Librarians, how I love thee!
I spent Friday afternoon at the Hilton Harrisburg for the annual PSLA Conference. No, I’m not a Pennsylvania School Librarian, but I do know a few of them, and so I went to participate as a local author on the vending floor.
What a delightful day!
And back to my first thought… I love librarians. Even more so, I love introverts. We are the most interesting elusive creatures, aren’t we? We’ll stroll by a booth with books, take covert glances, grab a bookmark to study somewhere beyond the author’s line of sight, stroll by a second time, examine a banner, and basically do ALL the research before we finally work up the courage to talk to the author and look at the featured books. (This is, for the record, 100% what I do before talking to someone. Research, so much research.)
Yesterday’s librarians made me smile because if there’s anyone I can relate to, it’s them. One grabbed a bookmark “for later,” and came back after three and a half minutes when she’d gone to Goodreads to view the ratings on my book. She doesn’t buy anything with less than 3.5 stars, so she wanted to check in with her trusty Goodreads pals to ensure she wasn’t about to buy something she’d be disappointed in.
Another sauntered over to my booth after telling me she had just gone online to read the synopsis – probably on Amazon or Goodreads or B&N…even though she just as easily could have picked up the book and read the back cover copy.
Yet a third asked me if I had a rating anywhere on the series that says it’s meant for middle schoolers. (It’s rated 7th-12th grades in online categories.) She was hoping to put my first book in the middle school library, but, according to school policy, there must be a statement confirming it’s meant for those ages. Then she bought a copy anyway – for herself. As a school librarian, her word should be enough. <wink>
Have I mentioned I LOVE LIBRARIANS? I really do.
L. Ryan Storms 