Romance Reader's Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks

by American Library Association

The romance novel genre is at its hottest, with a large and enthusiastic population of readers ever clamoring for the next great "read." The Librarian's Guide to Love in the Stacks ―the latest installment in the popular Readers' Advisory series―offers a crash course in the world of romantic fiction. Ann Bouricius, experienced librarian and romance reader-turned-author, enlightens readers about romance literature and its place in the library. With humor and enthusiasm, Bouricius covers every aspect of the genre, ranging from its subcategories to collection development and cataloging controversies. Helpful appendices provide hands-on tools for creating and implementing a new, romance-friendly library plan, and the Five Book Challenge suggests a no-sweat method for increasing familiarity with any genre. One-of-a-kind, this book

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Librarianship, Romance, Library Science

124 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2000

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bouricius had excellent ideas for RA and how to involve patrons and make them feel comfortable trying and reading romnce books, but their idea on romance in general is extemely outdated and borderline offensive. Bouricius does not even mention LGBTQ representation and non-monogomous relationships "counting" as romance. Useful for a genre study to gain another opinon, and for general ideas about how to get started with RA, but not useful as an actual reference guide for the genre.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A library Reader's Advisory guide to romance

I dropped out of the romance reading world about 25 years ago but used to love them before that. This book was a fun trip down memory lane for the history of romance up till 2000 (when it was published) and I wish there were a more updated version. I know romance up till then - I'd like to see an overview of what came after out of sheer curiosity. The majority of this book was spent 'defending' romance as a valid read.

[Mary Kinietz]

Helpful for librarian.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Because I think romance can be a more interesting genre than is often given credit for, I was really excited to read this one. Unfortunately it just read as a repetitive defense of why romance is not a bad thing.

Sure, a defense of romance is great! I agree wholeheartedly that no one should be ashamed for their reading material. But it's not necessary to spend almost the whole book being defensive. The explanation of the differences between subgenres was useful, at least.

I also wish that the books in the first appendix had had at least a short description. I really enjoyed the sneak peak offered by the Horror Readers' Advisory, but realistically I'm not going to go type in each title listed to see what the book is in detail.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great quick read for professionals to appreciate the genre, as well as a great reference. A lot of the text is spent dispelling the stigma of reading romance or a library carrying romance which is presumably preaching to the choir for anyone who is reading this, but there are good ideas, good professional tips and resources, and good lists in the appendices.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good look at what romances are & aren't and why the libraries should increase their romance collections. Written in 2000, it still holds valuable information. It is an ALA Reader's Advisory Series book which is American Library Association. The appendix is exploding with loads of information. Great tool for any one who works in books or just wants to add to their collection.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book definitely feels dated and as others have noted, this tone is highly defensive. I also felt that the author involved herself too much into her writing. This book definitely needs a new edition, preferably by a new author.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A librarian/romance writer talks about why libraries should serve romance readers and how we can do it better.

[andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. This book felt extremely dated, which I suppose isn't the author's fault. A more complete review still to come.

[Julie N · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good choice for RA, especially if you aren't familiar with the genre.

[Ashley F · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a bit out-dated but the general information was useful. It contained a lot of websites to look at!

[Nabilah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A new edition should be released with new recommendation list