Librarians from all over the country entered our first Libraries Love Romance contest and demonstrated the important role romance fiction plays in their libraries. The contest, which seeks to recognize excellence in library programs and promotions focusing on romance fiction, hosted two divisions. The entries have been narrowed to the final three in each division, and now we need your help to decide which libraries should take the top prize of $500 and a set of 2007 RITA-winning novels. Read the entry each finalist library submitted, and then click on the link at the bottom of the page to cast your vote for the winners. (You must be an RWA member to vote.) Voting closes October 12th. Check back for the announcement of the winning libraries on October 15th!
Congratulations to the following finalists in the Libraries Love Romance contest!
Division 1: Programs/Events
The finalist libraries in this division exemplified outstanding support of the romance genre through their programs and events. We were impressed by how many libraries worked to keep romance fiction programs running year-round.
From February 2006 until July 2006, Bartow County Public Library held a monthly book chat dedicated to romances. For six months we chose a different subgenre to discuss. For instance, in February, the topic was Contemporary Romance and we read Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me which won the RITA award in 2005 for Best Contemporary. Then in March, the topic was Historical Romance--Britain and we read The Marriage Lesson by Victoria Alexander who was Romantic Times Storyteller of the year in 2003. Other topics were Romantic Suspense, Historical Romance--America, Romantic Suspense Series, and Inspirational Romance. Not only did we discuss the book for that month, we also discussed the subgenre. We had great fun and read some great books.
The Memphis Public Library & Information Center has long recognized the value of romance fiction to our community. It is an integral part of our library system with staff training, collection development, displays and most importantly with programming. In Memphis, like many other communities, women enjoy reading about smart, creative, independent and strong women who face many challenges. Our mission “to satisfy the customers’ need to know” combined with romance paperbacks being the highest circulating paperbacks in our Library system, work well together to provide all encompassing services to an ever-increasing number of customers. For the 17 months covered by this award, the Memphis Public Library’s romance programing highlight was its first full day Book Club Conference on Saturday, August 26, 2006 where romance authors were the focal point. 230 attendees listened to bestselling author Emily Giffin, a highly entertaining luncheon speaker, who praised women’s needs for happy endings, as they face increasingly stressful situations in their daily lives. In addition to her keynote, Emily provided a popular workshop session on the subgenre chick-lit, including a discussion of the appeal characteristics in the various subgenres of romance fiction. Having this session facilitated by a local romance author, Johanna Edwards who emphasized her theme of empowering women who are told they are too heavy or uncool, further showcased the importance of the romance genre and the very positive impact it can have on women. Another highlight of the Book Club Conference was the attendance by Patricia Potter. As past President of the Romance Writers of America and an internationally recognized author, she led a book discussion and conference call with Jayne Ann Krentz a.k.a. Amanda Quick. The combination of Jayne Ann and Pat allowed two celebrated authors of historical and contemporary romance to demonstrate the variety of romance fiction and communicate a powerful message to the men and women attendees: Romance fiction does value the strength of the male, but simultaneously empowers women. A very attractive display of Jayne Ann Krentz’s and Pat Potter’s many titles provided visual excitement during the workshop. This conference proved so successful that the Library will present its second Book Club Conference on August 25, 2007. We will again introduce program participants to the breadth of this genre through Mary Jane Clark and Diane Mott Davidson being the opening session and luncheon speakers respectively, and orchestrate a conference call with Julie Garwood. As mentioned above, the Book Club Conference grew from a firm foundation of on-going programs focused on romance writers and writings. We worked closely with the local chapter of the Romance Writers of America, The River City Romance Writers. With determination to expand support for local authors the Memphis Public Library co-sponsored The River City Romance Writer Annual Writing Conference on February 24, 2007. (We plan to do the same on February 23, 2008.) This free all day workshop held at the Central Library helped current and future romance writers with writing techniques, getting an agent and other practical information. Participants included Debra Dixon, the C.E.O. for BelleBooks, an innovative small press which recently published a title selected by Library Journal as one of 2006’s Top 5 Romances. Many local romance authors assisted with the conference including Carolyn McSparren, award winning author of 13 romantic suspense novels. Library staff contributed throughout the day by sharing their expertise on local history resources, including letters, diaries, photographs, genealogical records and many other tools which assist authors in their research to find correct historical details for their books. Another subset of romance is our African-American romance fiction collection, one of the most popular circulated collections in our Library system. We were very pleased to host a program with Mary Monroe on September 6, 2006 to highlight this collection. We even kept our doors open after hours in order to allow bestselling and very popular author Eric Jerome Dickey to appear on February 13, 2007 so the male romance