The Star-Crossed Book Lover

Here are some of (what I think are) the great ways we market our fiction collection at my library: Weekly featured new books posts on social media Each week, we highlight a selection of six new books on our Facebook and Instagram pages. These books vary in genre, but it allows our following to get an idea of the new books available. It also shows that we have the new hot read, you don't need to go out and buy it! In relation to this, we have a dedicated new books section right by the entrance (whereas the rest of our adult collection is upstairs), so patrons have easy access to the new books, including those we featured on social media.       2. Book chat programs At least once a quarter, we host a book chat program centered around a theme, such as beach reads or books to give as Christmas gifts. Accompanied by snacks and activities, these book chats include our librarians speed-running through the synopses of 10-20 books in our collection that relate to the book chat theme, and pr

While it is absolutely the responsibility of libraries and librarians to uplift diverse stories and hold space for disenfranchised voices, I don't think separating these books into their own sections would necessarily accomplish this goal. In a PBS article from 2015, Nikesh Shukla, creator of a test that determines how diverse a film is, said "I realized that white people think that people of color only have ethnic experiences and not universal experiences" (Santhanam and Crigger, para. 6). He goes on to lament the otherness that Hollywood perpetuates and the desire for BIPOC stories to just be seen as normal. If diverse books were to be separated, this just continues these patterns of othering and may prevent certain groups (mainly white people) from reading these books because they're worried they aren't "for them." And while the books are largely for the people they are written about, cisgender white people can definitely find value in reading diverse

First and foremost, there's a reader for every book, and a book for every reader! No one should ever be saying that someone is "too old" to read a certain book or that certain books aren't meant for certain people. It may not be something that you want to read, but it's not your place to yuck someone's yum!  Now that we have that out of the way, young adult/new adult and graphic novels can be great entry points to reading, or to reinvigorating an adult's love of reading. With accessible, fast-paced stories that still have big things to say these "genres" can truly be for everyone, and shouldn't be forgotten in the adult readers' advisory landscape. I, for one, rediscovered my love of reading after years of scholarly burnout through Sarah J. Maas's infamous NA modern classic, A Court of Thorns and Roses. I can also see graphic novels being a wonderful way for adults who loved comics as a child or love certain TV shows, movies and video