17 October 2007

Librarian Nancy Pearl Promotes Reading, Library Services

USINFO Webchat transcript, October 16

Author, television host and librarian Nancy Pearl discussed the importance of reading for pleasure and library services in an October 16 USINFO Webchat.

Following is the transcript:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
USINFO Webchat Transcript

Discussing “Book Lust” and Library Services with Nancy Pearl

Guest:     Nancy Pearl, Librarian
Date:      October 16, 2007
Time:      5:00 a.m. EDT (09:00 GMT)

U.S. Consulate Frankfurt: Good morning and welcome to our webchat with Nancy Pearl, author, television host, and librarian. Nancy and her husband Joe are currently visiting various libraries throughout Germany and today, Nancy will chat with you live from the Frankfurt city library. Please ask your questions now.

Question [Toucan]: In my work as an information resource officer (aka librarian) for the U. S. Bureau of International Information Programs, I visit with readers and librarians in countries like Angola and DR Congo where reading for pleasure is a lost art. I invoke your work in inspiring One City, One Book as a main theme of my talks. Can you share how you promote reading when you speak to audiences where daily survival is the challenge that takes 99% of the day's energy?

Thanks, Barbara Conaty, IRO Central Africa

Answer [Nancy Pearl]: I guess I would hope that the 1% not expended in survival might be enhanced by reading books that will give them pleasure and help them escape from the world in which they live.

Q [IRC ANTANANARIVO2]: To Nancy, [My name is] Héfler: By the time of digitalization what might be the future of print materials and library? This digitalization seems to threaten the jobs of librarians and books what do you think about that? Thanks.

A [Nancy Pearl]: I don't think we will see the end of books as we know them within the next century at least. I think librarians will need to focus on different aspects of library work - perhaps doing much more readers advisory work; using the library as a place to promote book discussion and discussion about current events, history, etc.

Q [Iroaj]: Nancy, How can you promote of love of reading in a society with no current "reading culture" and with few resources? Any ideas?

iroaj

A [Nancy Pearl]: The best way is to introduce potential readers to the glory and power of books is to begin with a book in which they can find themseves, and go on from there. I think it's important that readers be able to find themselves in books on the library shelves. It's a slow process, one book at a time and one person at a time. But well worth it.

Q [IRC ANTANANARIVO2]: To Nancy: I am Haingo Miora Rakotoarisoa a librarian in the National Institute of Leadership in Madagascar.

My question is: what is the key for becoming a professional librarian during this period of information era? Thank you.

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think that learning Information skills is vitally important, but we must not forget the two other strands of librarianship - doing programs and outreach, and, most important to me, putting people together with good books to read, which we call Reader's Advisory. Information access for all is important, but so is reading for pleasure.

Q [IRC ANTANANARIVO2]: To Nancy: [My name is] Rarasoa: When you reach out to the potential readers what is the most efficient approach that best convinced the target audience; highlighting the book's author, the book's central theme or the book's design? Thanks.

A [Nancy Pearl]: I actually think that the best way to convince people to want to read a particular book is by giving them a sense of the sort of reading experience they’ll have with the book – will it be a fast-moving experience, does the book have well developed characters, and so on.  I don’t believe you need to tell much of the plot.

Q [loreley]: where the lust for books come from? Could you explain which is your personal motivation on reading?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I grew up a in a family without much money, but worse than that, it was a family without much love or happiness. I learned very early that being home was not a safe place to be, so I spent much of my childhood and adolescence in my local library. It was the early librarians, Miss Long and Miss Whitehead, who gave me the gift of books and reading. And it was because of them that I became a librarian. I read - then - to escape. I probably still read to escape, quite honestly, whether it's into the past, via a historical novel, or the future, via fantasy or science fiction, or into learning about something, via a work of non-fiction.

Q [IRC ANTANANARIVO2]: To Nancy: Good morning Madam, I am Rarasoa a librarian in the Ministry of Defense:

Reading books has always been one of my favorite. Yet my reading time has gradually decreased lately, not because I traded it with another passion but job constraints and family obligation to name a few, have made it hardly possible to put aside some time available to enjoy the reading as in the old time. Could you give practical advice that would help me keep my reading pace on? Thank you.

A [Nancy Pearl]: One way to deal with the lack of reading time is to make it a part of family time - set aside a 1/2 hour a day and have the whole family read together, either picking one book to read aloud or everyone reading a different book and then talking to the others about it.

Q [The American Library, Mumbai]: How do we attract more users into the library? Describe best-practices for readers advisory.

A [Nancy Pearl]: These are big questions. Readers Advisory (RA) is a dialogue between you and the library user who comes into the library looking for a good book to read.

You begin the process of RA by listening to how a reader talks about a book, that is, what doorway he or she has entered the world of books through, and then try to match them up with another book just like it.

People need to believe that they can find themselves or a version of themselves on library shelves. More programs, book discussions, poetry readings, political discussions - all those can bring people into the library. If you need to know more, please invite me to Mumbai for a visit.