author perspective could be shared. The excitement he generated was very apparent that night. For those who cannot get to a Memphis Public Library location, the Memphis Public Library’s radio and television stations, WYPL Channel 18 and FM 89.3, host a program entitled “Book Talk”. Most of the above mentioned authors have appeared plus many other national and local romance writers. Book Talk supports authors by producing thoughtful and penetrating interviews for the entire community to experience. Training Library staff is another critical component to nurture the romance genre. The River City Romance Writers assist in training Library staff on the importance of romance fiction: definition, characteristics, genre appeal, value, key authors, subgenres, and reader statistics. This training allows Library staff to have better readers’ advisory interviews so the best reference, print, or internet sources for romance can be shared with customers to answer their questions. At times, The River City Romance Writers have agreed to present programs to educate the general public regarding romance fiction. To provide added continuity between our programs, Reading Centers have been established at various branch libraries in our system. Important resources are included, such as Romantic Times and Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre by Kristin Ramsdell. Furthermore, to encourage ongoing dialogue, we feature romance as one of the featured genres on our Memphis Reads blog, http://memphisreads.blogspot.com. The Memphis Public Library & Information Center is proud of its support of Romance writers through ongoing programs. We continue to offer new materials to delight customers who have been romance readers for years plus introduce new readers to the genre. The programs outlined above provide a variety of ways to reach customers so they can become more engaged through their reading.
Muskingum County Library System designed a program for area romance readers to fall in love with entitled, “Flirting with Romance.” This program was offered at our 6 public libraries and ran from May 1 – June 30, 2007. THE PROGRAM: We invited our library customers to “Find the perfect one…Take it home…Curl up with it… and fall in love with reading!” From May 1 through June 23 program participants were encouraged to complete an entry slip each time they read a romance book. This phase of “Flirting with Romance” was billed as “The Courtship.” At the conclusion of the program, the reader who read the most books at each of our 6 libraries was awarded a Basket of Romance, featuring autographed romance books, candles, chocolates, mugs, tea and other items to be enjoyed when cuddling up with a romantic read. The participant recording the most books read for the entire library system received the grand prize Basket of Romance. The grand prize basket was sponsored by the Friends of the Library, our volunteer support group. The baskets were featured in romance book displays in our 6 libraries throughout “The Courtship” period to draw people’s attention to the program and highlight romance books. The final phase of Flirting with Romance was billed as “It’s a Date!” This program was held on Saturday, June 30, 2007 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the afternoon and featured four romance authors as our very special guests – Marcia James, Tina Wittich, Carol Ann Erhardt and Toni Leland. A Love Letter was mailed to each person who recorded books inviting them to the program. Included in the Love Letter was a magnet with the program name – “Flirting with Romance” – for them to use to post the Love Letter from the library. The afternoon began with “First Encounters.” During this period attendees were invited to visit displays where they could meet the authors, purchase their books and have them autographed. The next phase allowed our guests to “Get Engaged” with the romance author panel. Each author gave a brief introduction and spoke about their books, writing process and career. A lively question/answer period covered a diverse range of topics and interests. We concluded with “Sweets for the Sweet” featuring cheesecake, chocolates, cookies and one on one conversations with our visiting authors. THE OUTCOMES This program gave us the opportunity to provide readers advisory to this customer base, many of whom read voraciously. It also allowed us to debunk the myth that romance readers only read Harlequin romance books. We highlighted a variety of romance writing styles and in the process some readers discovered although they thought otherwise, they are in fact romance readers. Finally, it let some romance readers “come out of the closet” and learn they are not alone in their enjoyment of this bestselling popular genre. There was a valuable literacy component to “Flirting with Romance.” It does not go unnoticed by young people when they observe adults and mentors reading for pleasure. This models vital behavior that young people respond to and mirror. During the 8 week “Flirting with Romance” program, 138 adults read and recorded 1,734 romance books. There was strong participation at each of our 6 public libraries. Comments have been extremely positive regarding this program. Participants enjoyed reading for the Romance Baskets and were especially appreciative for the opportunity to gather with other adults with similar reading interests, communicate with one another and speak with the author panel.
Division 2: Displays/Collection Promotion
The finalist libraries in the displays division demonstrated creativity in promoting their romance collections through several different outlets including videos, websites, newsletters and posters. Read the description of the displays and promotions below to get a feel for the dedication these libraries show toward their romance readers and collections.
Planning for Valentine’s Day? Curl up with a good romance novel. That’s one of the things that the Arlington Heights Memorial Library suggested in a unique promotion of their romance paperback collection of nearly 2,000 titles.
