Do you hear it; the whispers calling out to you from our shelves? Tendrils of word clouds with themes like dragons, mystery murders, battles, and more wrap around and embrace you, enticing you to read. THIS is Popular Reading! Nestled beside the Circulation desk, the library has three blue shelves full of your popular reading desires.
Before we talk more about the collection, however, how about a bit of history….
For years, despite all the amazing services the Bell Library has offered, there was one area in which we seemed to be lacking: a popular reading collection. Students would seek out a book to leisurely read during those ever-rare down times; and, while reading the latest on mechanical engineering, cognitive psychology, non-profit management, etc. would be interesting, sometimes getting lost in a book about a murderous clown is just what your brain needs.
Students would approach the various information points requesting best sellers and we would remorsefully have to tell them something along the lines of, “Sorry, we don’t have one spot for that…we do have a number of fiction titles throughout the Juvenile and Main collections though.” The problem with the scattered titles was that locating them was a laborious task few had the time to take on.
In the interest of service excellence, we needed to find a solution. Which brings us to…cue grand hero entrance music…today’s popular reading collection! Myself, and my colleague Anjanette Jones, work together to select best-selling fiction and non-fiction titles for your enjoyment.
How do we select titles?
We compare lists of top sellers, find out what titles are currently being talked about, consider books that are being/have been made into movies or television shows, and of course we consult a variety of reviews.
How do we really WANT to select titles?
We want to know what YOU want to read. It shouldn’t be a big surprise that the collection that sits on those shelves is technically YOUR collection. Sure, we at the library indulge a bit ourselves, but we really want to know what you want to read. Do you want to see more graphic novels? More romance? Is there a title you’re interested in? Have you read something that changed your life and you think more people should read it? Tell us, please, we want to know!
We’re currently working on getting a submission form together, but in the meantime, if you do happen to have a suggestion or two, please email either myself at patricia.hernandez@tamucc.edu or Anjanette Jones at anjanette.jones@tamucc.edu.
Also, stay tuned for more blog posts about this great collection!
Happy Reading!!
Trisha Hernandez