Q [Ute]: Looks like you have a dream job: Reading, reading, reading. However, would you recommend working as a librarian to someone just because they like to read?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I do have a dream job, but it all happened because I was/am a librarian first. But to be a good librarian, I think you also need to genuinely like people and have a strong sense of public service.

Q [Ute]: How can we get teenagers to read? Even those whose parents strongly encourage reading and have read to them often seem to find other pursuits to be more interesting.

A [Nancy Pearl]: We need to find and suggest books that meet the interests of the students, whether it be hip-hop, soccer, dinosaurs, or computer games. There are good books out there on all those topics, and they fall within both fiction and nonfiction areas.

Q [American Library Cape Town]: Can you recommend at least one successful library outreach programme that would be worthwhile modelling in a busy public library where staffing is scarce. It could be any kind of programme, targeted to any kind of public audience... (I hope this doesn't put you on the spot too much!)

A [Nancy Pearl]: How about a "one book, one community" program, which encourages everyone in the community to read the same book and then come together to talk about it?

Staff should come up with some good questions about the book, and should be able to lead the discussion, but that's about it. Have the discussion in the library. This program has been successful in communities both large and small, and it can be done for very little money. (I can talk more about this and other ideas if you invite me to Cape Town.)

Q [Yvette]:  Hello, Nancy. As an experienced librarian, what kind of advice you would like to give to those who just left school and became an librarian, and those who wish to become a librarian? The second question is what life is like as a librarian in America? I'm Yvette from China. Thank you.

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think it’s important for librarians to focus on three areas; the library as a resource for information access, the library as a place where librarians put people together with good books to read, and the library as a place people come to for cultural programming – such as discussion groups and author visits.  It’s important that these three functions of the library are seen as equal in importance.

I would encourage you not to forget that for many people, the library is a place where people come to find a good book to read. Information access is vitally important, but it's only part of what a library does. Read read read.

Q [Ute]: What would you consider to be some of the biggest differences between American and German public libraries (besides the opening hours)

A [Nancy Pearl]: I know there are a lot of differences, but I need time to process what I've seen, so I can't answer this yet. There is, I think, a difference in approach to reader's advisory, but I need to learn more and think more about it before I can begin to express it adequately. Partly it's because I am not familiar enough with German popular fiction and nonfiction. Or even if there is a lot.

Q [Laura2]: Can you tell us a little about how you came to have an action figure modeled after you?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I was at a dinner party with the owner of a company in the US who makes a series of action figures, including Moses, Jesus, Freud, Einstein, Shakespeare. I told him that the people who perform miracles every day in people's lives are librarians, and someone else said "oh, there should be a librarian action figure", and someone else said, "Nancy should be the model." And the rest was history.

Comment [Peace2]: The Honorable Ms. Nancy Pearl, Greetings! I would love to discuss "Book Lust" and Library Services with you. meet u on Oct. 16, 2007 at 10:00 GMT.

A/Q [Nancy Pearl]: I am here, at the new Frankfurt Library, where are you?

Q [Frankfurt Bookfair]: As a librarian, do you think the way readers use libraries has changed in the past decade or two? Does the Internet pose a "threat" to libraries?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think the Internet created a sea change in libraries, but that it doesn't need to be seen as a threat. Libraries have always done other things than provide information access to folks, but we need to make clear - in our training and practice - that reader's advisory and outreach and programming are also a huge part of what a library does.

Q [Bibliothek]: How does it feel to be Nancy Pearl, celebrity librarian? Actually, what does it mean to be Nancy Pearl, celebrity librarian?

A [Nancy Pearl]: It feels a bit humbling, because I'm just a stand-in for all the librarians, around the world, who do such a wonderful job in serving the public. It also feels a bit weird, since it's just me, doing the same thing that I've always done, that is, reading and talking about the books that I've loved.

Q [IRC ANTANANARIVO2]: To Nancy I am Héfler a mere library patron in Antananarivo Madagascar:

How important is stability facing to the dynamism of technology and evolution, it seems technological development is unavoidable and library should be the cutting edge of that technological development.

A [Nancy Pearl]: Libraries need to use technological development to do what they do better, rather than the opposite. Information is only part of the world of libraries; libraries are not part of the world of information. That's a very important distinction and one we need to keep reminding ourselves of. And there are no "mere" patrons!

Q [Bibliothek]: As a librarian, what do you feel the lasting effect of books like Harry Potter are?

A [Nancy Pearl]: Great question. I think that books like Harry Potter and the Tolkien books will continue to have a lasting effect on readers in the sense that they are books that will have brought the readers a great deal of pleasure - something that is not to be undervalued.

Q [Bibliothek]: What can you suggest to young librarians, teachers and parents in order to instill a love of reading in their students and children?

A [Nancy Pearl]: The best way is to share their own love of reading with kids. Enthusiasm is the key. I find that the more I can validate their reading choices, the more the young readers feel empowered to choose other books.