Since December 2006, the library has been highlighting programs, collections and services on their original LibVlogs (streaming video blogs) featured on the library’s website and on the very popular YouTube. On February 7, 2007, the anchors of the weekly “What’s Happening at Your Library” LibVlog segment were planning their Valentine’s Day. The two stood among the paperback spinner racks in the Popular Materials section of the library and talked about the popularity of romances, giving statistics garnered from RWA. See this unique promotion for yourself at http://www.ahml.info/vlog/default.asp?ID=29 .
The website also provided links to the library’s catalog enabling readers and viewers to see the library’s romance holdings, search for their favorite authors, and reserve specific titles. A link to the library’s “Good Reads” Romance page listed some popular, new romances complete with brief annotations. Library customers were also able to call the library and have their romance genre selections available at the library’s drive-up window for them to pick up.
The library has been nationally recognized for its LibVlogs and even received the first annual InfoTubey award for its productions. By promoting their vast romance collection in such a remarkable way, the library reached out to a new generation of technology users, inviting them to sample romances. Hundreds of people viewed the LibVlog featuring the library’s romance collection. What a novel way (pardon the pun!) to attract new readers to discover the joys, satisfaction, and adventures they can experience in reading romances!
Kanawha County readers love romance! And, as faithful librarians, we want to introduce our patrons to new authors and new trends in the genre. Unfortunately, our library does not have a lot of display space, so we do what we can with bookmarks and web pages, and a lot of team spirit. To promote paranormal romances, I enlisted the help of one of our circulation staff, who is a big paranormal romance reader. Together we selected the books for the bookmark, and our crack marketing team created these eye-catching graphics. Our webmaster also made an accompanying website, which is still popular: http://www.kanawhalibrary.org/advisory/romance.html . This bookmark has been popular with both patrons and staff, and we're all curling up with steamy, scary romances!
The Wayne Public Library’s patrons have always had an interest in reading romance novels. Copies of books by such longtime favorites as Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown are always readily available on its shelves. Over the years, the reference staff has used patron requests and standard book review guides like Romantic Times, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal to purchase romance titles. Then, in 2004, a romance-friendly librarian was added to the staff. Ms. Pardo is a member of both the RWA and NJRW. She has enhanced the romance collection by adding new and popular authors such as Sherrilyn Kenyon, Julia Quinn and Annette Blair. Showcasing titles by New Jersey romance authors including Caridad Pinero, Irene Petersen and Lois Winston is another feature she has designed to promote the collection. Romance materials are ordered in a variety of formats, including paperback, trade paperback, hardcover, audio and large type editions, when available. Over the past year and a half, Ms. Pardo and another reference staff member, Pat Padden, have made an effort to highlight romance titles in the library's book displays. February’s all - romance display featured a “write your own romance scene” contest. Two winners received canvas bags filled with romance novels. Last summer’s “Pirates” display coincided with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean II, and included pirate-themed books by Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood, Brenda Joyce and others. Autumn’s popular display, “New Jersey ’s Got Characters”, featured many famous New Jerseyans, including award-winning romance authors Eloisa James, Debra Mullins, and Mariah Stewart. Ms. Pardo has also designed twelve individual pamphlets that highlight romance subgenres such as romantic suspense, historical, paranormal, contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and even one on New Jersey romance authors, called “Read Locally.” The pamphlets are on display year-round in two alcoves near the expanding paperback collection, and are updated every six months to include both current and upcoming works of all the authors listed. Library patrons use these popular reader’s advisories to discover new authors, and to keep up to date with their favorite authors’ latest releases. Ms. Pardo also leads a monthly romance book discussion. In the past year, the group has read books by authors Lolly Winston, James Patterson and Lorna Landvik, to name a few. Another reference staff member, Patty Slezak, has added romance titles to readers’ advisory guides on topics such as dancing, knitting and seasonal celebrations. Ms. Slezak, who also handles our Audio-Visual collection, recently augmented the library’s audio book service by automatically adding three new romance audio titles to her purchases each month. Our website, www.waynepubliclibrary.org, is continuously updated by our web-mistress Karen Sharp, and offers links to romance review sites such as Romantic Times, The Romance Reader and Bookspot. Also available via our website is BookLetters, a monthly e-mail service providing patrons with information about the latest romance releases as well as older titles they may have missed. Always looking for new ways to promote romance, this coming fall the Wayne Public Library is proud to host two author programs, a romance writer’s panel with five local authors representing the various romance sub-genres in September, and a mystery/horror panel in October.
