WebJunction

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Well, in this case I should most likely have said Readers Advisory as bibliotherapy is not entirely approved of in some circles.

Readers Advisory I am sure you have heard of - Duncan Smith even helped create a lovely database to help with that task: NoveList, which is now provided to libraries via EbscoHost. RA is putting the right book in the hands of the correct reader - helping people find books they will like.

Bibliotherapy is helping people find books that will help them through a particular hardship - loss of a family member, heartbreak, or illness for examples. Bibliotherapy is giving the needed book to the reader who needs hope or catharsis.


Message was edited by: WebJunction

Really? It seems to me that I heard about Bibliotherapy prior to hearing the term Readers Advisory - but that might have been the fault of the book Bibliotherapy: The Girl's Guide to Books for Every Phase of Our Lives
by Nancy K. Peske & Beverly West - which was being advertised on the Oxygen channel a lot when it came out.

Some people use the term interchangeably, but it truth they really are two different services. Same action, but with a different motivation.

This is a great question, Janie!

I guess we do want to be careful not to mimic the "self help" shelf at Barnes and Noble. (But maybe there's something about that that works.) What if we were just plain serious about it, and just said exactly what it is ~ did something like this:

Broken Hearts
- books and resources for ending or changing relationships

Grief and Loss
- books and resources for when you've lost someone close to you

Difficult Emotions
- books and resources for managing depression, anxiety, and other difficult emotions

You could even do a series of pathfinders like this:

Difficult Emotions: Depression
Difficult Emotions: Anger
Etc.

It would be really cool to do a series promoting well-being (general) with aspects of bibliotherapy worked in. You could combine pathfinders, collection promotions, and programming. Working with community experts might be a nice way to create further community ties and partnerships with local businesses and/or private practices and referral services. I'd love to hear from other libraries if they have done something along these lines.