ARCs and Relationship Building

There was a great panel on ARCs at ALA this year. I was unable to attend because of a committee meeting, but presenters Liz B and Kelly have some great recaps of what they covered.

While I was at ALA there are a few ARCs I was really excited about to pick up. Some were BIG ones, some were novels I didn't know existed but was excited to see.

A comment on Kelly's post struck me though-- a midlist author was very worried about handing out "a lot" of ARCs at a smaller local conference and that every ARC = a lost sale. Which made me think about how I use ARCs.

There's a lot in how librarians use ARCs behind the scenes--blogging about them, sharing them amongst ourselves to build internal buzz that we can then turn to external buzz, etc.

But I think many authors worry about when we share ARCs with teens. When we give this unfinished copy away to non-professionals, what are we doing, and why?

Relationship building. It's all about relationship building, and that's important for teens, and it's important for book sales.

Many people question why libraries have video games programs for teens. (Bear with me--this'll get back to ARCS). At my last library, we had a group of teen guys who used to hang out at the library all the time. They didn't necessarily like the library, but it was a place to be with computers and air-conditioning. They weren't horribly behaved, but they weren't model library users, either. We often had to remind them to keep their voices down, to not run, to turn down their music (it would bleed through their headphones and I could hear it 30 feet away.) The gaming program (1) gave them something to do. It made things a lot nicer for everyone because it gave them their own space, and a place were they could play and be a noisier and, etc. (2) Relationship building.

I had to cover the gaming program one day. I played against the boys. I engaged in some competitive trash talk, and I won big on Wii bowling. And EVERYTHING changed. They saw me totally different after that. The next day, they stopped by to say hi and make some small talk when they got to the library. When they got loud and I had to remind them to quiet down, instead of arguing with me about it, as soon as they saw me walk up they said "Oh no Miss Jennie! Did we get too loud? We're sorry!" And then they stayed quiet. Winning certainly helped, but the main thing was that I tried.

So, what does that have to do with ARCs? Everything. When you have an actual relationship with teens, everything's easier.

Let's take what happens when there's a big book. At ALA, I picked up an ARC of Cress. The Lunar Chronicles are very popular with my teens and this one doesn't come out until February. Sharing this ARC with my teens now builds excitement for the series (because the few that get to read it will talk it up for the next 6 months.) But the fact that I could get an early copy of the book is BIG in their eyes. It's almost like a magical power. And suddenly, they realize that I know my stuff. I have major street cred. It gives me instant trust in the world of books. If I'm cool enough to get an early copy of something like Cress, maybe my other book suggestions are worth listening to. It's instant relationship building.

And what about ARCs of smaller releases? Just as important, for different reasons. There's something special about an early copy, even if it's of a book by an author you've never heard of. I can get teens to take a chance on a book or author they don't know if it's an early copy. It's a great way for midlist authors to gain new fans. And fans that come to something from an ARC tend to be the most vocal about it. They'll tell EVERYONE. When the actual copy comes in, they're the ones who will pull it off the shelf and shove it into someone's hands. If they like it, the teens who read it in ARC form will be the biggest cheerleaders for the finished product.

And what about relationship building?

For the big release book, the library is going to buy that anyway. We don't really need the ARC to make a purchasing decision. The midlist book though, we may or may not get. We have to look at that one more closely to see if it's something we think our teens will like. We let the teens read the ARC and then demand feedback. Is it any good? Will it circulate? Should we get it? Should we get 1 copy for the system, or a copy for every branch? Not only is that feedback crucial for us, but it empowers the teens. It gives them a say in their collections, it lets them know that we take them and their ideas seriously. It's a pretty easy way to really show them that we respect them.

And, if they know that we respect them and their ideas, they're much more likely to respect us and our ideas.

And we become trusted adults. And the more trusted adults a teen has in his or her life, the stronger safety net he or she has, and the chances of success in life become that much greater.

In a reader's advisory context, this is crucial. We don't have to work as hard to hand-sell a book. If we already have a relationship, they're much more likely to take a chance on something.

