yeah okay lmao im gonna tell a librarian about my trauma so they can advise me about what books might trigger me. sure. makes sense.

dragonmuse:

chelonianmobile:

dragonmuse:

thelibrarina:

“Hi, I’m looking for a book with adventure, but no graphic violence.”

“I’m interested in a thriller that doesn’t have any rape scenes.”

“I want a gay main character but I don’t want it to be a coming-out story. And no anti-gay violence.”

“Oh, no, murder’s fine, but no animal cruelty.”

All separate reader’s advisory questions that I’ve answered, and successfully. I don’t know why any of these people asked for those specific parameters, and I didn’t ask, because it’s not my fucking business. And it’s no one else’s business, either–up to and including the government.

Librarians don’t make you reveal your trauma in order to justify what you read or write. You may be confusing us with, uh… *checks notes* …fandom.

We are literally trained not to ask. Any halfway decent reference professor nails it into you. Even if it would help you answer a question, you never ask a patron why they need something.

Do you have a database listing all those factors? Sounds daunting to remember if not.

I mean, yes we do have some (see if your library has access to Novelist which is a great database to find your next read), but I’ve also been doing this job for over a decade. It’s not like I memorized a list on my first day. I started with a general gist based on what I’d read and then expanded each time I got a question that I had to go hunting around for an answer. Also, my some of my colleagues have been in libraries even longer and I listened and learned from them both formally and from listening to how they answered patrons. 

There’s also whole genres that try to dedicate themselves to being ‘cozy’ reads.When someone comes in for a recommendation for a mystery, I ask them how much gore they want (note, I’m not asking why that is or if this is even a general feeling for them, just what they’re in the mood for a that moment) and if they want little to no blood, then there’s an entire genre of cozy mysteries waiting for them.  Ditto with romance with little to no sex. 

I also make it a point (and in my state am required to keep my certification) to go to continuing ed classes to learn more. At least once a year or so I go to something reader’s advisory focused. 

Being a librarian is a career like any other. Some people are bad at it, some people are amazing, most want to do their best. We train and if we can’t remember, find tools that help us.