Did you know librarians have some superpowers?
No, sadly I cannot fly or get woodland creatures to clean my house for me. I can, however, help you find the perfect book. I don’t know if you know this, but a lot of librarians are book fans. I know, shocking right?
This summer, I went home to visit my family. I spent several hours of my vacation putting together a book list for my mother based on her current reading ‘mood.’ This is what I do for fun. Just this week my grandmother called me up to see if I could track down an out of print World War II memoir by a Jewish doctor that her father might have known during the war. This one was slightly more difficult because she had to translate the title for me.
I admit, total book nerd right here. It’s like I should work around books every day or something.
To me, one of the best parts of being a librarian is recommending books. It feels like a treasure hunt to match a reader with their book. Here at Greenwood Public Library, we’ve created Your Next Favorite Book Boxes. The Teen Librarian, Jessica, and I use all of our librarian superpowers and resources to scour booklists, reviews, social media and our collection to find a book that perfectly suits you.
There are a lot of book subscription boxes out there such as LootCrate and OwlCrate, so we decided to create our own library version of that. After you reserve a spot, I will send you a quiz so I can get to know your reading style. It’s not too complicated, just a few questions about what types of books you like to read and the last few books, movies and TV shows you liked. (You would be surprised at how much I can recommend based on your love of The Walking Dead or Alfred Hitchcock movies.) If you tell me you like Stephen King, I might give you a book by Joe Hill or Alma Katsu. If you are a huge fan of Outlander, I might recommend A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers or A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain.
Your box will probably not contain the newest James Patterson, Stephen King or Nora Roberts. I do my best to stay away from bestsellers and try to find something you haven’t already read. You will also get some awesome fun swag, bookmarks and buttons. (If you hate puns, I apologize in advance). I also include a list of three more titles that you might like. If you fill out a review card for us, your review might be featured on the library’s social media and you will be entered into a raffle prize for a bookstore gift card. You can return the book any time (hopefully after reading and enjoying it), and don’t forget that you get to keep the swag.
You can sign up for Your Next Favorite Book Box at greenwoodlibrary.us. If you enjoy the program, you are welcome to sign up for another box. However, since space is limited please do not sign up for two boxes in a row. I look forward to helping you find your next favorite book.
