Secret Shopper Assignment Summary

My interaction with the librarian was fairly standard, with all of the normal RA questions being asked (genre? last book you read?) with a few standing out to me: What was the last horror movie you watched that you enjoyed? What gender of the author do you prefer? As I had told the librarian I was interested in reading a new horror novel, these questions really helped me exactly narrow down what I was looking for. In the end, the librarian suggested I check out 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill, a collection of short stories.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience, with the librarian being patient, helpful, and friendly. I appreciated that she did not just point me to the stacks with a list of authors to search for, but rather took an interesting approach. The librarian did not make me feel like this was a hurried experience: she did not pass me off to another librarian or shut my request down.

The only thing I think she could have done better is to give me a short list of a few titles (2-3 books) that I could choose from. Putting all of your eggs into one basket (one book) is not wise when it comes to Readers’ Advisory.