’t interrupt. I just let them spiel and interject things when they pause. It turns out, a lot of people actually do like talking about books. They just didn’t realize it, because it’s not something a lot of people tend to talk about.
TL;DR: Spread your passion about books like it’s the plague … except a better, slightly less deadly one, now with 100% more dragons.
100% agreed!
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