Here's the ultimate outcome-- I had a teen at my old branch. Over the years, we had built a strong relationship. It got to the point where I could just hand her a book and say "you should read this." And she would. I didn't have to tell her what it was about. It didn't have to be in her favorite genre or format-- it could be something completely different than what she would normally pick up. And she'd read it. And if she liked it-- watch out. If she liked it, she would hand-sell it to everyone. There were midlist, backlist titles that were about to be weeded out of the collection because they didn't circ. I had a very strong relationship with her and could give them to her. The ones she liked? She could spread the word so effectively that instead of weeding the title, we bought additional copies.

There's a lot of work that goes into building a relationship like that. ARCs won't instantly create it, but they're a very helpful tool, in more ways that many people realize.

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Exclusive Editions = Bad News for Libraries

Today Ally Carter announced that if you buy a hardcover edition of United We Spy from Barnes and Noble, you'll get an exclusive epilogue. It's only available from Barnes and Noble, and only in print (it won't be in the Nook version.)

My first thought was all about me-- I tend to chafe at being told where I HAVE to buy something. I buy at several different book sellers, but I don't have that option for this one. Plus, Ms. Carter has done several events with Politics and Prose bookstore (my local indie fav.) over the years-- how much does this screw them (and other indies) over?

But my second thought was for the library users. And I tweeted back that exclusive content like is a bummer for libraries and the people who use them.

Ms. Carter tweeted back

@kidsilkhaze unless the libraries choose to buy that edition. It is their choice.
— Ally Carter (@OfficiallyAlly) July 14, 2013

Ah. Yes. Libraries can choose to buy that edition. Which highlights some stuff a lot of people don't know about the backroom workings for libraries.

I tweeted back:

@OfficiallyAlly Yes, but I'm guessing buying from B&N will be significantly more expensive than buying through our regular vendors.
— Jennifer Anne (@kidsilkhaze) July 14, 2013

After tweeting that, I did some research to get some numbers. Buying the exclusive Barnes and Noble edition at a brick and mortar store would probably cost list price-- $17.99. Ordering online is currently $14.29.

But libraries don't buy from bookstores. Libraries buy from distributors-- the same people who sell to bookstores. And for a new YA hardcover, libraries typically spend $9.01. So yes, a library could choose to buy the exclusive edition. If they do it at the store, though, it's twice as expensive. Libraries could get 1 copy of the exclusive edition, or they could get 2 copies of the regular one (or 1 of the regular, and a copy of something else entirely.) If libraries order online, it's a bit cheaper, but it's still significantly more expensive. (Libraries can buy 1.5 hardcover books for the price of the Barnes and Noble version if they order online.)

In this time of super-tight budgets, that's not a hard decision to make.

But, it's also not a decision that can be made-- most libraries are government entities. Most governments have very strict rules about who you're allowed to do purchasing from-- this is why no-bid contracts are always a local scandal. So, even if libraries had the money to spend on the exclusive edition, many are not allowed to buy books from anyone outside their regular vendor.

So yeah, it's not actually a choice. Libraries do not have access to this content.

Which means that the only way teens can get this is if they can get their own copy at Barnes and Noble. Which means they need access to a Barnes and Noble (to read in the aisle or purchase) or a credit card (to buy online).

I spent almost 7 years working in an underserved community. We had a TON of Gallagher Girl fans who used my library. Many came from homes that, even if they had the extra money to buy a book, they didn't have a credit card to do it. The closest Barnes and Noble is only 4 miles away, but it's across state lines. To get there on public transport will take 70 minutes, will cost $7.90 and involves walking half a mile, two buses and two trains.

So... it's not really an option for them.

Ms. Carter's response was to my above tweet was:

@kidsilkhaze Well, then that is your choice (again). And I'll say once more that the book is complete. This is just a bonus. An extra.
— Ally Carter (@OfficiallyAlly) July 14, 2013

Yep, it's an extra. A bonus. One that libraries can't offer their users. One that only certain fans can dream of having access to. (Ok, let's be honest-- it's one that is just begging to be downloaded illegally. I'm against that professionally and personall, but in cases like this, I do understand it.)

