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LEARNER STORY
Eleanor-Rose Gordon
- ROLE
- Customer Services Assistant
- LIBRARY
- Prettygate Library, Essex Libraries England →
- COURSE
- Understanding Book Appeal
Eleanor is part of a cohort of Essex Libraries staff completing the Understanding Book Appeal course. Through her work on the course she demonstrated an evident empathy with readers - her insightful conversations helped them find something new they'd enjoy, and gave her a better understanding of areas of fiction she didn't herself read, so she could help other readers in those areas too.
Eleanor's work showed an impressive mix of skills: a talent for analytical assessment, creative experimentation, empathic understanding of what readers want, and practical ideas to help readers explore the collection more widely. Her clear grasp of the principles of reader-centred work - and her intelligent ways of applying them - will introduce new practice into her library and gives her a basis for developing fresh projects that contribute to purchase and policy decisions in future. Her work was some of the best we've seen from learners taking this course.
01 Reading book covers with precision
Eleanor has pin-sharp observation skills, which she uses to analyse and understand the kind of read a book is offering from the visual clues on the cover. That precision is what lets her put the right book together with the right reader - turning a quick look at a cover into a useful recommendation rather than a guess.
02 A focused fantasy collection audit
Eleanor analysed her library's Fantasy collection in detail and looked closely at where it could be widened. She mapped what was already there - the traditional, conventional, more masculine end of the genre - against what was missing: more diverse and female authors, and titles leaning towards historical, mythological or romantic Fantasy. The audit gave her a precise picture of the collection's range and the gaps a more varied readership might want filled.
03 From audit to action
Eleanor's analysis is feeding directly into practice. She intends to advise her superiors on titles and authors that could be ordered to diversify the library's stock and improve its range, and in the meantime she's using her knowledge to curate more varied and cross-genre displays - putting the audit to work on the shelves while the longer-term purchasing decisions catch up.
Having analysed our Fantasy collection I feel more confident to advise readers on what they are looking for in this area - if they want a traditional, masculine, conventional imagery, or if they are looking for something more atypical, whether diverse, female authors, more inclined towards historical or mythological or romantic - I hope I could point them in the right direction! I intend to advise my superiors on certain titles and authors that could be ordered for our library to diversify our stock and improve our range. In the meantime, I will use my knowledge to curate more varied and cross-genre displays.
