WELLINGTON COUNTY – Much like Netflix’s 'suggested for you' section, Wellington County Libraries are offering a similar service with a more personal, less computer algorithm, touch.
Just For You is a new suggestion program at county libraries where patrons can fill out an online form or call their local library to tell them what kind of material they like.
“We were just looking for a way to mitigate the fact that people can’t be in the building and a lot of what our patrons like to do is come in and browse the shelves,” said Rebecca Hine, chief librarian, referring to curbside-only pickup.
“This is a way for people to say ‘hey, this is what I like, this is what I’m interested in but I’ve run out of ideas can you please suggest some new authors or some new TV series?’”
Hine explained patrons are asked about audience level, genre, paperback or hardcover, titles they’ve previously enjoyed and what’s important to them in a good story.
The questionnaire also filters out things the patron does not want in the material such as anything overly violent.
Hine said this service is more or less an extension of what library staff would do for people in-person.
“That’s what library staff are trained to do, so they ask a lot of questions and they can pull out the pertinent details to get to the bottom of what it is that people like about something,” Hine said. “That’s what allows us to be able to offer good suggestions.”
This isn’t just offered for books but for anything that can be taken out of the library. Staff will provide three to five suggestions on what patrons could borrow next.
Hine said overall circulation has been down from a normal year but curbside pickup is still being used often at all branches.
“We’re happy to provide whatever service we are able to provide in these difficult times,” Hine said. “We’re hoping that this is just a bonus to people to help them find materials that they’re interested in and just add to the whole curbside service.”
The online questionnaire can be found here.
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