I want to know how we decide what is best for a patron. They trust us for recommendations and to help them find reliable sources. Sometimes I wonder if we really do know best. There are books, great, wonderful, amazing books I have read for pleasure, which I will never recommend to a mom who is asking for a suggestion for her child. The main reason is I don’t really know that mom, I don’t know what she thinks is best for her child. Maybe there is a word in that book that I don’t look twice at which that mom doesn’t want her child reading. For example, one mom I know did not want her child to hear, read or see anyone call anyone else “stupid.” This is the thing that makes me most nervous about readers advisory. I am a fairly liberal person, I don’t think “stupid” falls into the category of “bad word.” I am waiting for the day a patron attacks, I just hope I am ready!
I think this goes along with reference questions as well. I don’t like to tell someone which is the best math book we have. I think that each math book might be the best, depending on the question. I have not read every book that exists, I can lead a patron to the math books, look though and help find the answer, but I don’t know that I feel comfortable telling them the “best” answer. I feel that has a lot to do with personal preference. Am I alone with these feelings?
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