So, here was the last tweet of the conversation:

@OfficiallyAlly Not much of a choice due to price differential. Just sad that a lot of fans will miss the extra because they're poor.
— Jennifer Anne (@kidsilkhaze) July 14, 2013

I feel like a jerk for calling Ms. Carter out like this because it's not like Gallagher Girls is the first series to do this. And I'm pretty sure a lot of the decisions were done by agents and publishers, not by her personally. (And because of the politics of how national chain bookstores work, Barnes and Noble in particular, there's probably a lot at play here to get better display space and placement for all Disney-Hyperion books or other considerations.)

I'm a huge fan of her work, and I once had a lovely conversation with her at a Printz reception here in DC a few years ago and she was really nice and wonderful.

But when I talk about the teens who can't access this exclusive content, they're not hypothetical. I'm talking about specific people. I have faces and names in my head as I write this.

Exclusives like this might be good for bookstores and publishers, but they're pretty shitty for actual teen readers.



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ANGRY JENNIE

Two book-related things today that have me all in a dither:

1. Amazon hasn't put the MacMillan titles back yet. There's a book I need for class and I need it next week. None of the local library systems I use carry it. I can't get to an independent until this weekend, when we're supposed to get 17 inches feet of snow, so even if they ARE open, I won't be able to get there. I could get to Barnes and Noble tomorrow night, but they don't have it at the store, so I had to order it from their website. And pay shipping. (I have Amazon Prime. I don't pay for shipping.) Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

2. I live within walking distance of a branch of my local library. Given that I spend all day every day at a different library in a different system, I usually don't browse. I usually just look up books that my work-system doesn't own or has a long wait for, and put them on hold in my home-system. I went to pick up a book after work today (Yes, I went from one library to another. I am that nerdy.) Now, they have all the hold books on shelves near the check out desk so you can just go over and find yours and bring it up to the desk. I know this is a hot new trend in libraries right now but...

I will probably STOP using the Arlington libraries because of this. It is such a HUGE breach of reader's privacy and given that I pretty much ONLY use them for hold books and I just can't agree to this system... bad bad bad. Yes, they shelve the books spine down, so it's harder to see what the books are, but that just makes it easier to see who has a book on hold and it's not that hard to flip through and see who's requesting what.

Personally, I'm not very private in my reading habits (which you know, as I blog about EVERYTHING I read right here) but the principle of the thing has me very shaken up and upset and pissed off.

I'm more annoyed at the Amazon/MacMillan thing because they're private businesses and while they're both being stupid, well, it's business and they can do that.

The library, however, is breaking the ALA's Code of Ethics:

We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.

So, I will be writing a letter to the director of the system and seriously rethinking my library use (Because, I do spend all day at another system, so I'm a bit privileged here, I know.)

But here's the thing-- just two years ago, Arlington libraries had a PR flap about this very thing. And, unlike the branch in the article, these books had no covering, the only concession made to privacy was the books being shelved spine down, which may have not had anything to do with privacy at all-- it makes finding your name (and your neighbor's) much easier...

A public service announcement: Support Your Library!

The end of my vacation is drawing near.

My library system closed at the regular time on December 23rd and it won't reopen until Monday morning. This was a combination of days we would have been closed anyway for the holidays, and furlough leave. (Not to mention that our hours were wonky December 19-23 because of the snowpocolypse!)

The kids of my county only had virtual library service over their winter vacation.

These furlough days we've had this week aren't the only ones we have this year. We're also closing early one night a week. Other branches lost entire days.

But, we haven't had to close any branches, or cut staff hours, or lay anyone off. It could be worse.

Next year will be worse. We don't know how, we just know that, once again, the state has a huge budget gap, which will mean cuts that will find their way down to us. Cuts on top of the ones we've already made.

It's rough out there, not just in my county. Philadelphia almost lost all of its libraries, for good. Here in Virginia, Fairfax county had to lay off 300 librarians. Hawaii is begging for money, and looking at at least twelve furlough days between now and the end of May. And that's just what I can come up with off the top of my head.

When systems are faced with budget shortfalls like these, service, staff, and hours are the last things to be sacrificed. Before they make such noticeable cuts like these, acquisition budgets are slashed, so they wait until a book comes out in paperback before buying it, they buy conservatively, with titles and authors they know will circulate well, making it much harder for new authors to get a spot on the shelf. Hiring freezes are implemented, so branches and departments are frequently understaffed.

