Midterm Summary

I discuss the positive influences of pleasure reading on student’s cognitive development, and it is the reason to include reader’s advisory services in an academic library setting. I address the issues that academic libraries face when it comes to being more involved with reader’s advisory because of a “lack of budget, space, and time” (Nicholson, 180). Public library partnerships, as I discuss in my paper, are the most effective way to provide reader’s advisory tips and tricks so that academic librarians are not as limited with these three barriers.

            I discuss the benefits of a public library partnership because of the wisdom public librarians can provide to academic librarians, but also because they can supply academic librarians with booklists of popular titles in each genre. The booklists could also be posted on the library’s website, and maybe even their blog for the students that do not want to visit the library for pleasure reading titles. These public library partnerships would also help to alleviate some anxiety for academic librarians because the public library could also host reader’s advisory workshops that they could attend for further training in this department.

            Pleasure reading also improves a student’s cognitive ability because of the casual exposure to the English so that they can become better writers. Their intellectual development also improves, as well the ability to articulate ourselves with creativity and confidence. The presence of a pleasure reading collection is a helpful way to develop bibliographic skills because an academic librarian would be able to use a well-liked title to show the variety of citation styles, i.e. MLA, APA, and Chicago.

            Book clubs are an excellent way to invite students to the library in a more casual setting, and these could be hosted once a month so that the librarians do not feel overwhelmed with hosting multiple events. The genre of the book club could alternate between popular ones among the students so they all feel included and supported with their reading interests. They could survey the student’s favorite genres beforehand, and then research popular titles in these genres before advertising an event for the student population.           

            I conclude my essay with the importance of pleasure reading for the student’s cognitive and intellectual development because that should be vital to the university’s mission to see their students succeed in their courses. I focus on the importance of honing bibliographic literacy, the anxiety that academic librarians may feel as they are not trained in reader’s advisory, and the public library partnerships that could help alleviate this anxiety by hosting reader’s advisory workshops to acquire wisdom and effective resources for their students.

Works Cited

Nicholson, Heather. "How to Be Engaging: Recreational Reading and Readers' Advisory in the Academic Library." Public Services Quarterly 8.2 (2012): 178-86. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

Prompt Response 7

            I am not familiar with fake memoirs because I am not interested in reading this type of genre as I prefer reading historical and paranormal fiction, as well as fantasy. Their controversy is understandable because they are based on fabrications of truth so there would be some hesitancy when acquiring these memoirs. I first heard about fake memoirs when I was my senior year of college as I took a nonfiction writing class when we discussed the growing significance of fake memoirs.

            I’m not entirely sure how I feel about fake memoirs because I’m not entirely why these authors do not simply publish them as fiction. Titles like A Million Little Lies and Forbidden Love would have been better suited to be published as fiction, instead of misleading readers and reviewers that may have enjoyed the content. I understand Oprah had been a big fan of A Million Little Pieces, and she was infuriated to discover that the memoir had been fabricated for the sake of sales. Even though the writing was powerful, she was quick to hold him accountable for lying, and she was praised by many media outlets for this confrontation.

            I feel the same way because I do not think an author should be rewarded with book sales when their memoir is more fictional than reliable. Fake memoirs should be published as fiction, and that way the authors could promote their titles with integrity, as well benefit from celebrities like Oprah. I would feel hesitant in purchasing titles that are fake memoirs because I would not feel comfortable with supporting authors that knowingly fabricate their stories just for some extra sales. Their writing may be captivating, but that doesn’t mean that they should be able to exploit the truth for their own gain, whether it is for publicity or an extra book sale.