Readers’ Advisory: Readers’ Advisory and the Pandemic: Lessons, Connections, and Vital Services

Abstract

The pandemic and resulting quarantine changed how libraries operate, including the provision of readers’ advisory (RA) service. Access to print titles initially came to a halt, rendering many users’ holds lists irrelevant, while queues for some e-books grew longer and longer. Readers lost the ability to browse and discover the physical collection, and many took up, for the first time, an e-reader to access books while libraries were closed.

Advisors found ways to aid readers in these difficult circumstances. On Zoom, Twitter, and Facebook, through their websites and newsletters, over the phone and via email, advisors continued connecting readers to books. Their work has created a new resurgence of RA, at the very moment readers had time to re-center on their reading lives. What we have discovered through this hard work and focus should not be lost. There are lessons here to hold onto and learn from.