At the same time, usage rates are skyrocketing. Everyone's trying to save money, so instead of buying books, they come to the library. They check out movies instead of renting them. They've canceled internet at home, so come use the library for ours. They're depending on librarians to help them find and apply for jobs, often with unfamiliar technology.

Write to your city council, your county board, your state rep, your congressperson, your senators.

Tell them that libraries are important. In this economic crisis, budgets will be cut, because they can't give us money they don't have, but tell them that libraries are important. Tell them how much you need and use your library. I often laugh at library stereotypes of quiet, dusty rooms, and old ladies with severe buns shushing anyone who rustles too much paper, but these stereotypes are hurting us. We're seen as old and outdated, an easy target for budget cuts. But these budget cuts hurt all of us.

And it sucks.

A Day in the Life

I've been absolutely loving Abby (the) Librarian's posts about a day in the life of a children's librarian. I think a lot of my love of these posts is that her days are so different than mine, even though I'm also a children's librarian!

But, I'm totally stealing her idea and giving you a taste of what my work day is like. I give you 2 days this week:

9 am Get to work, pull books on the holds list and process them, clean up the children's room, discuss upcoming displays with my boss, help design a flyer.

10 am The library opens. I'm on desk. When slow, I check email, work on a replacement list, and weed some books. Some questions

Do you have story time today (YES!)
Do you have A Narrative of Frederick Douglass? (YES--in teen)
Do you have books about Barack Obama for 8-year-olds? (YES, but there's a waiting list)
I need information about different types of land forms.

1 pm Lunch!

1:30 pm Attempting to unearth my desk

2 pm Staff meeting

3 pm Back on desk! Lots of computer help and giving out passes. When slow, I also do some paperwork for an upcoming conference and work on the replacement list. Some questions:

Do you have this book called The Graveyard Book? (That's exactly how they asked and the answer is YES! But there's a waiting list)
Do you have the Firebird anthonogy? (NO, but we can ILL it.)
Do you have any books about Frederick Douglass (YES!)

5:30 pm Home!

Another day:

9 am Pull and process holds, clean up the children's room.

10 am Library open! I set up for storytime and do last-minute prep work.

10:30 am I do story time for 2-3 year olds!

11 am Catch my breath

11:15 am I do story time for 3-5 year olds!

12 pm On desk. Biggest problem is helping a customer open a .docx file.

1 pm Lunch!

2 pm I should be off desk and dealing with new books, but it's a little crazy, so I jump onto the adult information desk to help out. Some questions:

Do you have books by Allison Hobbs (YES! But there's a waiting list)
Where are your books about resumes?
Do you have books about KSAs? (YES! Also, I think that is a very DC-centric question)
What's the status of my ILL book?

3 pm Back in the land of children. I talk to a Babymouse fan about the new one (we haven't gotten Babymouse #10: The Musical in yet, but it's on order!). Some questions:

Where are your Frog and Toad books?
When does your chess club meet? (Monday nights)
Do you have the book Tales from the Crypt? (We have the TV series on DVD, but no books. I then get in a long discussion with a 10 year old about the cryptkeeper and how much he freaks me out.)
I need pictures of viral reproduction

5:30 pm Off desk! Grab the new books, yay! replacement copies of the first two Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have arrived! I bring them back to the children's room and get mobbed. I touch base on some things with a few coworkers and then...

6 pm Home!

School Media Specialists...

Any school librarians out there?

School librarianship has never appealed to me. The certification process is so insane you end up only getting to take, like, 1 elective during library school. You have to deal with all the funding and NCLB bullshit like teachers, and, if listening to sections of my teacher-friends is any measure, you get no respect from the teachers. And we all know how much respect educators get from the world at large, especially in the elementary range. I couldn't do it.

The first letter in the June 2007 issue of School Library Journal broke my heart. Not only does the author bemoan complete lack of ALA support, she wonders:

So when I get phone calls from public librarians offering to do booktalks for me or teach my students how to use electronic databases, I have to wonder, when will the rest of the profession get a clue as to what school librarians do?