Q [The American Library, Mumbai]: Best reading practices in College and Research Libraries?

A [Nancy Pearl]: This is not really my field, unfortunately. But I think setting up book discussion groups for these students would be quite useful and fun, too.

Q [The American Library, Mumbai]: What Outreach services one can provide in Special Libraries?

A [Nancy Pearl]: One thing I find exciting is to have programs that involve both staff and the patrons, such as discussion groups on various topics. I think this would work as well in special libraries as it does in public or school or academic libraries.

Q [Lusaka, Zambia]: Hello Nancy, The American Center in Lusaka in conjunction with the Zambia Library Association is working very hard to promote a positive reading culture through book discussions and read-aloud sessions for the young. Would you recommend "Book Lust" (Which I hope is a book) for such reading promotions? Would it generate interest in our readers and develop come craving for books to read? We would like to purchase some copies.

Matildah Sakala, Library Director.

A [Nancy Pearl]: Dear Ms Sakala - A better book of mine to use would be the new one, called Book Crush, which is aimed at children and teens, from age 2 to age 18. They would find many suggestions for good reading choices in there. If you have trouble getting the books, please let me know. My email address is nancy@nancypearl.com. (I would love to come to Zambia to see how it all works for you.)

Q [Bibliothek]: What is your favorite “literary” city in the United States?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I loved seeing De Smet, South Dakota, because it was where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived and wrote the Little House books. But it must be fun to walk down the streets of Park Slope, in Brooklyn, NY, and see all the authors who live and work there.

Q [Bibliothek]: What book (or books) would you suggest to an overseas audience to truly get a feel for what it means to be American?

A [Nancy Pearl]: There are two novels that I think give a sense of the contradictions inherent in American life: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Little Big Man by Thomas Berger.

Q [Norovololona Raveloharisoa]:  To Nancy: good morning I am Norovololona Raveloharisoa librarian in the Ministry of Economy Plan Private Sector and Trade. How do we deal with old books in library since we cannot keep all books on the shelves for all times? Who should decide the shredding and getting rid of old materials? Could we get rid of old periodicals?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think it’s important to weed library collections.  Many people weed their collections on the basis of whether or not books are used regularly by library patrons, but I don’t think that’s a good reason to get rid of a book. Instead, I think that one should weed based on the condition of the book and whether the information in it is out of date.  It’s important to get rid of books and periodicals in which the information is wrong or has been superseded with new information.  I believe it’s better not to have information on hand rather than have books with the wrong/outdated/or superseded information.

Q [The American Library, Mumbai]: What is Information literacy skill required for Librarians in developing countries?

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think one needs to recognize the challenges of a society with less access to computers, who may not realize the scope of information (and how to find it) that those in a more computer savvy society know.

Q [Benita]: Dear Nancy

 

Benita from Cape town. I agree with your comment about public service. I also studied librarianship because I loved to read. The first comment from our lecturer more than 35 years ago was 'you have to like people'. That is also the reason why I still love my work. I am serving the library user (in my case an academic library). It must be the most frustating job if one does not see it as a service. I find many young librarians focus on the salary more than on the service.

Yes, I agree – librarians really need to focus on public service, and it’s something that isn’t emphasized in library schools, sadly.

Q [Oskemen American Culture Center]:  What is easy reading for school students studying english as a foreign language?

A [Nancy Pearl]: It’s hard to answer this without knowing what age you’re referring to. For beginning readers in elementary school, the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel are good.  For 10-12 year olds, perhaps the books by Beverly Cleary about Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby.

Q [Lydie]: Hi Nancy, I am a librarian and I am really impressed by your successful professional and social careers. Please can you share a few tips and strategies to be a very good and professional librarian? How do you define a 'good' librarian.

Thank you!!

A [Nancy Pearl]: I think a good librarian is one who combines a genuine desire to help people with a love of books. Also, someone who loves a good challenge when it comes to reference questions.

Q [IRC Cairo, Naglaa Ahmed Yassin, Egypt]:  Is there a standard system for digitalization of periodicals in libraries?  If any what they call it?  Do you think that digilat libraries increases library patrons or not

A [Nancy Pearl]: I’m sorry, but this is not my area of expertise.

Q [jose Fernando]: Good morning, i'm jose from bnc-manizales colombia, i'd like to know if the books we are using to promote american culture could be used as a tool to encourage reading. Thanks

A [Nancy Pearl]: Absolutely, but I think to do so would require finding ways to bring the books alive for your library users, through booktalks, discussion groups, and also to understand why people like the books they like.

U.S. Consulate Frankfurt: We wish to thank Nancy for her time and everybody else for participating. The chat is now closed.

If you're interested in more book wisdom from Nancy Pearl, please come and meet her in person at the German National Library in Frankfurt (Adickesallee 1) tonight at 7.00 pm.

Please visit the USINFO's Webchat Station homepage for more information on upcoming events and a transcript of today’s discussion (posted within one business day).

(Guests are chosen for their expertise. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)