What Do Librarians Want?

Happy Children’s Book Week!

In honor of this week, I thought that I'd share what I've learned about what librarians who work with kids and young adults want from authors and publishers. Ready?

Due to limited budgets for bringing authors into libraries and schools, Skype sessions are becoming more popular. These cyber visits are becoming a great way for kids to meet an author (as long as the technology is available and behaves). Of course, not a lot of books get signed. . .

Book trailers seem to be useful. I didn’t have a book trailer for Dog Gone made, but librarians have told me that the trailer for Buck Fever has been a hit with kids and teachers. And, when I'm presenting in a library (or school), I’ve found that showing the book trailer is a good way to begin.

A middle school librarian once mentioned that she’d welcome any information that would let her know if the story content was appropriate for her readers. By appropriate, she meant stories without sex, violence, drugs, etc. But you probably knew that.

Some librarians welcome bookmarks, but not necessarily posters and other give-away stuff. On the other hand, book cover images are great for grabbing attention. Apparently the book cover paired with information about the story can be really helpful.

ARCs (advanced reader copies) are, of course, highly sought after. However, when ARCs are not available, sample chapters of a novel seem to be the next best thing. The idea here is that the text of the story often says more about it than reviews or book summaries.

Thoughts? Anything to add? Any surprises?

For more information about Children’s Book Week, visit: http://www.bookweekonline.com/about

I hope you enjoy it! : )