Ouch. I would like to stand up and say, as a public librarian who makes those calls, I know what you do. I also know how many hours are in the day. I'm just trying to offer a little support. Unfortunately, the only support I can offer is in the "fun" stuff. I can't write up your monthly reports. Also, sometimes the message gets across better when it's a special, guest speaker. AND! There aren't a lot of places for me to booktalk that isn't in the schools.

Plus, as a public librarian, I need to promote my collection as much as possible and you can give me a room full of captive people.

As for the lack of ALA support, is this true? I have very little interest in ever dealing with this headache, and there is way to much in ALA to entertain me, so I haven't paid attention. Does anyone else out there have thoughts?

And, on this topic, let me here give a big shout out to Jeff Carpenter, school media specialist at Edison Elementary, back in the day. You obviously warped my mind, because look at me now.

Lots of Reading!

This weekend, I cleaned my apartment, hung out with some people, took my computer into the shop... but mainly, opened all the windows, and laid on my couch in a patch of sunlight and READ.

First off, I (finally) finished Moll Flanders. I kinda liked it? Maybe? I think after awhile, it was just the same thing over and over and over again... I would have liked it a lot more if it had been half as long.





The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts: The Library and the Young Adult by Margaret A. Edwards was phenomenal. When reading it, you must remember how *old* it is and how things have changed since its initial publication. Little things like the use of "Negro" and "gay" (for light and carefree)... Obvious things like the not far-fetched but still a long way off idea of one day ocmputers answering our factual questions... and the weird, like when she was talking about books that we aren't required to read in school but should be reading... like Hemmingway, Remarque, Huxley, and Dostoevsky... all things that you now have to read in high school!

I was also very struck by the change in reading levels. She includes several book lists and there are several titles on the "Adult Titles for Good Readers" and "Advanced Reading" that are now standard fare at the junior high and highschool levels-- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye , and The Grapes of Wrath...

There is also a strong "us" vs. "them" mentality when she discusses the challenges of librarainship in an urban setting (in this case the highly-segregated Baltimore). But it is very much middle class white folk bring literature to poor black people...

But Edwards speaks a lot of truth that librarains, as a profession, still haven't owned up to. We are obsessed with cataloging and not with customer service. In our obsession with processing and cataloging, we see the book more and more as a mere object and forget the ideas in it that are so necessary... "We do everything to the book but read it."

She also hit on some very good points-- do we librarians hate the stereotypical image of a proper old ladying shushing everyone because it hits a little too close to home? AND is one of the main reasons we're so bad at customer service because anti-social bookworms are who is drawn to the profession? I don't think our anti-customer service attitude is nearly as bad as portrayed by Edwards, but I think there are still issues.

But more than anything else, my head is swirling with thoughts on how to improve service, and different types of programming we can do and more than anything-- HOW TO GET PEOPLE READING. Because really, that's what it's all about, right?

Also, The House of Dies Drear just survived a challenge in Rockingham County, VA.

More Books from 2005

Ha ha ha! You thought I was done with this already! I'm at a library training right now and this afternoon we're learning how to blog, but, obviously, I already know this. So I'm just messing around.

100 Best Books for Children Anita Silvey: Loved. Not only does it outline the whats and whys of the 100 best books for kids, but it tells the story of how each book got published and explores the relationships between author, publisher and illustrator. Really interesting, even though I only read it because my boss told me to.

Judaism: A Very Short Introduction Norman Solomon: Short, dense, and focusing more on history and philosophy/theology than practice. Intersesting.

The Year Of Secret Assignments Jacyln Moriarty: I talked about this already. But this is a fun story that's well written and told in letters. Not only is there correspondance between the characters, but the main character also gets notes from such groups as the best friends club and the society for teenagers. Plus, it's Australian. I really liked it and recomend it if you ever go for teen-lit stuff. A shining example of the genre.

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, The Penultimate Peril, The Grim Grotto, The Slippery Slope, The Carnivorous Carnival, The Hostile Hospital, The Vile Village, The Ersatz Elevator, The Austere Academy, The Miserable Mill, The Wide Window, The Reptile Room, A Bad Beginning: I talked about these already. They were great. I highly recommend the "Unauthorized Autobiography" if you've read the series.